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I have just done watching the press With Tim Russert interviewing Jack murtha.

Jack Murtha is a big blowhard plain and simple.
I used to live around that area that Murtha represents in pennsylvania in Johnstown Altoona and Bedford.

I was originally born in Bedford Pennsylvania.

I have not lived in this area for over twenty years and today i live in california where i am employed at a Marine corps in the mojave desert.

I had always thought my birthplace in Bedford as being staunchly conservative but the big blowhard has been representing the southwest area of pennsylvania since 1974.

He is wrong about the Iraq war.

The United states can't cut and run from Iraq.

Jack Murtha's irresponsible statements about The Camp Pendleton eight and the so called "massacre" at Hamdaniya Iraq would lead into the accused marines not getting a fair trial.

JACK MURTHA A FORMER MARINE ?

YEAH RIGHT..................

It's is no secret that Mike Savage has been very critical of the Marine Corps and their handling of the Hamdaniya incident. I like mike's style. He don't sugarcoat nothing. There are times he is very critical about the republican party.

A lot of people do not understand that under the Uniform Code of Military Justice If a serviceman is accused of a crime THEY ARE GUILTY TILL PROVEN INNOCENT.

Hanging a few good enlisted people out to dry to placate people in congress for serious lack of leadership in the Marine Corps hierarchy is just appalling.

I used to be in the Marine corps Thirty years ago and they are just a shadow of their very honorable past.

As far as their civilian workforce is concerned they would never admit they have a gigantic image problem with corruption and graft in the civil service attachment in the Marine Corps.

Actually the whole place should have been outsourced to a contractor.

Shackles removed from confined Marines, sailor

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Military officials on Friday said they have decided to remove shackles put on seven confined Marines and one sailor whenever they’re outside their individual cells at the Camp Pendleton brig, a Marine Corps spokesman said.

The eight men, confined at the brig since May 24, were being held with “maximum” restraints based on their battalion commander’s decision following an initial investigation into the shooting. As of Friday, they were shifted into what’s called “medium-in” restraint in pre-trial custody, which does not require shackles to be worn, although they remain escorted anytime they are outside their cell, according to 2nd Lt. Lawton King, a base spokesman.

Under “medium-in,” they won’t have any personal restraint while inside the brig, but once outside – such as to go to a court hearing – each “is restrained with handcuffs attached to a leather belt … and their respective escorts carry along leg cuffs in the event they are needed,” King said.

The decision to lower the restraint level came after a June 15 review by the brig commander, he said.

The seven Marines and Navy corpsman, all members of the Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines currently deployed in Iraq, were first confined to quarters in Iraq on May 12 after allegations rose over the April 26 death of an Iraqi man in the village of .

Families and defense attorneys representing three of the men had been complaining publicly and to base officials about the confinement measures that were imposed. The brig houses Marines and sailors who are awaiting court hearings or courts-martial as well as those convicted and serving a sentence.

Each of the men are in an 8-foot by 9-foot cells, alone, in a section called “special quarters,” where they receive their meals. Each gets one hour a day to spend at an enclosed outdoor courtyard, where they could exercise if they want, and they can meet with their attorneys in a small private room and with family members in a visitors’ room during weekend and holiday visiting hours.

Jeremiah Sullivan III, a San Diego attorney representing the sailor, a 20-year-old third-class hospital corpsman, has likened the conditions to worst than what convicted felons at the federal “Supermax” prison must endure.

David M. Brahms, a retired brigadier general and attorney in Carlsbad, Calif., who’s met with many of the families, is representing a 21-year-old lance corporal.

The men are “shafted and shackled in the worst conditions being imposed,” Brahms said June 14. “Saddam [Hussein] has a better circumstance than these guys.”

The eight men will remain in special quarters in individual cells, said Maj. Jeffrey Nyhart another base spokesman. Base officials say the brig, which is a Level II confinement facility, does not have “solitary confinement,” unlike prisons including Fort Leavenworth.

Mannie, mannie mannie.... The reason that many people do not understand that under the UCMJ a service member is guilty until proven innocent IS THAT IT FACTUALLY UNTRUE!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/27-1/Ch1.htm

Military Criminal Law

SOURCES OF AUTHORITY
The military justice system derives its authority from three major sources:

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
The Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM).
Army Regulation (AR) 27-10.

The UCMJ is a federal law and the basis of our military justice system. It determines what conduct is criminal, establishes the various types of courts, and sets forth the procedures to be followed in the administration of military justice. You can find the UCMJ in Appendix 2 of the MCM, United States, 1984 or in 10 United States Code (USC) §§801-940.

The MCM is an executive order that details the rules for administering military justice. For example, it sets forth the rules of evidence for courts-martial and contains a list of maximum punishments for each offense. Each company-size unit should have a copy of the MCM.

AR 27-10 supplements the MCM and is the basic Army regulation for administering military justice.

ROLE OF COMMANDERS
As company commanders, you are responsible for both enforcing the law and protecting soldiers' rights. Their discipline and morale may depend on how wisely you exercise your authority.

The military justice system needs adequate administrative support to work effectively. As a company commander, when you forward charges your involvement in a case does not end. In addition, you must ensure that the accused appears at all proceedings in a clean, proper uniform. You may also be required to provide witnesses, vehicles, drivers, escorts, and bailiff's from your unit. Military witnesses are especially important to the success of a proceeding. A court may dismiss a case when a witness is not available. Under no circumstances will you interfere with an accused's right to present witnesses at a court-martial or with the testimony of any witness. (See UCMJ, Article 37.)

RIGHTS OF SOLDIERS
The military justice system provides for certain fundamental rights and safeguards that must be considered in any case involving criminal conduct.

Presumption Of Innocence
Under our legal system, everyone is presumed innocent until a court finds them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A court may make a fair and just decision only after it has heard all the evidence relating to the guilt or innocence of an accused.