My Lai again?

townhall ^ | Jun 11, 2006 | William F. Buckley

[ncountylee]

We hope day by day that the facts will become plain as to what occurred at Haditha in November. But this isn't happening. What we have is a story the components of which are pieces perpetually on the move. Starting at the bloody end, we read that 24 Iraqi civilians were killed by U.S. Marines in blood lust, the Marines reacting to the killing of a beloved member of their unit by a roadside bomb. Fiddle with the words above, and you can compose narratives for just about every story that has gone out.

It is illuminating that there is this confusion having to do with the facts. "Illuminating" is less than "reassuring." Somebody killed those Iraqi civilians, including women and children.

But memory is aroused, and we turn to Facts on File for April 7, 1971. It recounts in some detail the aftermath of the court-martial of Lt. William L. Calley Jr., who was in command of the platoon in Vietnam that slaughtered dozens, perhaps hundreds, of civilians in the little village of My Lai, bringing on the greatest crisis of military morale since World War II.

The court-martial began two years after Richard Nixon had been elected president, at the height of the national self-examination on the question whether we had been correct to send troops to Vietnam in the first place. The news of what seemed to be cold-blooded murder was arresting, gripping the American conscience as if by testicular strength, demanding to know how to square the American deed in Vietnam with the American ideals that sent us to Vietnam.

And yet there was such immediate dismay over the court-martial verdict that the Pentagon sent out a "white paper" explaining what had been done.

[Huck]

Then again, so am I, and I'm sharp as a tack.

[Huck]

lol. "compulsory volunteerism." that'd be funny if it weren't so sad.

[Huck]

Buckley, like too many Cold Warriors, began to lose touch with reality when the Cold War ended.

There's probably a lot of truth in that.

[Kaslin]

You are welcome. I thought you could use them

[ozzymandus]

Buckley's senile blather aside, it's starting to look like the haditha "atrocity" story is as phony as the Duke lacrosse story. MSM traitors strike again.

[jmaroneps37]

I would say that I have come to hate this stupid old man but I prefer to say I loath him. loath is a fancier more buckley like phony word. At any rate it seems that every so often he has to remind us that he was once the one man in the valley of the blind. As long as there weren't any other conservative writers around he looked and sounded great.
I'm glad i dropped my subscription to his magazine.
So they're guilty without a trial, eh billie? Well you can go back to the home now where nobody notices people who speak phony gibberish because everybody is doing it.

[xzins]

The Marines are innocent.

[CWOJackson]

I "hope" there are innocent, but not having been there or being privy to the facts, I'll wait until the investigation is completed.

[Non-Sequitur]

....Muslims of all ages and gendees blow themselves up killing thousands.

Civilized people don't. I hope that our Marines are still civilized. The official investigation will tell us.

[BIGLOOK]

The Article 32 isn't finished yet and I'm reading and seeing nonsense in the news. I've also seen evidence of a frame up against the Marines. More and more this reporting represents a political campaign to tarnish the Corps and stain the executive.

I'd like to write to the Commandant requesting special consideration in this but I won't; he couldn't take any action in any case. banned by the UCMJ from interjecting ' command influence'. The same for the SECDEF and POTUS. However the opposition party and the MSM and our enemy are free from consequence condemning the Marines involved and the Corps in general.

Chief, we got a circle jerk here.( Sorry for the language, Chaplin.)

[CWOJackson]

You have seen things that are suggestive of a frame up, so have I, but none of us has seen any real evidence one way or the other.

Yes, the media is spinning this, but so is every one who has already reached a decision of guilt or innocence.

In my perfect world following the announcement of an investigation into "possible" criminal acts we wouldn't hear anything else until the investigation was complete...or possibly even not until the charges were dismissed or moved forward.

Determining the facts and whether there was any criminal actions is important...in either case:

1) If these Marines are innocent then their names need to be cleared and they need to be able to resume their duties. No one should want less.

2) If they are guilty then they need to be held accountable for their crimes and given just punishment. No one should want less.

[tcrlaf]

There was an article on FR several months ago in which someone commented that Anti-Us Libs were desperately hoping for a "New My Lai", and that if they didn''t get one soon, would probably make one up.........

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"This is just his way of reinforcing his opinion."

As I said, Buckley should know better.

Michael Frazier

[BIGLOOK]

I'll stand with the Courts Martial decision whether for or against but we're not there yet. The politicians and media are swooping in on this incident for face time and headlines. Personally, a completion of the investigation and dismissal of charges against the Marines would please me to no end. But I think this is a story that will persist in years to come, regardless the outcome.

Let me put it this way......this is a politico/media inspired RIF.

Always good chatting with you, Chief. Were you a Marine?

[CWOJackson]

Nope, not a Marine. I'm from a service that used to deliver them to exotic locals; the Coast Guard.

We actually have a historical association with the Marine Corps that's kind of strange. One Coastie was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor; he was put in for it by the Marine Corps. The Coast Guard thought he had only been doing his duty (saving people, even if they were Marines), the Corps thought different.

I've always had a strong appreciation for the Corps.

[libstripper]

Thanks for the post. WFB really seems to have turned the moonbat corner. He isn't even waiting for the evidence.

[ncountylee]

WFB has declined since the sixties when he was almost the lone conservative voice. While I respect his past efforts, it's time for WFB to consider a quiet retirement.

[xzins]

If these Marines are innocent

Chief, they are innoncent, and not because I'm interpreting any facts or news reports. They're innocent because that is the standard of the UCMJ.

“…the accused must be presumed to be innocent until his guilt is established by legal and competent evidence beyond reasonable doubt.” -- Uniform Code of Military Justice, USC Title 10, Chapter 47, Subchapter VII, Article 51(c)(1)

At this point in time, they are innocent. That means we must speak of them as innocent. Our assumptions must begin and end with their innocence.

[toddlintown]

I can't remember the last time I agreed with a Buckley article.