By Arwa Damon
Posted on 05/31/2006 6:27:32 AM PDT by kellynla
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
I do not know what happened either, but these liberal freaks are gushing with evil delight at the prospect they can discredit our military.
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.
---- 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.
----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.
It really sounds like Jenin, where the "massacre" -- wasn't.
I am going to ask a difficult question.
So what?
People die during war.
Sometimes war does not bring out the best in us.
Get used to it.
An additional reality that is known (but seems never to make it into any of these MSM news/spin articles) is the fact that the IED that was set off...was from a LOS type IED (and it is very likely to a near certainty that those who set it off were in one of those houses that were searched afterwords -
The other firm reality that is so crystal clear yet never touted by the MSM or Murtha is the fact that U.S. Marines and U.S. soldiers are not intentionally seeking out to kill Iraqi civilians whatsoever....in fact they are dying for them! and or risking their lives for them hundreds of times of week...yet this basic undeniable fact is never touted by the MSM or jackas$ Murtha.
The MSM in this country is pathetic. The Democrat leadership along with Murtha are even worse. Another reason why our base must come together this Nov and not allow the ilk of the DEM leadership (and their spinning MSM cohorts) to take control of Congress. Our soldiers & Marines in the field deserve much better.
Exactly right - We need a little more of this attitude out of the WH -
Exactly right - We need a little more of this attitude out of the WH -
Why are we playing crime scene games in what is a war zone. Different rules here and not everyone plays by the rules.
First rule: Stay alive.
Second rule: Stay alive.
I saw an old show yesterday with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and the subject was PATRIOTISM.
Ping
JAGs
History has proven that if a terrorist shoots at a Marine and misses, they are going to find out quickly whether there are indeed 72 virgins for them in paradise.
I don't see our Marines "snapping" and killing 24 civilians. They have been fighting in close quarter urban combat now for 3 years. I think they will find the bad guys were hiding behind these civilians and firing on the unit.
JAGs
Explain, please?
"A reporter's shock at the Haditha allegations"
I don't see any "shock" in the piece.
I see Damon reporting what he and his crew went through while embedded with the Marines. But no where in the piece right down to the last line "can you believe it?" does the reporter say "No, I can't believe it!"
Typical...the LSM just can't bear to believe that the Marines were not guilty.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
What are you talking about?
I suspect whatever killings occurred were perpetrated by terrorists wearing counterfeit US uniforms. This theory is supported by the fact, reported by the media in the run-up to the liberation of Iraq, that Saddam had accumulated a number of counterfeit US uniforms to be used by his people in a number of ways. Committing atrocities and then framing US troops for them in terrorist controlled areas would be a perfect way to use such uniforms. This would be particularly effective if the alleged witnesses were already terrorists themselves or terrorist sympathizers and the people who were killed were suspected supporters of the liberation and their families. Such tactics are certainly not beneath Saddam and the terrorists; indeed they are the very things they would love to do. They are also the very kind of things traitors like Murtha and the MSM would love to use to discredit the entire war effort. Before anyone even suspects those Marines of this group of killings, this hypothesis must be fully checked out and disproved.
"So what? People die during war"
"So what?"
There is a HUGE difference between collateral damage and MURDER!
As much as the LSM would have you think, United States Marines are not Nazis .
And we do not go out and summarily murder people...not even the "bad guys!"
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Right on!! Please see my post at No. 21.
Jack Murtha, the EX-Marine, is a disgusting piece of trash.
It's very simple: we are the Good Guys in this war. And the Good Guys do not make war upon noncombatants -- unarmed civilians, refugees, prisoners, the injured, and the like. The Good Guys intentionally kill only the Bad Guys -- enemy combatants -- and no one else. If while fighting the Bad Guys a Good Guy kills a noncombatant by accident, no crime has been committed; such tragedies are an unavoidable part of war. But when the Good Guys intentionally kill noncombatants, or by inaction allow them to be killed, that's a crime: murder. And murderers are Bad Guys.
