Quick on the Draw

Congressman John Murtha was quick to accuse. Should facts show Murtha's charge Marines "killed innocent Iraqi civilians in cold blood" false, Murtha critics should stand aside, and allow the Democrat Pennsylvania United States representative enough rope to hang himself.

Marines killed Iraqi civilians 'in cold blood': US lawmaker
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US lawmaker and former Marine colonel accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians after a Marine comrade had been killed by a roadside bomb...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060518/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqrightsmarines

Murtha: Marines killed Haditha civilians in cold blood
By Christian LoweTimes staff writer
Rep. John Murtha, an influential Pennsylvania lawmaker and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, said today Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood” after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush that killed a Marine during a patrol in Haditha, Iraq, Nov. 19.
The incident is still under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Multi-National Forces Iraq.

A March 27 Time magazine report published claims by an Iraqi civil rights group that the Marines barged into houses near the bomb strike, throwing grenades and shooting civilians as they cowered in fear. The report prompted calls for a Pentagon probe.

“It’s much worse than was reported in Time magazine,” Murtha, a Democrat, former Marine colonel and Vietnam war veteran, told reporters on Capitol Hill.

“There was no firefight. There was no [bomb] that killed those innocent people,” Murtha explained, adding there were “about twice as many” Iraqis killed than Time had reported.
No official investigation report has been released by the Pentagon and a spokesman for Murtha was unable to add to the congressman’s remarks

“I do not know where Rep. Murtha is obtaining is information,” said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Central Command in Tampa, Fla. “Thoroughness will drive the investigation.”…

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1808360.php

Murtha's Republican challenger, Diana Irey is misguided to ask for an apology and state Murtha puts the troops in danger by his lambast.

Irey herself was too quick on the draw and should just let Murtha continue to dis-ass-emble himself. Someone as far gone as Rep. Murtha cannot be rehabilitated.

Campaign 2006: Challenger Irey criticizes Murtha on Iraq comments
Thursday, May 25, 2006By Maeve Reston, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON - In the first chapter of what is likely to be a blistering campaign, U.S. Rep. John Murtha's Republican challenger, Diana L. Irey, traveled to Washington yesterday to decry Mr. Murtha as one-time patriot who has "lost his way" after his recent comments about a November incident involving U.S. Marines and civilian killings in the city of Haditha, Iraq.

In remarks at the National Press Club, Ms. Irey, a Washington County commissioner, asked Mr. Murtha to apologize for and retract his comments about the incident in Haditha in which 15 unarmed Iraqis and eight insurgents died after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb.

Though government officials originally said the civilians were killed by the bomb and that the insurgents died after an ensuing firefight, Time Magazine reported in March that witnesses and local officials said the civilians, including women and children, were killed by Marines angry about their colleagues' death. The deaths are still under investigation by the Defense Department.

During a May 17 news conference, Mr. Murtha referenced the incident as he pressed his case to reporters that the U.S. should pull troops out of Iraq. He said a Pentagon investigation would ultimately show that the troops in Haditha "overreacted because of the pressure on them and killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Mr. Murtha, who has close ties to top defense officials as a retired Marine colonel and the top-ranking Democrat on the House committee that handles defense appropriations, said he had not read the Pentagon report but was basing his information on frequent discussions with "the commanders," he said, "people that know what they're talking about."

Ms. Irey, of Carroll Township, said Mr. Murtha was denying the Marines due process and had put American troops in danger with his remarks...


One report mentions Murtha revealed his sources were “the commanders." The curiosity-challenged media just takes it all in.

Marines Killed Civilians "In Cold Blood"
By Michael Scherer and Mark Benjamin

Senior House Democrat Jack Murtha warns that the details of a reported massacre in Iraq last year will prove "a very bad thing" for the US.

A senior House Democrat with close ties to the military claimed Wednesday that U.S. Marines wantonly killed innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, in an early morning raid last November, buttressing a March report by Time.

"Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," said Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam and is among the most influential Democratic voices on military matters. "This is going to be a very, very bad thing for the United States."

Asked about his sources during a midday briefing on Iraq policy in the Capitol, Murtha confidently replied, "All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they are talking about." Although Murtha said that he had not read any investigative reports by the military on the incident, he stressed, "It's much worse than reported in Time magazine."

The civilian deaths are under review by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is also responsible for the Marine Corps. A Navy spokesman declined to comment on Murtha's claims, saying that the matter is part of an ongoing inquiry. He would also not comment on when the investigation into the incident would be completed.

In March, Time described an incident in the western Iraqi town of Haditha -- the worst alleged case of U.S. troops deliberately killing civilians in Iraq…

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,416816,00.html

Journalists don't press Murtha to provide details and name names.

While USA TODAY's On Deadline Blog accepts anonymous sources, the public should be wary.

USA TODAY
Report to cite Marines

Two of the nation's largest newspapers hit their respective coasts this morning with allegations of U.S. military killings and a cover-up in Iraq.

The New York Times: "A military investigation into the deaths of two dozen Iraqis last November is expected to find that a small number of marines in western Iraq carried out extensive, unprovoked killings of civilians, Congressional, military and Pentagon officials said Thursday."

The Los Angeles Times: "Marines from Camp Pendleton wantonly killed unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, and then tried to cover up the slayings in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha, military investigations have found."

Using extensive anonymous sourcing -- including "officials who have seen the findings," "Marine officials," "Congressional, military and Pentagon officials," "two lawyers involved in discussions about individual marines' defenses," and more -- the papers depict an investigation on the verge of charges that could surpass previous U.S. war crimes allegations in Iraq.

Along with the case, both papers mention a Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee's warning to his troops this week: "We use lethal force only when justified, proportional and, most importantly, lawful."

As the papers note, the situation surrounding the Haditha incident was first reported by Time magazine in March. "Because the incident is officially under investigation, members of the Marine unit that was in Haditha on Nov. 19 are not allowed to speak with reporters," Time reports in the story. "But the military's own reconstruction of events and the accounts of town residents interviewed by Time — including six whose family members were killed that day — paint a picture of a devastatingly violent response by a group of U.S. troops who had lost one of their own to a deadly insurgent attack and believed they were under fire."

The story also mention the comments of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., after receiving a briefing on the case. Marines had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," Murtha said. "It's much worse than was reported in Time magazine."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/05/reports_probe_t.html


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