Jack Kelly: Rushing to judgment

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | June 4, 2006 | Jack Kelly

[smoothsailing]

Jack Kelly: Rushing to judgment

Shame on John Murtha for presuming Marines' guilt in Haditha

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jesse Macbeth, a self-styled "special forces ranger," regaled moonbat audiences with tales of the atrocities he committed in Iraq:

"Fallujah is where we slaughtered people in mosques," he said. "We would dig holes and leave mass graves of children, women and old men."      

    Unfortunately for Mr. Macbeth, he made a video which was seen by actual veterans. In it, he is wearing his beret improperly ("like a pastry chef," said an Army spokesman). He's wearing a Ranger beret, but it has a Special Forces flash. The sleeves on his battle BDU jacket are rolled up the way the Marines do it; not the Army. In short, Mr. Macbeth was a fraud so obvious even the moonbats should have seen through him, but they didn't because they wanted so badly to believe the terrible things he was saying about U.S. forces in Iraq. In every war America has ever fought, a few soldiers have committed war crimes. In no war has their behavior been representative of our soldiers as a whole, or been sanctioned by their superiors. But the moonbats think smearing our servicemen and women discredits the war effort.

To his everlasting shame, Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat from Johnstown and a retired Marine reserve colonel, is playing to the same crowd. He's accused Marines of having committed "cold-blooded murder," and their superiors of covering it up.

"It goes right up the chain of command right up to Gen. [Peter] Pace [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]," Mr. Murtha said on ABC's "This Week" program last Sunday.....

[Coop]

If God wants that little Demon outta there, He'll make certain Irey becomes Pennsylvania's representative...

In the meantime some of us plan on being God's little helpers in accomplishing that task!

[freema]

Okay, then I won't say it ; )

[freema]

Okay, then I won't say it ; )

[freema]

Godspeed to God's lil' helpers!!

[Eagles6]

Mr. Kelly seems to want to give the Marines a fair shake but he does make a few mistakes.

"The report said 15 Iraqi civilians were killed in the blast. That wasn't true. Autopsies indicated the 15 civilians -- four of them women and four of them children -- had all suffered gunshot wounds.

We have no idea what the initial report says. Were autopsies done on these people and by whom? The doctor who had been held for aiding and abetting terrorists? So we are to take the terrorists word that these people were shot by Americans? If they were shot could it have been by the terrorists? Is it possible they were used as human shields by the terrorists?

"Criminal charges are likely to be filed against the 13 Marines in the squad involved in the shootings."

Where does he get this information? There has been no official word that a crime has even been committed.

"From what little we know of the case, it seems the Marines were guilty of a hot-blooded over-reaction. Perhaps some Marines committed murder. But perhaps it was manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide."

It seems the Marines were guilty of hot-blooded over-reaction? Mr. Kelly is pronouncing them guilty without knowing the facts? The author may have meant to give the Marines fair treatment but he missed the boat.

[MizSterious]

Alas, we have far too many clones of Tokyo Rose--not only in the media and entertainment industry, but holding important seats in our government. We are being attacked from without and within, from every direction.

[jazusamo]

Murtha has no shame. He is not worthy of being a United States Congressman. He should be one of the first to give these Marines the benefit of the doubt, instead he gives insurgents and terrorists of the world the benefit of an American elected official spewing their propaganda. He has forfeited his right to call himself a Marine.

[smoothsailing]

I gotta get some of these!

[smoothsailing]

But the author continues:

And maybe they're innocent. Haditha's a hotbed of insurgent activity. Perhaps the Marines were receiving fire from the houses, as they claimed.

If the Marines under suspicion are found guilty of murder or manslaughter, they should be punished severely. But they deserve the presumption of innocence until then.

The author's assumptions that you note are sloppy, Eagle,and unsourced,it's true. But I don't see where you get "Mr.Kelly is pronouncing them guilty".

[Eagles6]

"From what little we know of the case, it seems the Marines were guilty of a hot-blooded over-reaction. Perhaps some Marines committed murder. But perhaps it was manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide."

I am familiar with Mr. Kelley's work. He is a token conservative in The Pittsburgh Putz Gazette, also known as Pravda at the Point. He writes some good stuff and is generally on point. I think he has made some mistakes here and has undermined his own case.

As I said, I believe that he was trying to give the Marines fair treatment but it he seems to have been swayed, subconsciously I hope, by the msm blitzkreig.

[smoothsailing]

I'm familiar with his writing as well.The same article appeared in yesterday's Toledo Blade under the title "Smearing The Troops".

The two papers are owned by the same Ohio based company.Kelly's weekly op/eds always run in the Blade first on Saturday followed by the PG on Sunday.

The editorial staff of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gets a kick out of calling the PG the Toledo Block and Bugler.

Cheers!

[Eagles6]

Take care.

[Txsleuth]

bttt

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

That's how the task gets done!

[do the dhue]

I was just a boy when John Murtha came to my village in a Blackhawk helicopter. Murtha fired at the oil fields and they lit up like the eyes of Allah. Burning oil rained down from the sky and cooked everything it touched. I could only hide myself and cry as my goats were consumed by the fiery black liquid death. In the midst of the chaos, I could swear that I heard my goats screaming for help. As quickly as he had come, Murtha was gone. It was on that day I put a jihad on him. And if you don't believe it, then you'd better kill me now, because I'll put a jihad on you, too.

[trooprally]

Get rid of all Dem's less hassle.
Thanks for the pig Justa.
[Mrs T]

[wideawake]

Still pimping for your boyfriend, Johnny Murtha?

[george76]

"Insurgents in Haditha executed 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen in a sports stadium."


Our Marines did not kill these people.

The terrorists did.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005321.htm

[george76]

[Just A Nobody]

Amen! Have you signed up at vets4irey yet? ;*)

http://www.vets4irey.com/