Haditha: The Collapse of a Liberal Fiction

Townhall ^ | April 2, 2008 | Michael Reagan

[RedRover]

Film at eleven.

[lilycicero]

Is that zulu time?

[RedRover]

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

[lilycicero]

Well I don’t want to get behind.

[houstonman58]

"There's a lot of frustration with President Bush and a lot of questions unanswered right now, but unless you can cite something substantial to support that claim, you're spreading urban legends."

Actually President Bush did order it, (PC training for the Marines, and for the entire U.S. forces), and he did it immediately after the Haditha allegations. Here's a couple quotes from news sources on
June 1, 2006.

"As military professionals, it is important that we take time to reflect on the values that separate us from our enemies," Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the No. 2 U.S. general in Iraq, said in a statement. "The challenge for us is to make sure the actions of a few do not tarnish the good work of the many." -
June 1, 2006

"Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for the Multinational Force-Iraq, told a Baghdad news briefing that the training was designed to reinforce what troops learned before coming to Iraq. It will focus on "values and looking at the legal, moral and ethical standards that every one of us in uniform here, as guests of the Iraqi government, need to adhere to," he said. ---
"The coalition does not and will not tolerate any unethical or criminal behavior. All allegations of such activity will be fully investigated," he said" - June 1, 2006.

It's so nauseatingly clear that our guys were railroaded by their own leaders, all the way to Bush, from the get-go. If you believe that the timing of Bush's order's for this special PC training just happened to be a "coincidence" with Haditha, then that's your right. But as for me, I think I understand why he did it ......... to appease the condemnations by al-Maliki, and to save face for himself with world opinion.

[GVnana]

Bump.

[BnBlFlag]

“The Bush DOJ is backing Murtha and has appealed the decision. So that’s where the matter rests. The family has limited resources to fight Murtha in court, and he is using that to his advantage.”

Bears repeating.

[4woodenboats]

Neither President Bush or General Pace is in either of those qoutes. The only thing you're citing is what two men did based on news reports to back up your assumption of what two other men did.

In other words, you're guessing that Bush ordered Pace to intiate PC training, but you don't know. It could have been Navy Secretary Winters, the DOD, and who knows, maybe it was Bush, with or without any input from his Generals in the field, but you haven't proven it. All you did was throw in a guess and a rant in a forum where a heck of a lot of people are spending a tremendous amount of time trying to find out what really happened, and exactly who is responsible.

There's nothing wrong with a good guess and a great rant, just don't claim them to be fact unless you can prove it.

[kellynla]

Thanks to Talk Radio, Cable Television & the Internet; today’s American military will be exonerated unlike those of us who served in Viet Nam.

Marines weren’t “mass murderers” then, and these Marines aren’t “mass murderers” now!
It’s just not in our DNA.

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[houstonman58]

"Neither President Bush or General Pace is in either of those qoutes. The only thing you're citing is what two men did based on news reports to back up your assumption of what two other men did."

Generals don't have the authority to randomly initiate such massive PC training for 140,000 troops, all of them in a war zone. Only a fool would believe that two high ranking generals could formulate and initiate this training without authority from the high command, (General Pace). And even Pace would need to inform the Secretary of Defense, who in turn would get Bush's OK. And since this whole thing is about political correctness you can rest assured that Bush either ordered it or at least OK'd it. And neither would, nor could the generals do such a thing without notifying the Secretary of Defense for his approval. So no matter how you slice it, the CiC either formed it himself, had his military high command formulate it, or gave it his seal of approval.

Now, even if your assumption is correct, and it certainly is not, then we can at least lay the claim that two high ranking generals spoke words and took action that would tend to make the accused Marines at Haditha look guilty. They made strong, pointed comments about "investigating all allegations of abuse and unauthorized use of force", and such statements as "we will prosecute any soldier who is alleged by Iraqi authorities of committing these crimes." Those were paraphrases, but the damning content is accurate, and the statements were made in the immediate aftermath of the Haditha allegations. These Generals damned those brave Marines before they even had a trial, or had a chance to speak. And the generals could not have made such public statements, or inaugurated the massive PC training for all troops in Iraq and stationed elsewhere, without authorization from the highest command, the CiC.

[4woodenboats]

Now, even if your assumption is correct, and it certainly is not

Interesting. In a post laden with at least a dozen assumptions and a handful of generalities, you accuse me of making an incorrect assumption where I have only stated fact.

Perhaps if you spent bit less time spinning and spent it educating yourself at the links listed in my tagline, you could offer some insight that others may have missed...or who knows, maybe you could find facts in other places no one else has found - if you looked.

[ArmyTeach]

I think Murtha himself is too protected. He's untouchable slime.

[ArmyTeach]

I've always wondered ... Consider the testimony of the little girl who survived the incident. She testified that they know about the attack a day in advance. In her own words, she said that she was told to cover her ears immediately prior to the blast. How ‘innocent’ could these civilians be? What parent, what man would permit his family to be exposed to such dangers if he were not complicit?