Posted on 08/31/2007 7:39:19 PM PDT by camerakid400
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flying over Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005, a small, unmanned spy plane called "Scan Eagle" recorded scenes of heavy fighting -- bombings and strafings from the air, and ground work by U.S. Marines seeking insurgents who earlier in the day had set off a roadside bomb that killed one of their members.
Lawyers for Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will introduce video of Haditha taken by a drone as evidence.
The Scan Eagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial bomb attack on the Marines and does not show the the civilians being killed. It does show a house from which the military suspected insurgents triggered the bomb -- and the wrecked vehicle it left 1,000 yards (about 900 meters) away.
The video appears to show that, throughout that day, Marines engaged in fierce firefights and called in air strikes to level buildings -- often with no definitive idea of who was inside.
That could buttress defense arguments that Marines clearing buildings on the ground with guns and grenades were just following rules of engagement.
"The defense can say, 'Hey, look, you had to do this later in the day, what's the difference between what happened later in the day and what our guys did earlier in the day?' " asked retired Marine Lt. Col. Gary Solis, a former prosecutor and military judge who teaches law at Georgetown University and West Point.
Solis, who analyzed the video for CNN, said the intense fighting and necessity of making split-second decisions could play out in favor of defendants in the case.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
They’ll be freed.
MURTHA, WE’RE COMIN’ AFTER YOU.
MURTHA = NIFONG.
Out of Congress with him, and into the courtroom with him.
Jail for him if I get my choice.
Traitorous bastard.
Didn't sound that way to me. I just listened to the tape of Jamie McIntyre's interview of Gary Solis, the ex-JAG, in CNN's Spy Plane Video ^, and pulled these points:
Solis is a JAG-off, for sure.
- "If I'm a Juror, I'm not going to be impressed." - Solis.
- "That's why the Prosecutors have had trouble making Murder charges stick." - McIntyre.
- "Is there a tenancy [for the Jurors] to give Marine Soldiers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these types of split-second decisions." - McIntyre.
- "Someone should be held accountable for the 24 civilian deaths in Haditha." - Solis.
- "It will be dificult to say that Justice has been served if no one is convicted in the Haditha deaths." - Solis.
” Theyll be freed. “
Murtha should not be.
I couldn’t agree more.
The Marines are innocent but Murtha is GUILTY!
Hey Murtha! How ‘bout those terrorists who blow up and decapitate innocent people? Why not condemn them? What of the Taliban who kidnap and murder innocent aid workers? Any comment you fat bloated piece of crap!?
Exactly! The turkey is always giving his opinions and implying these Marines are guilty. I think he likes to see his name in print.
RedRover posted some notes earlier today, where this came from:
... did you ever hear of testimony that car was already stopped and men out of car when IED went off... already standing... some of them... with hands on top of head at that time?I think that's new, Red. How about they had their thumbs in their ears to mute the blast?
If they were already stopped, and some out of the vehicle watching, I'm sure they also had their ears covered.
kewl!
And that’s exactly what the media democRATS want. Us to lose and Bush to be humiliated. All so the socialist dems can take power.
Great Americans, huh?
Its tough to stage a Me Lie II when the truth is in the Air.
Pray for W and Our Marines
Can we please have some civility around here and quit comparing Murtha to a fat pig? What in heavens name has any self respecting fat pig ever done to be compared to Murtha? Oh the hugh manatee! I will take it upon myself to issue a blanket apology to all fat pigs who might be offended.
What say you murtha? crickets chirping.This is great news and the libs are pissed.
We can not put limitations on our troops that prevent them from hesitating. We’ve asked them to put themselves in harms way. We should give them the right to do whatever they have to to stay alive and do their job.
You must be a fellow Savage fan. We are going to lose this war unless we start using our airpower and technology. Close the borders of Iraq, cordon off large areas, drop leaflets, 72 hours for unarmed civilians to leave, then massive airstrikes. Our money can be used to rebuild villages instead of this hand-to-hand combat where our marines are at a disadvatage.
The "old fashioned way" is just that (to the new media). Fortunately, wars are only fought to win the "old fashioned" way. We'll wake-up to the 1.5 million insurgents (or is that 2.5, 3.5, 5.5?) after the next major attack here at home, and respond accordingly.
What we haven't done is break the will of our 'enemy' to continue to engage. Much of this could have been accomplished without troops on the ground.
Rather than liberating a people from an occupying force (Nazis, Taliban, Al Queda, etc), we are faced with liberating people from an occupying religion and it's laws (sharia).
The numbers alone are disturbing, add religious zealotry to the mix, and the task becomes futile.
What we need in the Middle East is a Capitalist Castro who can reign over the entire region with a heavy hand. Saddam was too stupid and greedy for the job. This 'Cap Castro' would provide for his people in ways that the original could only dream, and, he'd have the advantage of being able to lock-up dissidents (socialists) on a whim. I mean, why should only dictators and socialists be able to win their constituent's loyalty by utilizing fear as the motivating force?
Thnaks for the info, camerakid400. I’m glad CNN and some other news sources are finally catching up with the evidence that’s been out there. This info has been in print for some time - that there was a major firefight involving insurgents who had fled the original IED and house assault in Haditha.
I guess seeing is believing. Whatever it takes for the major media types to finally realize this was an all-out battle that day between insurgents and Marines, works for me. Unfortunately, innocent civilians were caught in the early stages of a battle the insurgents chose to wage.
Savage is right about twice a day.
Like a broken clock.
However, war has never been waged in such a stupid way, where you are worried about hurting the enemies feelings. This war has always been about American security, which it still is. We need to finish the job in Iraq and move it straight into Iran. Then if any other middle eastern (Muslim) country needs correction then that’s our next stop.
Too bad the rest of the world can’t see that.
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.