Posted on 05/30/2006 10:13:00 AM PDT by pissant
WASHINGTON - Military investigators piecing together what happened in the Iraqi town of Al-Hadithah on Nov. 19, 2005 -- when Marines allegedly killed two dozen civilians -- have access to video shot by a pilotless aircraft that was circling overhead for at least part of that day, military defense attorneys familiar with the case said in interviews.
It is unclear whether the video obtained from that day's flight captured the violence, said the attorneys, who have consulted with Marines who were there. One attorney said investigators have reviewed surveillance footage taken hours after the shootings, which showed the Marines returning to the town to remove the bodies of the Iraqis.
Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said charges will be issued if the evidence merits it. For now, ``it would be premature for me to judge'' the outcome of the two U.S. military investigations, Pace said on CBS's ``The Early Show.''
(snip...Please Read Carefully below)
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
"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.
Compare that to what the SJ Mercury News version
``There's a ton of information that isn't out there yet,'' said one attorney, 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 show that the Marines came under small-arms fire after the explosion.
WHY DID THEY LEAVE OUT THE DEFENSE LAWYERS CHARGE THAT THE INFO REFUTES MURTHA'S VERSION OF EVENTS?
Why do you think they did?
Someone ought to ask Murtha and Pelosi whether this matter should be tried before the International War Crimes Tribunal. Their answers might be enlightening.
I know exactly why. The same reason that with scant evidence that has been leaked about this case, the MSM has nevertheless run hundreds and hundreds of headlining stories about the case, without seeking any contrarian points of view.
Damn, let's get Carl Cameron or Major Garret on that. Great idea.
For the same reason that vultures follow hungry lions around, they have the same objective.
Well put.
Thought you might be interested...
Thanks LEL, I shoulda Pinged him
When the Washington Post admits that a Democrat lied about US Marines serving in a forward area, that Democrat should be toast.
They "misremembered".
They "can't recall".
Murtha is lying. He may have part of the story correct, but he does not have it all correct. And Irey oughta hammer this traitor, regardless for being a prpagandist for the enemy.
Wardrobe malfunction
During WWII, the Allies often used Polish units when prisoners were not wanted. Where are the Kurdish units?
Great post, thanks! (And it's not often I say that to Pissant! :-D )
I am particularly saddened wen we have someone like Murtha running his sorry mouth about an issue he knows no more about than I know about it. I'm anxious to see these fellows either charged or exonorated by the higher ups. I also feel that if they are not charged, there damn well better be some big-assed apologies given not only from Murtha, but from Time Warner Corporation, owner of Time Magazine. If I was involved in this, and exonorated, I'd sue the living snot out of these scalewags for defamation of character, character assasination, and causing harm to my reputation on purpose!
Excellent post, pissant. BUMP!
I'm sure a few terrorists have had "accidents" on the way to prison. Good riddance. ;o)
All the news that fits the agenda.........
We have threads regarding the men coming under fire, with description of the circumstances... I'm assuming one of our librarians has dredged up those threads from January.
I have a friend whos father was in the marines (or army) during WWII. He was one of the guys cleaning out the japanese as we island hopped our way to Japan. He actually has a detailed diary of day-to-day action.
One thing was rather interesting and I paraphrase many paragraphs and days into a simple statement - they took no prisoners.
And all that that implies...
I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation in which a 3-year-old girl would be considered a "prisoner."
Good thing I have thick skin 'round here. ;o)
I just pray that the Military does not give in to the MSM and "world opinion" and charge these guys just to get the heat off. But the Murtha-ization of the world's press is doing a full court press, and will not be satisfied with anything other than murder convictions.
In the end, I bet that fire DID come from those houses and brought the Marines wrath. Returning fire back into homes not knowing who was in there I think will explain some of the civilians deaths.
Who says we shot the three year old? The terrorists kill their own on occasion to try to blame us. The truth will be out on this one and I hope it's sooner rather than later.
in america i certain can imagine some scenarios, but not in a combat zone.
and that is war...
"When these investigations come out, there's going to be a firestorm," said retired Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms, formerly a top lawyer for the Marine Corps. "It will be worse than Abu Ghraib -- nobody was killed at Abu Ghraib." I have a feeling someone was lying in wait for an Abu Ghraib reference. I read the quote and was taken aback because I spoke to the same Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms about the case this week, and his sentiments were very different from those presented in the Post. Which explains why he sent me this statement yesterday:
"Recent reporting on the events in Haditha, Iraq have included significant factual errors and/or misleading statements. This includes a quote attributed to me in the Washington Post this morning that was taken completely out of context and its meaning distorted. Many facts that are favorable to the Marines involved have not yet been disclosed."
http://www.hughhewitt.com/
They took no prisoners because too many Japanese booby-traped themselves with explosives or handgrenades or had knives, pistols, and other weapons hidden on their persons. The Marines found it was expedient to just off all prisoners, at least until the island was secure.
Interesting. That is pretty much what I said to him when I heard about it. To quote Captain Kirk, "And now you will know why war is a thing to be avoided." People just don't really think about what actually happens in war. It's really bad stuff - and sometimes quite necessary.
I'm with you. In one of his entries he said they would have the newest guy in the group "off" the wounded Japanese. If he refused, they got rid of him.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think these soldiers took an IED explosion and then took small arms fire. They reacted as they should have in defending themselves from the attack they were under.
I will further say that the ones attacking them were using Human shields and those folks were either shot dead by the attackers themselves or they were killed in crossfire during the battle that terrorists started.
No matter how you cut it up the people 'innocent' people that died were a direct result of terrorist attacks.
I thinik murtha hung himself on this one.
UAV footage may well show that the attackers fled into a house(s) where these folks end up dead.
I sure hope more information will indeed come out to the public and we will see that our soldiers just defended themselve agaisnt a blatant terrorist attack that caused civilan casualties ( as they all do).
Murtha and company sure might have some 'splainin to do.
I do not rule out that our boys did something wrong but it looks less and less likely every minute that goes by.
;o)
Pelosi's the enemy. But someone ought to buy Murtha a clue.
Oh, most likely she was a prisoner alright just not of the US Marines.
And all the non-news that does as well.
I'll see if I can snoop around for those later today.
Thanks for posting these articles, I had a feeling the media was trying to remake this as the My Lai massacre in order to pressure the Admin to withdraw from Iraq.
Me too.
The MercNews is covering up the facts for Murtha......
Hugh Hewitt does great work. This is either a collateral damage situation where innocents were in the crossfire or a islamoscum con job, IMO.
No way! The Iraqis would have already done this on their own.
Iraqis who say they witnessed the violence in Al-Hadithah have said U.S. troops shot men, women and children at close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine in a roadside bombing.
One soldier? Maybe. More than one American soldier? I don't think so.
They likely did some things wrong, as probably a large percentage of firefights would show.
But doing something wrong, Mr. Murtha, does not equate to cold blooded wimmin & chillen murderers.
BTTT
Oh, I don't know. Since when are wheel-chair bound office workers (or any office workers for that matter) fair game for kamikazi terrorists? In all wars, civilians die. That's what wars do.
That said, we don't know if there's a speck of truth in the whole MSM/Murtha claim.
That is the agenda. they want us to be defeated.
Same here. I sometimes think public support for the troops helps in such matters, so it's good it's getting a good airing-out here on FR.
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