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| Michelle Malkin : The truth about Haditha |
| 2006-05-31 |
| Democrat Rep. John "Cut and Run" Murtha thinks he knows the truth about Haditha -- and he has been blabbing it to every last cable show host that will host him. The loose-lipped former Marine has accused troops of wantonly killing some two dozen civilians, including children, "in cold blood" in the terrorist stronghold in Iraq last November. There are two ongoing military investigations into the incident itself and the actions of higher-ups in the Haditha aftermath. Let me repeat that: The investigations are ongoing. Not complete. Official reports aren't expected for several weeks. I do not know the truth about Haditha. Neither do Murtha and the media outlets calling the alleged massacre a massacre before all the facts are in. It would be helpful if they could handle these grave charges without serving as al Jazeera satellite offices. GOP Sen. John Warner, who like Murtha also served in the Marines, struck the right tone over the weekend -- refusing, unlike Murtha, to render a verdict against the Marines before trial and avoiding Bush Derangement Syndrome, but also taking the allegations very seriously. I do know this. Children are dead. Other children have been orphaned. There are pictures of bullet holes and bloodied homes. There are evolving stories about what happened last Nov. 19 and serious allegations of a possible cover-up. I also know this: Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, the Marine who was killed by a roadside IED (improvised explosive device) that day, followed a proud family tradition of military service. He had received a commendation for bravery on his first tour of duty in Iraq in 2004. One of his fellow Marines said Terrazas's body was split in two by the bomb explosion that rocked his Hummer while on patrol that morning. And there's this: Haditha is crawling with terrorists. The Associated Press points out that "in just three days last August, six Marine snipers were killed in Haditha and 14 Marines died in nearby Parwana in the deadliest roadside bombing of the war." Most-wanted al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is reported to have lived in Haditha. The Washington Post quoted a military lawyer noting that Nov. 19 was the Marine 3rd Battalion's "hottest day" in Iraq. "In addition to drone surveillance that day," the paper reported, "AV-8 Harriers were dropping bombs, helicopters were evacuating wounded, and a large firefight occurred about one-third of a mile from the site of the civilian shootings, said several people familiar with the investigation." Audio of radio traffic that day reportedly contradicts Rep. Murtha's claim that the Marines did not come under small-arms fire after the roadside explosion, according to one of the Post's military sources. We know this, too: Naval Criminal Investigative Service officials have not turned their backs. Time magazine, which initially broke the story of survivors' accounts that prompted the military probe, reports that Haditha residents -- who have yet to be visited by any of Iraq's own officials -- "were gratified by [the investigation's] thoroughness" and "were especially impressed by the NCIS investigators" conducting three separate enquiries. Finally, there is this incontrovertible fact: There are countless numbers of anti-war zealots on the American Left rooting for failure. They believe the worst about the troops. They've blindly embraced frauds who've lied about their military service and lied about wartime atrocities. They've allied themselves with socialist kooks and coddled murderous dictators. They are looking for any excuse to pull out, abandon military operations and reconstruction, and impeach the president. They insist on giving suspected foreign terrorists more benefit of the doubt than our own men and women in uniform. And that, I know, I am not willing to do. I will wait. I will pray. And I will remind you that while the murder of civilians is and remains an anomaly in American military history, it is the jihadists' way of life. Michelle Malkin is author of the new book "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild." Her e-mail address is malkin@comcast.net. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #18 America should also know that many insurgents are armed wid US-manufactured weapons, either captured, found, supplied by foreign sources or bought on the black market, not just the Commie types; plus as times before have shown, many insurgents have used women, children, andor elderly civilians, including family members, as "human shields" both before and during firefights against US-Allied forces, to include unilaterally executing them wid US-type weapons just to blame the deaths on American soldiers. WAIT FOR THE FACTS, KEEP AN OPEN MIND. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-31 23:15 |
| #17 The point is it is still under investigation. When they formally charge the Marines there will be more to the story, or not. Murtha ia a pig that is tainting the Corps and is an embarasment to our nation. Bad things do happen in war, a Marine was literally cut in two and another hurt. The hurt Marine that was running his mouth was on TV today said he was knocked out the whole time and saw nothing but it was bad. This whole thing reeks of leftie politics. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-05-31 20:47 |
| #16 nice shot, Ed, I like it! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-31 18:38 |
