[Lancey Howard]

The emphasis in the last paragraph above was added by me.

[pissant]

Apparently, too many freepers are falling for this stinkbomb from the MSM/Jihadis

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Less than two days after coming home he [Briones] was charged with stealing a pickup truck, leaving the scene of the accident, driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest, the newspaper said.

Interesting, this is the first I have seen this mentioned. Maybe I missed it. But it does explain his mother's poor, poor baby attitude...it's not his fault, it's Iraq...

[jazusamo]

Here's a letter from Marine Lt. Pantano who was courts marshalled last year. He blasts Murtha for convicting these Marines in the media.

Mr. Murtha's Rush to Judgment
Sunday, May 28, 2006; B06
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.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company

[umgud]

The MSM is having orgasms at the thought of this being true. Trust me, they will do all they can to make it true also. I'll wait for the evidence.

[o_zarkman44]

Al Queda accidentally killed two of their allies from CBS today. Where is the outcry? Oh yeah, there was a soldier killed also and several wounded. Where is the outcry?
Oh and wasn't there another 50 or so Iraqis killed today by roadside bombs? Where is the outcry?

And wasn't a Marine killed in that village by a IED? And how is placement of an explosive of that magnitude not witnessed and covered for by the locals? Was there not an ambush set up by the barbarians? Was there a battle that lasted for 5 hours? yes! So what should the focus be on, the people who set up the ambush, or the Marines who finished their job and killed the ambushers?

I side with the Marines here. This whole story behind Murtha smells like a rat.

[Echo Talon]

everyone needs to remember this is "a few people" and not ALL of the military.

[skimask]

I just don't see a whole platoon of Marines doing this. I know Marines. I am a Marine. This just doesn't pass the smell test. I could be talking from my heart not my head, but this whole thing doesn't make sense.

Semper Fi

[RaceBannon]

bump

[Candor7]

Friendly Fire Incident.

[Kakaze]

There's going to have to be some really compelling evidence before I turn on this Marine unit. None of this so far passes the smell test.

[Peach]

"There's a ton of information that isn't out there yet," said one lawyer, who, like the others, would speak only on the condition of anonymity because a potential client has not been charged. The radio message traffic, he said, will provide a different view of the incident than has been presented by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) and other members of Congress. For example, he said, contrary to Murtha's account, it will show that the Marines came under small-arms fire after the roadside explosion.

One of the military lawyers said Nov. 19 was the 3rd Battalion's "hottest day" in Iraq, and was unusually violent even for al Anbar Province, which is where the insurgency began and where it remains extremely active.

In addition to drone surveillance that day, 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.

Also yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that a Marine said he photographed at least 15 bodies after the attack, which he said he was not involved in. Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, the first member of the unit to speak publicly about the incident, told the newspaper that after he took the pictures he helped remove bodies, including that of a young girl who had been shot in the head.

Briones indicated that since returning home to Hanford, Calif., he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the corpses he saw and carried that day. "They ranged from little babies to adult males and females," the Times quoted him as saying.

Less than two days after coming home he was charged with stealing a pickup truck, leaving the scene of the accident, driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest, the newspaper said.

----
Since when do Marines carry bodies in their arms? They have body bags, stretchers, etc. for this task.

[Captain Rhino]

We need to be extremely careful here.

As General Pace says, these are extremely serious allegations and they need to be thoroughly investigated and conclusions drawn based on real evidence.

It is true that Rep. Murtha and the MSM are working overtime to try and convict the accused Marines (along with the Marine Corps in general, the Armed Forces, and ultimately their real objective, the Bush administration) before there is even a trial. That's because they are all about headlines and working their particular political message. If the full truth is known, that's just an inconvenient byproduct of this process.

However, I am amazed by the tone of some of the comments here. They seem to suggest that, when badly provoked, it is somehow an acceptable act to shoot unarmed and unresisting civilians (especially women and children).

Stripped of all the defensive posturing, that's what has been alleged here: the deliberate shooting of unarmed and unresisting civilians. A number of the victims were children, one was only 4 years old. Murder was committed that day in Haditha and whether or not the Marines shoot them, the dead are still victims because SOMEONE shoot them to death that day. Whoever that someone was, it is going to take a heck of a lot of special circumstances to escape being charged with murder for these deaths.

It is true that civilians sometimes get caught in the middle of firefights between rival armed groups. It is true that sometimes civilians sympathize with and actively assist insurgents. It is true that insurgents often hide among the civilian population.

Stating all that only demonstrates how difficult and different fighting an insurgency is from fighting a conventional war. It also underscores the tremendous danger and strain such fighting places on the men and women who are in Iraq and Afghanistan confronting the enemy on our behalf. But we also insist that they be trained in how to lawfully conduct this difficult form of warfare and insist that they show good order and discipline in carrying out their combat tasks. And when discipline fails, as has been alleged here, we can't just shrug our shoulders and say "oh, well." The consequences of indiscipline on the battlefield, both immediate and long term, are just too great to be ignored.

As a retired Marine, I hope the evidence to lead to a dismissal of all charges. However, I also want justice to be done, even if it means owning up to some pretty unpleasant facts about unlawful acts committed by service members.

The reputation of the United States, its armed forces, the Marine Corps, and the profession of arms in general, requires that there be a thorough investigation of the allegations - no matter where that investigation may lead and no matter how ugly the details become. This is exactly what the armed forces is currently doing and should be doing. It is already an embarrassment that it took a TIME magazine report in February 2006 to prompt a DoD level examination of an incident in November 2005. There are allegations of a cover-up - in addition to the deaths - that must the addressed as well.

If there is evidence that real crimes were committed, the offenders must be charged, tried by a courts martial, and if evidence presented at the trial leads to a justly rendered guilty verdict for some (or all) of these Marines, then they must be punished.

We owe nothing less to the millions of Americans who, through their past and present honorable service in the armed forces, have created its reputation for honor, valor, and sacrifice.

[Just mythoughts]

Given who is on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, I expect the pictures to show up in the French media.

[Dilbert56]

My fondest hope is exoneration of the Marines leading to forced retirement of Murtha.