“Marine’s Charges Dropped in Iraq Deaths,” AP:
A general dropped all charges Thursday against a Marine who had been accused of killing three Iraqi brothers in response to a roadside bomb attack in Haditha in 2005.“The evidence does not support a referral to a court-martial,” Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote in his written decision.
Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, had been charged with the murder in the deaths of three of those killed after the bomb attack Nov. 19, 2005.
The decision to drop the charges followed an earlier recommendation from a hearing officer who listened to evidence in the case. Under military law, a commanding general has total jurisdiction over a case.
In his recommendation, Lt. Col. Paul Ware said murder charges brought against Sharratt were based on unreliable witness accounts, poor forensic evidence and questionable legal theories.
“The government version is unsupported by independent evidence,” Ware wrote in an 18-page report. “To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.”
Personally, I think they should have gassed him.
Because you have to admit, even if it didn’t happen the way the government charged it had, it certainly could have.
And sometimes you have to sacrifice the factual on the altar of the plausible if you hope to draw any real and inspiring significance from a narrative.
As it stands now, the story’s ending — well, it’s just so unsatsisfying, you know?
I mean, where’s the lesson? How am I to feel?
Comment by Squid on 8/9 @ 11:49 am #
C’mon, Jeff. You’re supposed to feel OUTRAGE!
Our out-of-control army full of poor uneducated soulless killbots (whom we support and love dearly, lest you question our patriotism) gets away with MURDER! while their commanding officers look the other way.
What’s funny is that I’ve sensed my crunchy granola friends are suffering from OUTRAGE! fatigue even more than the rest of us are suffering from Iraq fatigue and Presidential campaign fatigue. Turns out that it’s hard to stay that wound up for years on end.
Comment by Dewclaw on 8/9 @ 12:11 pm #
You raise a good point, Squid…
How does the left keep that BDS ratcheted up to 11 (“Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top…” “…these go to eleven.”) for as long as they have without that bulging vein in their collective forhead popping like a gecko in a microwave?
I wunda….
Comment by BJTexs on 8/9 @ 12:15 pm #
John Murtha will now be issuing his apology…
foot tapping
Yep, the press conference is coming right up…
checks watch
Any minute now…
whistles tunelessly
So … um … ah … how’s the weather in Okinawa?
Comment by Rob B. on 8/9 @ 12:16 pm #
The lefts problem is that they’ve made Bush out to be the human incarnation of Satan. However, they are now beginning to remember that they don’t actually believe in Satan. That’s for all those dirty Christianist.
Comment by mojo on 8/9 @ 12:18 pm #
How am I to feel?
With your hands, dummie.
SB: sense closest
and most immediate
Comment by N. O'Brain on 8/9 @ 12:22 pm #
John Murtha is an ex-Marine.
TW: Congress, exhorting…….I STG Jeff, if you don’t cut it out….
Comment by BJTexs on 8/9 @ 12:32 pm #
Mr. O’Brain:
In addition, John Murtha is ex-sane. Nothing would please me more than if he became ex-pat.
But that’s just the hater talking out loud.
Comment by LionDude on 8/9 @ 12:48 pm #
I feel the charges were accurate, but fake. No wait, I feel the news report was fake, but accurate. No, I feel that even though no charges were filed, they still speak to a larger truth? An essential truth?
Damn. How does this go again? I actually feel dizzy.
Comment by N. O'Brain on 8/9 @ 12:57 pm #
“I actually feel dizzy.”
You need…..more cowbell!
Comment by TODD on 8/9 @ 1:04 pm #
It is amzing how fast this whole situation ran with the Marine being villanized before any real trial or review of the case. Makes Dan Rather proud….
Comment by edavis on 8/9 @ 1:17 pm #
Clearly,t hat’s from Wikipedia and shows that in Sharrat was not guilty of a legal crime when he gunned down those three brothers, because shooting unarmed civilians is okay as long as it’s within the ROE’s. The rest, especially Wuterich, will get their justice.
