Posted on 11/23/2007 10:27:30 AM PST by smoothsailing
Murtha's Mistake
Slandering the Marine Corps.
by Christian Lowe
11/23/2007
ON MAY 17, 2006, outspoken Bush critic and erstwhile Iraq war opponent John Murtha (D-Pa.) shocked the world with a dramatic revelation.
At a news conference he'd convened to talk about "the situation in Iraq," the formerly pro-military lawmaker dropped a bomb on the Marine Corps when he revealed in his 24 minute presser that troops with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment had mowed down innocent civilians in a previously unknown town in north western Iraq called Haditha.
In stark language he accused the Corps of a massive cover-up and made the case that the Marines ran amok in a war with no direction. More shockingly, and without any corroborating evidence, he called the Marines involved in the bloody ambush and ensuing firefight cold-blooded killers.
"We had an incident in Haditha where a Marine was killed by an IED. Time magazine reported it and it's kind of a puzzling report because they're investigating it right now. But let me tell you what the consequences of this have been. It's much worse than has been reported in Time magazine," Murtha said at the press conference. "There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
Murtha was one of a reported handful of lawmakers briefed in confidence on the incident by then Marine Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee earlier that month.
"That's what the report is going to tell," Murtha added. "Now you can imagine the impact this is going to have on those troops for the rest of their lives and on the United States in our war, in our effort, trying to win the hearts and minds."
Not to mention the impact of Murtha's disclosure on the lives of those Marines and on U.S. foreign policy before any official findings or formal charges had been brought in the incident.
The accusation led to a firestorm of recriminations, prompting high-level investigations in Iraq, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe, and a trip to Capitol Hill by Hagee to brief more curious lawmakers caught off guard by the scandalous charge.
Rather than take Murtha's bait and reflexively admit guilt in the scandal, the Corps opted for a more deliberate approach by methodically investigating the incident, compiling both sides of the story--Iraqi and American--and finally arriving at criminal charges against eight key players in the incident.
For those of you who might need a refresher, here's the basic outline:
During a late night patrol in Haditha in November of 2005, a squad of Marines was ambushed by a roadside bomb that killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. The Marines claimed they were then engaged by insurgents hiding in some houses adjacent to the bomb, so they stormed the buildings to clear them of enemy gunmen. When the dust settled, 24 Iraqis lay dead, including several women and children. An Iraq civil rights group, working with Time magazine, claimed the Marines overreacted and wantonly slaughtered the civilians.
From the outside, things didn't look good for the Corps.
But the subsequent investigation found the Marines acted within the rules of engagement--clearing the rooms "by fire" instead of waiting to be shot at when they entered. This is a controversial practice for sure--throwing a grenade in the room before you know who's in there can have tragic results, as this incident did. But it's important to recognize that Haditha was a perilous place in those days, and Marines had already learned the hard way in Fallujah that opening a door in a house from which you've received fire could mean an up close and personal encounter with the barrel of an AK-47. This time, they weren't taking any chances.
That's why over the last several months, a military court in California has dismissed charges against four of the seven Marines and one Navy corpsman charged in the incident. One officer, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani who commanded 3/1, was ordered to trial for dereliction of duty for not reporting the incident and violation of a lawful order. Another officer, a 1st lieutenant who commanded the intelligence cell that responded to the scene after the shootout, has just begun his Article 32 hearing--the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation.
Two other officers have had their charges thrown out.
So far, one enlisted Marine and the corpsman involved in the incident have had their charges erased, and a third, squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is still awaiting a decision on whether his case merits a trial--though an officer involved in the Article 32 hearings has suggested he face seven charges of negligent manslaughter, rather than 17 murder charges.
One enlisted man has been ordered to trial on two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
So has John Murtha, a decorated former Marine himself, apologized for a very public display of contempt for the then uncharged Marines? When confronted with the current state of affairs and asked at a Nov. 20 press conference whether he stood by his May 2006 claim that these Marines were cold-blooded killers, he refused to comment, first hiding behind the excuse that the case was still in the courts. When pressed that four of the accused had been exonerated already, he continued his silence.