Therefore, as Good Guys, it is our duty to investigate charges of murder made against members of our armed forces, and, if they are found guilty, to hang them as an example to the others.
I hope this answers your difficult question.
Arwa Damon ... " I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the Euphrates River Valley. I was pinned on rooftops with them in Ubeydi for hours taking incoming fire, and I've seen them not fire a shot back because they did not have positive identification on a target.
I saw their horror when they thought that they finally had identified their target, fired a tank round that went through a wall and into a house filled with civilians. They then rushed to help the wounded -- remarkably no one was killed.
I was with them in Husayba as they went house to house in an area where insurgents would booby-trap doors, or lie in wait behind closed doors with an AK-47, basically on suicide missions, just waiting for the Marines to come through and open fire. There were civilians in the city as well, and the Marines were always keenly aware of that fact. How they didn't fire at shadows, not knowing what was waiting in each house, I don't know. But they didn't."
My take is a bit different than yours.
I'd say she is saying the Marines, she was embedded with, were stand up guys, doing a great job, under the most adverse conditions.
Just my take, I guess.
Though I disagree with her at times, she has done a lot of good things at shining the light on real issues such as highlighting the MS-13 illegal gang presence.
On March 10, 1945, General Curtis Lemay ordered the firebombing of Tokyo. Over 100,000 civilians perished in a single night. Can you imagine the hoopla if this had happened today?
I tend to believe there's a good chance that the ones capped at close range... were done in by their own countrymen. These pukes watch CNN and know what works to their advantage.
Check out the dude's "In Forum" posts ... Sheesh!
ohhhhh, I read the piece and as I said before, right down th the last line Damon NEVER SAID anything remotely to "I don't believe the Marines murdered these people"
Now if you want to post a quote from the article,
post that...but you won't find it...anywhere!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
JAGs (mil lawyers) are so throughout the military COC anymore that at times one can do d*ck without them being integrally involved to some degree or another.
I think the freaks may be in for a surprise this time.
We KNOW their only concern is discrediting the war effort, so what they use as a talking point is really immaterial.
They can flog "Abu Grahb" like issues till the cows come home, but it will only move the nation as far as we allow it to move us.
In case I'm not being clear enough...I'm perfectly willing to ignore Haditha.
Her "conservative" image doesn't need any help, but who are you?
So is this the same Paul Hackett (Democrat Iraq veteran) who ran against Jean Schmidt in Ohio? He's also an attorney so it's possible. Be interesting to find out...
There is a big difference between now and then, back then everybody was personally affected by the war, they had many loved ones serving on the front lines. In this war, most people are not affected, or more bluntly, choose not to be affected by what is going on if they do not have any loved ones in harm's way.
But in those areas that are affected, support is phenomenal. I used to live in a small town in Montana. When the local Aviation Battallion returned from Iraq, over 3000 people greeted them at the airport.
And to me, that's all that matters. The rest can just go back to watching Oprah and American Idol, while the real heroes go out and make a difference.
Personally, I am disgusted and have zero respect for Murtha and the MSM. Whose side are they on?
I agree...Damon was defending the marines...She doesn't believe the charges...
But that one probably won't make it to Headline News...
I'm shocked that there haven't been 100 Hadithas. War is hell.
"Whose side are they on?"
the same side they were on during the Viet Nam war.
Against the war, against the military and against America!
The Left are socialists & communists.
Great Post Ping!
Agreed.
" But that one probably won't make it to Headline News..."
Wholeheartedly ... agreed.
"I'm shocked that there haven't been 100 Hadithas. War is hell."
"shocked?"
well if you had ever been in combat much less uniform;
you would know that Marines are trained professional combatants and we don't fly off the handle and murder!
Ya might want to get out of Hollyweird and away from the Lefties in the film industry and spend a little more time with Marines!
A large dose of reality would do ya a world of good! LOL
Semper Fi,
Kelly
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