Vegas
07-17-2007, 05:36 PM
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/07/17/opinion/271268.txt
On Nov. 19, 2005, 24 Iraqis were killed in city of Haditha, the day after a roadside bomb there had killed a U.S. Marine. Faster than you can say "war crimes," neighbors anonymously were telling reporters Marines had massacred innocent, unarmed civilians, and journalists and anti-war agitators were comparing the incident to the 1968 My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.
The Marine Corps later charged three enlisted men with murder and four officers with failing to investigate the killings properly, thoroughly pleasing Rep. John "Cut and Run" Murtha, R-Pa.: "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." In other words, the blood of the victims is on President Bush's hands.
Now that the facts have been discovered, investigating officers have recommended two of the seven Haditha defendants be spared court-martial because of weak evidence, and the cases against the remaining five are unraveling. One investigator, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said some of the dead Iraqis were insurgents, just as the Marines had said, and accounts by Iraqi witnesses are inconsistent with the forensic evidence. To believe the Iraqis, he said, "is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and sets a dangerous precedent that, in my opinion, may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq. Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy."
The general overseeing the case has the final say, but given the forcefulness and clarity of Lt. Col. Ware's recommendation, he will be hard-pressed to ignore it. Moreover, "I think that unless they get a Marine eyewitness to roll over, they are going to have a hard time prosecuting the cases," former Marine Corps judge Jane Siegel told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Operating under the scapegoat principle, the military will try one officer for dereliction of duty for trusting subordinates who told him the Iraqis were insurgents. But Lt. Col. Ware said Iraqis have a powerful motive to lie because the United States pays $2,500 to the families of innocent Iraqi civilian killed by U.S. forces.
It appears justice is preparing to prevail, but when it does, rest assured Rep. Murtha will be MIA when it comes time to eat his words.
On Nov. 19, 2005, 24 Iraqis were killed in city of Haditha, the day after a roadside bomb there had killed a U.S. Marine. Faster than you can say "war crimes," neighbors anonymously were telling reporters Marines had massacred innocent, unarmed civilians, and journalists and anti-war agitators were comparing the incident to the 1968 My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.
The Marine Corps later charged three enlisted men with murder and four officers with failing to investigate the killings properly, thoroughly pleasing Rep. John "Cut and Run" Murtha, R-Pa.: "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." In other words, the blood of the victims is on President Bush's hands.
Now that the facts have been discovered, investigating officers have recommended two of the seven Haditha defendants be spared court-martial because of weak evidence, and the cases against the remaining five are unraveling. One investigator, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said some of the dead Iraqis were insurgents, just as the Marines had said, and accounts by Iraqi witnesses are inconsistent with the forensic evidence. To believe the Iraqis, he said, "is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and sets a dangerous precedent that, in my opinion, may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq. Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy."
The general overseeing the case has the final say, but given the forcefulness and clarity of Lt. Col. Ware's recommendation, he will be hard-pressed to ignore it. Moreover, "I think that unless they get a Marine eyewitness to roll over, they are going to have a hard time prosecuting the cases," former Marine Corps judge Jane Siegel told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Operating under the scapegoat principle, the military will try one officer for dereliction of duty for trusting subordinates who told him the Iraqis were insurgents. But Lt. Col. Ware said Iraqis have a powerful motive to lie because the United States pays $2,500 to the families of innocent Iraqi civilian killed by U.S. forces.
It appears justice is preparing to prevail, but when it does, rest assured Rep. Murtha will be MIA when it comes time to eat his words.