Of course, that didn't stop him back in May 2006, just months before the congressional elections that flipped the House and Senate on an anti-war platform, from making accusations that proved untrue.
One has to wonder whether the Vietnam veteran will be held to account for his earlier rhetoric. Certainly, at the very least, he owes the innocent Marines he accused of cold-blooded murder an apology.
Christian Lowe is managing editor of Military.com and is a contributing writer to THE DAILY STANDARD.
© Copyright 2007, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.
Did ya’ll see this?
Russell said he can succeed where Irey failed because at the time of her campaign people did not know that one of the Marines who had been charged in the Haditha case was a man from the 12th Congressional District. Justin Sharatt, who grew up in Canonsburg, had been accused of premeditated murder but the charges were later dropped. Sharratt will be traveling with Russell on Monday.
State Republican Party communications director Mike Barley said the party does not know much about Russell yet, but is trying to set up a time to meet him.
“Obviously we have to look at everyone and vet them and choose the best candidate,” Barley said.
The party is actively seeking a nominee to run against Murtha, he said.
http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2007/11/17/news/news908.txt
‘Pendleton 8’ (Hamdania NOT Haditha) Documentary in Production
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Friday, November 16, 2007
NORTH COUNTY — A New York filmmaker is in North County this week conducting interviews for a documentary about eight Camp Pendleton troops convicted this year of offenses arising out of the kidnapping and killing of an Iraqi man.
Don Sikorski said Wednesday that his film, “Article 32,” will focus on the seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman charged in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired Iraqi policeman who was kidnapped from his home in the village of Hamdania and shot to death.
The April 26, 2006, incident led to murder charges against all eight men. Seven were convicted of lesser offenses.
After being incarcerated for several months, all are now free except for the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, who was convicted by a military jury at Camp Pendleton of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
See the trailer here:
http://www.article32film.com/
(All are referred to as soldiers!)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/17/military/3_00_5811_16_07.txt
Dicks in Iraq
or....
Wary Democrats keep a light on at Capitol
Alicia Mundy
Seattle Times Washington bureau
As Thanksgiving loomed, Norm Dicks went to Iraq, Brian Baird went up in popularity with conservative Republicans, and Maria Cantwell went to Cambodia.
Dicks, D-Bremerton, traveled with his friend Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the Defense Appropriations Committee. They both voted for the war in 2002 and now oppose it.
Dicks is troubled by news reports that some U.S. military leaders believe the Iraqi government has wasted the breathing room provided by this year’s troop escalation.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004032282_aliciacol24m.html
Our tax dollars are defending Murtha. I expect the Marine is having to pay for a civilian lawyer - if the article mentioned a name, I missed it.
Sorry for the multiple pings, I haven’t seen any of this news. This is a link to video of William Trower Russell III on the anniversary of Haditha, announcing his campaign-with Darryl Sharratt.
LOL! Good one!!!
I once referred to one of our wounded warriors at WR as a soldier. He looked at me sternly and said; "Ma'am, I am a MARINE!"
Never made that mistake again. ;*)
The 6th Wednesday of February.
With God’s will!
Hah! If Gates would try shuffling those earmarks he’d get the attention of the traitorous Dems in a hurry.
Brian Baird is my Rep and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d support it after the recent stance he’s taken on Iraq. I’m going to contact his office and try to find out what he thinks.
It was NOVEMBER 2005 and he later said the Marines had " killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
BTW, if Gleason is still PA-Chairman no viable candidate will ever be supported by the party there. If Gleason supports him, my guess would be he is indeed a carpetbagger.
I like your title much better...it made me do a double take! ;*)
You're right!! As long as Gleason is PA-Chairman, PA doesn't have a Repub party, IMO.
G’morning jaz! I concur. The guy makes my skin crawl! ewwww
Keep me ‘posted’ : )
; )
And all Marines in or out of active duty are still Marines.
The only Marine that qualifies as an Ex-Marine is Murtha.
Will do, Ma, if I can find out anything.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.