Another Defendant in 'Haditha' Cleared(In case you hadn't already heard!)

worldnetdaily.com ^ | March 28, 2008 | staff

[kellynla]

Charges against a fifth Marine over a firefight with insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005 have been dropped, leaving counts pending now against only three of the eight originally accused by military authorities after U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., launched a verbal assault on the U.S. military forces.

Charges already had been reduced against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum from murder to involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.

But the military announced today, just before his court martial was scheduled to begin, that even those charges had been dismissed "in order to continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident," according to a statement from Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.

Four Marines originally were accused of murder and four officers accused of covering up the incident.

The military statement did not make clear whether Tatum agreed to testify in return, or whether charges could be re-filed in the future, according to Agence France-Presse.

[kellynla]

As I predicted when they were first accused; my fellow Marines will be exonerated.

Jack Murtha owes the Corps an apology!

Semper Fi, Kelly

[Mr. Peabody]

Are there any lawsuits against Murtha? What he did, in the middle of a war, is outrageous!

[JeeperFreeper]

So does Rumsfeld and Bush ; this generation’s McNamara and Johnson. This malicious and fraudulent prosecution was organized and led from the very top of the chain of command.

[smoothsailing]

[Grimmy]

POS Murtha owes a lot of families a lot of legal expenses and for true pain and suffering.

[ronnie raygun]

MURTHA WHERE ARE YOU! I would demand a televised apology from him!

[ziravan]

Heroes.

What else need be said.

Thanks guys and prayers up for the remaining three.

~faith.

[missnry]

[eyedigress]

Jack Murtha is a complete power hungry ass. He makes me sick.

[peeps36]

Jackass Murtha owes our Marines much more than any hollow apology could give. He is a sorry excuse for a scumbag, never mind a Marine. He should be spit on every time he crosses paths with an American. I would also like to know who else was involved in this shameful act of screwing our Marines. I know Murtha’s reasons but what was the reason the for the prosecutors and others higher up the chain of command, possibly all the way to the top? Why would they want to destroy the lives and careers of these Marines and increase attacks on Marines still fighting in the field? This case stinks something terrible. It makes me wonder about the loyalties of those involved.

[kellynla]

I wish the Corps would have activated Murtha so they could court martial him. BIG SMILE

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[kellynla]

It’s just politics...

the Sec. of the Navy probably got squeezed by the Bush administration and they tried to “railroad” these Marines.

Tough to do with no autopsy and aerial video substantiating the entire firefight as reported by the involved Marines.

“We believe the video did indeed show that the Marines had encountered insurgents and had taken appropriate action. We believe the video evidence was important in helping exonerate several of the Marines present from charges they engaged in misconduct during the incident”
NEWSMAX
10/5/2007

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[AndyJackson]

the Sec. of the Navy probably got squeezed by the Bush administration and they tried to “railroad” these Marines.

Bush has broken faith with servicemen and women everywhere. His shadow prosecution team is beyond the pale.