Posted on 06/06/2006 7:16:17 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - The Senate will hold hearings soon into an alleged Marine massacre of Iraqi civilians, a committee chairman said Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats urged the military to finish its investigations into the accusations quickly.
"We've got our duty and we'll do it. We'll go wherever the facts lead," Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said of the allegations that U.S. Marines killed up to 24 Iraqi civilians last November in the town of Haditha without cause and then engaged in a cover-up.
The Virginia Republican told reporters he wanted to hold the first of what he expected to be a series of hearings on the allegations as soon as Army Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell finishes his investigation into whether military personnel lied about what occurred at Haditha. Warner said Bargewell likely would be the first witness called.
Congressional aides say Bargewell's report could be completed within the week but that the military's separate criminal investigation is not expected to be finished anytime soon.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday, Warner requested the Pentagon tell him "the earliest possible date that the department could provide witnesses" for the first hearing. Warner stressed that delaying the results of such investigations will mean that "a mixture of information, misinformation and unconfirmed facts will continue to spiral in the public domain."
"We must do everything possible to prevent our military personnel, and indeed the values of all our military services, from being judged on unofficial information in the court of public opinion prior to the conclusion of official investigations," Warner wrote.
His counterpart in the House, Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., also has pledged to hold hearings in the House Armed Services Committee. But he, too, has said he wants to wait until the military completes its investigations to ensure Congress doesn't interfere with potential criminal proceedings.
Sen. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine, said the military should swiftly "get to the bottom of what happened and how it was investigated" and suggested that Rumsfeld, himself, should answer questions such as when he learned of the allegations and what actions he took thereafter.
Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also urged haste. He criticized the military for an initial delayed response and also chastised Congress for reacting slowly, saying the case was "one of many examples where oversight has not been prompt."
Over the past week, more details have emerged about the November incident and a senior U.S. defense official said military investigators have evidence that points toward unprovoked murders by Marines.
Politically, the alleged murders in Haditha — as well as unsubstantiated claims of unprovoked civilian deaths by U.S. troops elsewhere in Iraq — threaten to further drag down support for the Iraq war and could turn into a political problem for President Bush and Republicans five months before congressional elections. Polls show voters increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the war as well as more inclined to see Democrats leading Congress.
Returning to Washington after a weeklong Memorial Day break, lawmakers expressed grave concerns about Haditha and said the allegations could further tarnish the U.S. image abroad and hurt efforts to curb terrorism worldwide.
But Republicans and Democrats alike in both the House and the Senate also urged caution, saying that Congress and the public still didn't have all the facts and shouldn't prejudge the outcome of the military investigations.
"While it's too early to pass judgment on what happened, things don't look good," said Sen. James Inhofe (news, bio, voting record), R-Okla.
Added Sen. Ben Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Neb.: "If the initial reports are true ... clearly it's an atrocity."
"What we do know is pretty ugly stuff," said Rep. Adam Putnam (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., who returned from Iraq just days ago. "I fear that Haditha can have even greater negative consequences in perception than Abu Ghraib," where U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners in 2004.
Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, D-Md., who also recently returned from Iraq, said that if substantiated, what happened at Haditha "hurts our reputation in the world."
___
On the Net:
Senate Armed Services Committee: http://armed-services.senate.gov/
House Armed Services Committee: http://www.house.gov/hasc/
Therefore, Murtha may SMN.
why are they all in such a rush? every story on this, I read the word "quickly".
What a bunch of miserable pieces of excrement serve in the Senate and House these days.
Reading some of the statements by some of the Senators and House members makes me wish they had to walk in those troops boots for just one day.
Maybe they'd be a bit more cautious in their statements, unlike some who have already convicted them.
That's all we need. Another media circus so that the 'Rats can bloviate and the Pubs can hide under their chairs for fear of being called names.
What total jerks these guys are!
Hey how about taking care of the border and trimming your spending sprees, you As*@oles!!!!
Why not let the UCMJ process go forward first? This will be like the 9/11 commission: a circus. Completely out of consideration is the possibilities that the Arab witnesses to this incidents are liars or totally worthless because of intimidation.
This is an excellent point. That said, a far better way to achieve this goal would be to light a bonfire under the @%$ of the military, and ensure that no one sleeps until the investigation is done. Pulling away 'witnesses' for idiotic, self serving and, in all likelihood, televised meetings will do zero to achieve Warner's goal. In fact, it will make it a lot worse.
What happens if the Marines are cleared BEFORE the hearings?
It's not your duty.
Can't you guys give the friggin border thing a rest????
these hearings are going to be very one sided, you can count on that.
pinging for comments .............
These idiots ought to do something useful like pass a tax cut or something.
Thats why we need term limits. After 1 term they become corrupt and treasonous!!!
Why not let the military investigate? This will just hurt America. I'm sick of the Senate.
I am disgusted.
I long for the days of MacArthur who would have told the Senate a thing or two.
Why should the Armed Services Committee involve themselves in the border issue?! I know this issue trumps everything for you people (including apparently the troops in the middle of a war zone) but just back off it here, okay. For many of us troop morale, public support and not being tried and convicted by the dems and their cohorts in the media is just as vital. It really pisses me off that you have to pedal your border crap where it clearly doesn't belong.
