Posted on 01/02/2008 8:31:09 PM PST by smoothsailing
Do survivors of Haditha get apology?
The O-R has joined critics of Congressman Murtha in demanding that he apologize to ex-Marine Michael Sharrat for saying that Marines killed innocent civilians at Haditha, Iraq, though Murtha did not name Sharrat or anyone else. Fine. And who will apologize to the families, friends and neighbors of the 15 or more civilians, including women and children, who were killed there? Or is that a concern here?
Sharrat feels that his good name will remain in question, in spite of his commanding general's decision to drop the murder charges against him. Actually, he could request a courtmartial for precisely the purpose of definitively clearing his name. He "declined to discuss all aspects of the events of Nov. 19, 2005," meaning apparently most of the deaths, because of pending investigations of other Marines. Fair enough, though you dismiss with contempt Murtha's declining to discuss the case due to pending litigation; but a court-martial would force a full and fair review of all facts affecting Sharrat, and if his case is as strong as it appears to be from articles in the O-R, he should do so.
Of course, Murtha's attackers will howl with outrage at the suggestion, and accuse anyone making it of not supporting the troops, not withstanding that recent events have shown good relations with the communities in which they operate is the best protection our troops can have - and the hatred that an incident like Haditha can create can be, perhaps has been, deadly to them. But the strategy is to present Murtha's statement, not the dead women and children, as the problem. It seems to be working.
Murtha's anguished statement was provoked by the discovery that the initial report about what happened - that the civilians had been killed by a roadside bomb - was a lie (another fact that needs to be explained). His concern was with America's good name, and the Marine Corps'. These, as well as Sharrat's, can only be vindicated by full disclosure, and by dealing with all aspects of the tragic incident.
Joe Farrell
Cambridge, Ohio
Bump TO THE TOP!!!!
God bless ya, dad! *HUG*
How much longer is the American Public willing to let him trash the Consitution to further his political agenda?
As an aside, Joe was part of the administration of departing Mayor, Sam Salupo. Cambridge elected a new Mayor (Tom Orr), who will be assuming office here very shortly.
Greg Parks, Editor
The Daily Jeffersonian
831 Wheeling Ave
Cambridge, OH 43725
I'm thinking seriously of sending a little blurb about this to Greg Parks, and this pic would get some attention.
Know anything about it's attribution?
This is in reply to the letter from Joe Farrell about Rep. John Murtha and my son, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Justin was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps. Justin was and always will be a Marine, not an ex-Marine.
Justin was exonerated of all charges involving the Haditha incident in a military Article 32 hearing (the civilian equivalent of a grand jury.) The evidence exonerated my son, and the general officially dismissed the charges because the evidence showed him innocent. Full disclosure of this evidence and the Article 32 testimony appears on the Defend Our Marines web site.
My son owes no apology to these Iraqis. He honorably defended himself when four insurgents tried to take his life in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov.19 2005. When you point a weapon at a U.S. Marine in a combat zone, bad things happen. In this case, the bad guys died, and my son is with me today.
My family and Justin feel an apology from Murtha would be too little too late. Murtha needs to apologize to the American people. He denied the Haditha Marines their rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Murtha threw the Constitution of the United States "under the bus" to further his political agenda. How much more of the Constitution is he willing to trash to further his political agenda?
The American people are awaiting his answer.
Darryl Sharratt
Canonsburg
Great letter....glad they printed it.
It answers one jerk and indicts another.
Just, excellent!
Glad to see the O-R printed it, I hope murtha’s cronies all read it.
Great letter. I’d love to see it posted in the NYT, LAT, and WaPo, as well.
Super! I am glad it got printed.
Darryl’s letter deserves it own thread. I’m working on it. Thanks for the heads up!
My family and Justin feel an apology from Murtha would be too little too late.
Murtha needs to apologize to the American people.
The only way an apology would be considered by me, as one of those Americans, would be after he mouthed his scripted apology he would say;
"And now, as restitution for being one of the biggest, treasonous, crookedest, perfidious, unscrupulous, unpatriotic pieces of excrement that ever took up space on planet earth, I hereby RESIGN my hot seat in the US CONgress, forfeiting any and all benefits that would normally accompany my retirement. To show my good faith and sincerity in this matter, my office will be vacated by 3:00 PM this afternoon."
"Certified checks have been sent to each of the honorable Haditha Marines, that I so calculatingly and premeditatively slandered, for full payment of the defense costs incurred as they were forced to hire attorneys to defend themselves against the horrific circumstances that my traitorous actions brought down upon them."
"Further, I have set up accounts for each of the these magnificent Marines, that I despise, in the amount of $1,000,000.00, to use in any way they see fit, in the hope that one of these brave, outstanding American heroes, who I have treated so shamefully, will one day find it in their hearts to forgive me. In begging forgiveness of the American people, I have also started trust funds for each of the children and future children of these wonderful men. I hope one American can see clear to forgive this old, dilapidated, decrepit, criminal EX-marine.
I'm John "they killed innocent civilians in cold blood" al Murthawi and I approve this message.
I'm not saying I would accept the apology, but it would be a START!
Yay, Justie!!!!! The mirror on my wall has always said you’re the fairest of them all!
Ha! You only love me because I’ll take the heat! ;*)
Excellent, smooth!
Can you see the picture now?
Ha! Nice spin! Stealing the covers isn't the same as taking the heat!
LOL! Hey, I’m studying the “Spin Machine” book diligently these days. ;*)
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