Posted on 08/10/2007 6:05:34 AM PDT by yoe
We noted (here) that the prosecution of some, at least, of the Marines accused of committing murder at Haditha appeared to be crumbling. Sure enough: today, Lt. Gen. Jim Mattis, head of Marine Corps Forces-Central Command, (dismissed all charges against two of the Marines), Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy Stone, a lawyer who was the infantry battalion’s staff judge advocate.
As to these individuals, at least, the dismissal can be taken as proof that they were innocent. Lt. Gen. Mattis wrote eloquently about the conditions under which Marines in Iraq are required to make split-second decisions. I haven't seen the complete text of his decision, but these quotes are from the Navy Times account:
Sharratt, he wrote, “has served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq where our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians. “The challenges of this combat environment put extreme pressures on our Marines,” Mattis wrote. “Notwithstanding, operational, moral and legal imperatives demand that we Marines stay true to our own standards and maintain compliance with the law of war in this morally bruising environment.
“With the dismissal of these charges, LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat,” Mattis added. “And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law — and in my eyes — innocent.”
Mattis, in issuing his decisions, acknowledged the difficulties that infantrymen face in a combat zone, particularly in a counterinsurgency environment. “The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally,” he wrote, citing the writings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., an infantryman during the Civil War, who described war as an “incommunicable experience.”
Holmes, Mattis wrote, “has also noted elsewhere that ‘detached reflection cannot be demanded in the face of an uplifted knife.’ Marines have a well earned reputation for remaining cool in the face of enemies brandishing much more than knives. The brutal reality that Justice Holmes described is experienced each day in Iraq, where Marines willingly put themselves at great risk to protect innocent civilians.
“Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield,” he added. “Our way is right, but it is also difficult.”
These Marines are among those whom Mad Jack Murtha pronounced guilty on, he implied, inside information. Murtha, one of the most disgraceful of all (Congressional Democrats, claimed) that our Marines, including Lance Cpl. Sharratt, "executed civilians in cold blood." Murtha was wrong. Surely an apology to Lance Cpl. Sharratt and Capt. Stone will be forthcoming? Mad Jack's phone number is (202) 225-2065. It will take only a minute to ask his staff about the status of his apology to the now-cleared Marines.
If you only could. I tried last night to call and e-mail with no success. There is no Washington phone number and if you do not live in his district you cannot e-mail him, you talk about insulated.
Call Me at . . .
800-289-2642 from Western PA
(or)
814-535-2642
(or)
202-225-2065
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