Marine officials briefed members of House Armed Services about 10 days ago. In turn Murtha and Duncan Hunter held news conferences. Hunter didn't say much and Murtha did.
I said it when I first heard about the Marine briefing that someone is trying to soften the blow and I still feel that way. I believe the Commandant is in Iraq right now talking to the troops.
The timing is being driven by the fact there are two investigations going on, and both will be released in the coming days.
I think people are forgetting the impact that My Lai had on the military and the country as a whole. And, it wasn't just the massacre, it was the cover-up. If this goes higher than the Bn CO who has already been relieved, this will have a big impact too.
From the report in the Washington Post story this morning, the details of this incident are going to be just about as bad as they can be.
There are eyewitnesses, and Iraqi fathers begging for the lives of their children before they are shot.
Everybody on FR for the last week has been discounting press reports and saying that there was crossfire.
From the eyewitnesses, there was no crossfire. There was an out-of-control commander who methodically led 11 other men into three houses, killing every single person in those houses, save one 13 year old girl, who fainted and was thought to be dead because she had her sister's blood on her face.
This is not going to be good.