Haditha Charges Against Tatum DROPPED (!!!!)

News Max ^ | 3-28-08 | Nat Helms

[smoothsailing]

Haditha Charges Against Tatum Dropped

Friday, March 28, 2008 12:36 PM

By: Nat Helms

CAMP PENDLETON -- Charges against Lance Corporal Stephen B. Tatum, 26, for his alleged involvement in the death of Iraqi civillians in Haditha, Iraq on Nov. 19, 2005, were dismissed today.

Charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and aggravated assault were referred to general court marshal Oct. 19, 2007

Marine Corps Spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said the charge were dismissed to “continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident.”

There will be a further explanation forthcoming from military officials.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

[fishtank]

pinging three aces from TSN,,,,,,,,,,,

[Mr. Lucky]

Great news!

[fatima]

WooHoo,Thank you Lord:)

[tobyhill]

Not sure whether this is good yet but it’s a good start.

[rockabyebaby]

Woooooooooohooooooooooo, great news!

[rockabyebaby]

PINGING ALL MEMBERS OF THE SAVAGE NATION! WOOOHOOO!

[SueRae]

WHOOOOHOOOOO!!! Thank you. Now let the rest of them go. NOW.

I wonder if the timing hhas anything to do with the ‘shadow’ investigation team coming to light earlier this week.

[smoothsailing]

[jazusamo]

OUTSTANDING!!

HADITHA MARINE PING!

[tobyhill]

My only fear is the prosecutor is going to play musical charges and use Tatum as a pawn.

[Dacula]

Awesome news! The truth does prevail.

[Tamar1973]

Dance, RATT

[pissant]

All charges dismissed??

[FlingWingFlyer]

I sure hope “Fat Jack” Murtha is taking his meds. This is going to be tough on the old “ticker.”

[pissant]

You beat me to it!

[RDTF]

thank GOD!!

[B4Ranch]

ping

[jazusamo]

That bears repeating! :-)

[smoothsailing]

I've wondered that too. The 'shadow body' story broke Wednesday, the same day Tatum's trial was delayed one day until today. It was supposed to start yesterday. A ONE DAY DELAY???

[Izzy Dunne]

Murtha will SURELY apologize THIS time!

Apology in 5.... 4.... 3.... 2....

[jazusamo]

This is a real surprise, haven’t heard anything about this until now.

[rbmillerjr]

woohoo....It’s a parte

[NonValueAdded]

Marine Corps Spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said the charge were dismissed to “continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident.”

What exactly is that supposed to mean? Is it a hint that they're trying to flip Tatum or an excuse to make you think there's still a perp to be found?

[llevrok]

Paging Rep. Murtha for comment. Rep. Murtha to the microphone, please! crickets chirping sound......

[marron]

So, how many men have had their charges dropped, and how many are still in the cross hairs?

[jazusamo]

Here's another Haditha Marine that won't be railroaded by the despicable John Murth!

Murtha Watch Ping!

Code Pinkos

To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.

[smoothsailing]

That's the way I read it.

[PogySailor]

Wow, that’s great news. The entire case is circling the bowl.

[SF Republican]

uhhRa

[smoothsailing]

Sounds like spin. They're trying to put lipstick on their witch hunt.

[Tolkien]

Wow, that’s great news. The entire case is circling the bowl.

As long as Murtha takes his rightful place in the bowl as well.

[theDentist]

Great news, but...
Marine Corps Spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said the charge were dismissed to “continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident.”

This sounds like they made a deal with him to hang someone else instead of just closing the case.

[RedRover]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SierraWasp]

WONDERFUL!!!

[calcowgirl]

Bump! to great news.

I notice that NewsMax is the only one carrying this news.

I’m sure Time magazine will be follwoing up, post haste. /s

[Anti-Hillary]

Now can we put Murtha and the other 3 Rats that went to Iraq on Saddam's dime, on trial for TREASON?!!!!!

Believe it or not, last night I was watching the “Apprentice” and the contestant Piers Morgan was playing for his charity, The Intrepid Soldiers Fund. Anyway, they did a segment on these soldiers. One of them had lost BOTH of his legs AND his sight and said, “If I could, I would go back”. I started bawling and then, honest to goodness, I got madder than a hornet. I thought of Murtha and the others and my immediate thought was, “Damn then!”. They disgust me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sailor4321]

This is fabulous news!

As for a “deal” with Tatum ... they already tried that (i.e., a limited immunity to testify against Sgt. Wuterich) and he told them to go pound sand.

At this point, I don’t think they have a case against Wuterich, either.

[pattty]

Woo Hoo! Wonderful news!....:-)

[RedRover]

Message from the defense lawyers

All charges were dismissed with prejudice against LCpl Tatum this morning, on the day his trial was to begin on allegations stemming from actions in Haditha, Iraq on 19 November 2005. The government said it was done to further the truth seeking function. We emphasize that LCpl Tatum will testify truthfully if called as a witness but there is no deal for his testimony. It became clear to the experienced prosecution team that the right thing to do was to dismiss all charges against LCpl Tatum. We believe the evidence shows that LCpl Tatum reacted to an enemy attack the way he was trained to do.

This result is consistent with the recommendation of the Article 32 investigating officer who recommended last summer that no court-martial be held in this case.

JACK B. ZIMMERMANN
KYLE R. SAMPSON
LTCOL MATTHEW W. CORD, USMCR
MAJ JEFFREY V. MUÑOZ, USMC

[sailor4321]

I have to tell you, RedRover, that I think you have been a major contributor to this outstanding outcome! Thank you!

[smoothsailing]

It just sounds like spin to me. Tatum is a proud Marine, he would not turn on his brothers.

[jveritas]

Excellent news.

[sailor4321]

Congratulations defense team, civilian and military! Well done!

[GVnana]

Thank God. Now, but an end to this anti-american lynch party.

[smoothsailing]

WOO-HOO!!!!

[preacher]

I’m wondering if this will be on the front page of the NYT, NOT.

[SeaHawkFan]

Guess the members of the Pentagon shadow group didn’t want to testify. Bet the other cases are going to be dropped for the same reason. The major impact is that if all these lower ranked guys are exonerated, charges against Chessni will have to be dropped as well. If they are all innocent, how could he have been derelict in his duties?

[jazusamo]

That’s GREAT, Red. I knew he’d make no deal to testify against brother Marines!

[Syncro]

I imagine that Darryl Sharratt has this news and is quite happy about it, but here's a ping to him to this thread.

Great news for your son’s brother and squad mate , Darryl!

And you and your son.