I'm kicking his a$$. Let the military handle it's own investigations. He should keep his mouth shut about it until the investigations are completed. Marines hold themselves to a higher standard than anyone else on earth. I would bet my life that it will be found that there was no wrong doing here. We don't have the facts. He, Murtha, doesn't have the facts. The constant discussion on this by left wing, anti Bush, politicians is going to cost even more American deaths. If there are concerns, address them to the Corps, and let them handle it. This man has sold out his loyalty to the Corps for political gains. May he suffer. This SOB is making Marines out to be savages. He is undermining our mission in Iraq without just cause. He wants us to fail. He wants Bush to fail. If the army would do it's job, Marines wouldn't need to be used in Iraq at this point anyway. We are not an occupying force. We are an expeditionary force to be used to gain a foothold and then move on. The army is the peacekeepers and occupiers. Mission of a Marine Corps rifle squad.... Locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver. Repel the enemies assault by fire and close combat. Not peacekeepers. Warriors. Murtha's actions are treason because he knows what the fallout will be in country. He doesn't care about the American fighting men, as long as he can accomplish his political goals. May he suffer.
I agree that we need to hear all of the facts here before making assumptions. The facts still haven't been officially released even though this story is 6 months old. But right now Murtha is one of the few people outside the Pentagon who has seen the official report. He knows what is there. Nothing Murtha has said constitutes treason. The military has investigated and the UCMJ is strict. Some key congressmen were just given an early look at the findings. The report will be public soon. But where there is smoke there is often fire. The top Republican senator that was given an early look at the report is also concerned. And he is another hawkish ex-Marine like Murtha. WASHINGTON POST Republican John W. Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also raised the issue of whether the military chain of command reacted properly and legally. "There is this serious question . . . of what happened and when it happened, and what was the immediate reaction of the senior officers in the Marine Corps when they began to gain knowledge of it," he said on the same program. He added, "That is seriously a question that is going to be examined." Warner said he intends to hold hearings on the Haditha incident as soon as he can without interfering with the prosecution of criminal charges, which are expected to be brought this summer. If this turns out to be another My Lai, it will definitely be worse than Ab Gharaib. Far, far worse.
The way it is being handled is treason, red. For the sake of American interest, this should be handled quietly, not in the public eye. His reasons for doing this are highly suspect. He couldn't care less about any Iraqi civilian. He wants to take Bush, and the republicans, down another notch. In doing so, he is damning more American fighting men to die. He is well aware of the consequences of his actions, and doesn't care.
I thought this was a interesting statement on this situation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/27/AR2006052700846_pf.html Mr. Murtha's Rush to Judgment [SIZE=-1]Sunday, May 28, 2006; B06[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1] [/SIZE] A year ago I was charged with two counts of premeditated murder and with other war crimes related to my service in Iraq. My wife and mother sat in a Camp Lejeune courtroom for five days while prosecutors painted me as a monster; then autopsy evidence blew their case out of the water, and the Marine Corps dropped all charges against me ["Marine Officer Cleared in Killing of Two Iraqis," news story, May 27, 2005]. So I know something about rushing to judgment, which is why I am so disturbed by the remarks of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) regarding the Haditha incident ["Death Toll Rises in Haditha Attack, GOP Leader Says," news story, May 20]. Mr. Murtha said, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." In the United States, we have a civil and military court system that relies on an investigatory and judicial process to make determinations based on evidence. The system is not served by such grand pronouncements of horror and guilt without the accuser even having read the investigative report. Mr. Murtha's position is particularly suspect when he is quoted by news services as saying that the strain of deployment "has caused them [the Marines] to crack in situations like this." Not only is he certain of the Marines' guilt but he claims to know the cause, which he conveniently attributes to a policy he opposes. Members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq need more than Mr. Murtha's pseudo-sympathy. They need leaders to stand with them even in the hardest of times. Let the courts decide if these Marines are guilty. They haven't even been charged with a crime yet, so it is premature to presume their guilt -- unless that presumption is tied to a political motive. ILARIO PANTANO Jacksonville, N.C. The writer served as a Marine enlisted man in the Persian Gulf War and most recently as a platoon commander in Iraq.
While I do think any investigations, trials, and punishments should be handled internally by the Marine Corps I think the concusions you draw are extreme. The American public definately has a right to know what its military does while fighting overseas. I just wish more of the positive things they do would e reported on.
I understand, Salty, and it has been handled quietly for 6 months. Perhaps too quietly, since an investigation into a coverup has been made. But the report will be made public in June and two separate investigations are acknowledged to be underway. I think Murtha is concerned that a few bad apples who broke discipline should have been quickly addressed instead of supressed, lest it make the whole Corps look bad. The Arab press has been talking Haditha up for months, now. The story has been out for quite some time. What they are waiting for now is to see how the US handles the situation. Straightfoward and truthfully I hope. We do not need this to snowball. I doubt if Republican John Warner, who plans to start a Senate Armed Services Committee investigation of the Haditha incident, is trying to take Bush and the Republicans down. Let's wait and see what the report says. We just don't know enough right now. Murtha could turn out be misinformed, but as a Congressman he is doing his duty to be truthful to the public about the matter. Treason is something else entirely.