As a soldier I know once told me (with relevance to Sharrat): “better to be tried by 12 than carried by six.”
I’m glad the system worked here and BJTxs, Sharrat is in Murtha’s district and hasn’t received that apology yet either.
Pingback by Neocon News » Democrats said the surge is... what? on 8/9 @ 1:24 pm #
[...] to quote this nutroots-esque response from protein wisdom for myself, it’s too good: Personally, I think they should have gassed [...]
Comment by BJTexs on 8/9 @ 1:36 pm #
Truth be told, edavis, Murtha owes every one of the accused an apology for shooting his mouth off about what Marines may have done before any charges had been filed. Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t apply to soldiers in a world where Murtha could get off a good soundbite.
Comment by Karl on 8/9 @ 1:51 pm #
Update: Capt. Randy Stone has also been dismissed from the case.
Time magazine, which breathlessly broke the story and hyped it as a “symbol of a war gone bad,” didn’t report the first dismissal and there’s nothing on their website about the two new dismissals.
Shocka!
Comment by BJTexs on 8/9 @ 1:57 pm #
Nuance, the other white meat.
Comment by cjburch on 8/9 @ 2:18 pm #
The reporter who covered the haditha case for Rueters. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/reporter-jailed-by-us-broke-haditha-has-familiar-name
Comment by cjburch on 8/9 @ 2:20 pm #
Times Magazine’s sourcing for the Haditha tape. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/time-corrects-its-mistakes-about-haditha
Comment by George S. "Butch" Patton (Mrs.) on 8/9 @ 2:31 pm #
My mindthoughts are jumbled and my soulpatterns are crushed by this…
Comment by Pablo on 8/9 @ 5:09 pm #
edavis,
And what will that be, as long as you’re predicting?
Pingback by Charges dropped - Neptunus Lex - The unbearable lightness of Lex. Enjoy. on 8/9 @ 5:21 pm #
[...] facts, in other words. Unlike those supporters of the Beauchamp narrative whom Jeff Goldstein so ably parodies here: Personally, I think they should have gassed [...]
Comment by JD on 8/9 @ 5:29 pm #
I have to admit that I am happy that they came to this resolution. I think that Murtha and the media should be forced to issue an the number of apologies equivalent to the number of times they made baseless charges against these Marines.
TW : goat reference. If Murtha would quit sucking up to the goat fuckers, I would not have to reference his lunacy any longer.
Trackback by Wake up America-Contact Murtha Info on 8/9 @ 5:36 pm #
Is John Murtha Going to pologize to the Haditha Ma…
For those that agree that John Murtha owes this Marine and the others a huge apology for making statements about their guilt without a benefit of a trial and having now found out that all charges have been dropped, below I am listing the ways for you…..
Pingback by Is John Murtha Going to Apologize to the Haditha Marines Now? at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source. on 8/9 @ 5:43 pm #
[...] discussing this:Take Our Country Back, protein wisdom, Pundit Review, BLACKFIVE, Sister Toldjah, QandO, michellemalkin.com and [...]
Pingback by Sister Toldjah » Haditha: Murder charges dropped for another Marine (UPDATE II: CHARGES AGAINST *THIRD* MARINE DISMISSED) on 8/9 @ 7:10 pm #
[...] Goldstein, chaneling the moonbat left, quips: Personally, I think they should have gassed [...]
Comment by JD on 8/9 @ 9:06 pm #
Jeff G
“… sacrifice the factual at the altar of the plausible…”
That is an excellent turn of a phrase.
Comment by ahem on 8/10 @ 1:12 am #
Jeff’s been on fire lately…
Comment by Swen Swenson on 8/10 @ 7:28 am #
Well damn. First everyone’s new favorite winter soldier is debunked, and now this. Not to impune the motives of anyone in particular, but I’ve a feeling there are some who would really like to get beyond supporting the troops and back to spittin’ on ‘em. Because of the OUTRAGE!! Because they’re worse than Jenjhis KHAAAANNNNN!!! Oh the frustration..