| #15 Sounds a campaign negative ad has written itself. Murtha: Pull out of Somalia Bin Laden: Somalia proved America is paper tiger WTC footage. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-31 18:31 |
| #14 Anybody ever hear of Murtha before his cut-and-run plan? Yeah, he's the guy who pursuaded Clinton to cut and run after the Blackhawk went down in Somalia. He's pulling the same shit again wrt Iraq. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-31 17:35 |
| #13 Where have I heard this before? To paraphrase Yogi Berra "deja vu all over again". |
| Posted by: Jinelet Omath5090 2006-05-31 17:33 |
| #12 Anybody ever hear of Murtha before his cut-and-run plan? The gentleman has got himself into a feedback loop in which the more anti-military his comments are, the more positive reinforcement he gets in the form of PR and adulation from the left. Publicity is to politicians as food pellets are to rats. |
| Posted by: Matt 2006-05-31 13:24 |
| #11 This whole incident says more about Murtha than anything else. How could any patriotic American make such an allegation against our brave men and women in the absence of all the facts? Is Murtha's ambition for being "right" more important than defending the country he represents? You know the answer, and it's disgusting. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-05-31 13:00 |
| #10 After Malmedy, the order went out: SS and Fallschirmjäger were to be shot on sight. No... the word went out - big difference. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-31 12:54 |
| #9 What we need to do is associate Murtha with the incident. i.e. Murtha's marines killing innocent children. Keep his name on the issue. Drive that bastard to an early grave. That Murtha, that baby killer. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-05-31 11:55 |
| #8 Well we don't have any conclusion to the investigation yet, so I'm reserving judgement. If the accusations prove to be true however, how do you equate the execution of women and children with the shooting under orders of SS and Fallschirmjäger troops? |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-31 11:32 |
| #7 The "truth" is...bad stuff happens in wartime. There is a memorial to the Malmedy fallen at Baugnez. After Malmedy, the order went out: SS and Fallschirmjäger were to be shot on sight. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-31 09:32 |
| #6 • Muslims have to bury the bodies before the next sundown, I believe. Were any of the bodies ever autopsied by US authorities? You mean a good 'CSI' type exam. Probably not. It'll be a point in any trial. Given particularly that the US in it great wisdom and misplaced heart PAYS families of non-boom-etts for injury and death. Not that any scam would be involved with members of the clan to convince the good examiner to only list bullet damage and no bomb damage to the bodies. And its not like anyone would be so crass to upset the locals by unearthing the bodies for a more complete 'western' exam for legal purposes. |
| Posted by: Slasing Spert8394 2006-05-31 08:56 |
| #5 It isn't the things Murtha says about his 'fellow' Marines that bothers me. It's the glee with which he says them, along with every other leftie. They WANT the US to fail. They WANT atrocities and embarassments to occur. A rational human being can only conclude they loathe their own country. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-31 08:48 |
| #4 Murtha needs put in a small room with several Marines. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-05-31 08:15 |
| #3 By most accounts, Haditha seems to be under the control of the Islamists. Has anyone considered that this was a disinformation op much like the "wedding party" near the Syrian border some time ago? That perhaps the family had cooperated with the Marines and that Jihadis went in immediately afterward and executed them as collaborators with the survivors understanding, under threat of death, that they would testify that the Americans did it? I'm just tossing this out as a hypothetical. Just as it would be wrong to assume that no US service member could never snap and massacre innocents; it would be stupid to assume that the Jihadis wouldn't be capable of such a sophisticated operation since they've shown such capabilities in the past. Some of the questions I've been asking myself in preparation of the release of the official report are • Muslims have to bury the bodies before the next sundown, I believe. Were any of the bodies ever autopsied by US authorities? • Do the Jihadis have access to US firearms? Did ballistics tests match any recovered rounds to the Marines' rifles and pistols? • A fire team is being accused of the deaths. A fire team is unlikely to operate on its own in such a hostile environment. There would have been other squad, and likely platoon, elements within overwatch distance. What did they hear or see? • How could a fire team (3-4 men) have "controlled" such a large area -- supposedly several houses and a taxi stand -- without most of the occupants fleeing after the first shots? These are all questions that I hope that the defense lawyers are asking. I doubt that anyone in the MSM will. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2006-05-31 08:13 |
| #2 If they had just razed the town in a bombing raid there would have been no legal problem here. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-31 08:07 |
| #1 I'm not a big fan of her writing, but I must admit she has the agitprop from the right down pat. And normally I agree with her sentiments, although I frequently dispute her aguements. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-05-31 07:56 |