Well said! Every time the Senate meets, they do more damage. Thank God they take off as much time as they do!
I have a feeling that they are going to get an earful from some young patriot. I can't wait, there will be someone that has nothing to lose, or doesn't care if they do, open up a can on these pompous a holes.
Warner using our troops to get his name in the media. Shame on him. How about we have a hearing for Senate bozos who use Americans for their own vanity.
Thanks for the ping.
I can't believe Warner wants to hold open hearings before a possible inquest, there's too much possibility of hurting the Marines' legal process, IMO.
These Senators are more worried about their own political agenda than the Marines getting a fair shake, it's unbelievable.
I've gotten a belly-full of U.S. Senators and their pathetic decisions lately. Why don't we taxpayers just coat the walls of the Capitol with mirrors and be done with it?
These Senate pricks aren't interested in doing the people's business according to our will. They'd rather preen for the cameras and pretend they are looking out for our best interest, when the opposite is true. Polls show overwhelming support for an amendment declaring marriage as between a man and a woman. Yet, when the Senate votes, they'll not support it.
The Senate also continues to support their destructive immigration bill. Bottom line: we are not being adequately represented and need to make some changes in the next election.
" What a bunch of miserable pieces of excrement serve in the Senate and House these days."
The Democrats are hardened anti Americans and the Republicans , for the most part, are frightened ninnies who cower in fear of everything....but, the voters.
Yea like the Kennedy assassination ?
Or like the 9/11 Commission ?
Or maybe even aboo Graboo ?
I smell Bull-shat and Political Pandering
Thank you!!
I think that's naive at best. I think the Senate will insure we don't get the truth, rather we will have to listen to the political axes of the anti-war left as they drone on about My Lai.......even if nothing bad happened. All staged and pimped by our wonderful media.
Best post I've read on this issue. Let's Roll!
AP can hardly contain their glee. It's working!
There is one minor difficulty. If the Senate thinks the country is looking for heroism from them, they're kidding themselves. The vision of that gaggle of gas-spewing fat cats crucifying some junior Marine officer makes my blood boil, and I'm not the only one by a very long shot.
"SMN" is what???
I think that is my best course of action at this time. ;*(
---
It DID?
Sounds like a bit of a rush to judgment. Or do you have inside info ? Please feel free to expound.
Welcome aboard, btw.
"Beirut represented a lamentable departure from our historic record of exemplary performance. "
Please explain this comment.
"Something very bad DID happen,and we must face it openly."
Perhaps what we must face is an Iraqi enemy who uses any means. Are you sure that's not what happened there? What info do you have?
They certainly were when it was Kerry testifying against our troupes in VN. I recognize a deja vu when I see it. All those that could refute him were guests at the Hanoi Hilton. I'm really getting sick of those that will label terrorists that target innocents by chopping off heads as "insurgencents" or "freedom fighters" while painting our troops as evil.
Gee, I'm sure there won't be any politics involved in the investigation now.....
You got it!!
A full accounting you say. One 12 year old female survivor has to date given four different accounts as to how she survived. I don't believe she or any other survivor of Haditha are going to be able to be relied upon to tell the truth.
Perhaps what we must face is an Iraqi enemy who uses any means. Are you sure that's not what happened there? What info do you have?
There no conclusive proof that we know of as yet, but on the weight of the Marine evidence alone, indications seem to point to a brutal overreaction and a subsequent cover up. If you're familiar with the military, you can read between the lines easily enough. Take away the stories and rumors that the MSM and the Iraqi 'witnesses' have cooked up, and you're left with a falsified patrol report, photographs taken immediately after the engagement that are apparently incriminating, and an entire Defense department that is acting like Abu Ghurayb II is about to open in theaters nationwide.
Every Marine and Defense official that's seen the evidence and spoken to the media has given me the distinct impression that they think a crime was committed. They've certainly not stepped up and said that the Marines acted in self defense, or that there was evidence the patrol was being framed. In fact, it looks a lot like they're circling the wagons.
This is war, and young people who lose their friends and leaders often wind up doing things in the heat of the moment that they regret later. That's a story as old as warfare. I don't know why we're acting surprised that something like this may have happened.
"Sometimes I wish that people would take this war more seriously." General George S. Patton
"There is nothing democratic about war. It is a straight dictatorship. The use of force to attain the end desired." General George S. Patton
"It seems very queer that we invariably entrust the writing of our regulations for the next war to men totally devoid of anything but theoretical knowledge." General George S. Patton
"It always made me mad to have to beg for opportunities to win battles." General George S. Patton
As far as I am concerned, the Marines shouldn't even have to go on trial if the House and Senate are going to "TRY" this case in hearings...even before there are charges, trial, and verdicts..
To me, it would be tainted, but then, I am not a lawyer.
I doubt these hearings will feature any independent (of DoD) presentation of what the Marine's story is, of what the context is behind this incident.
Hey how about taking care of the border and trimming your spending sprees, you As*@oles!!!!
Well I hope you feel better, and I know that you express the views of more people that McVain represents.
What the hell would those bloviating buffoons in the Senate know about Iraq? Sheeeesh. "Experts" are a real pain in the ass. Dumber than a box of rocks.
When are the lynchings going to be held? America! Be ashamed of your government.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.