August 30, 2007
“Marine to sue Murtha over irresponsible Haditha accusations”

From Newsmax:

If Marine Col. Jeffrey Chessani is exonerated of the charges against him he may haul Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha, into court, suing him for libel, one of his lawyers told NewsMax.com.

Brian Rooney, one of the attorneys at Michigan’s Thomas More Law Center representing Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and a former Marine captain himself told NewsMax.com that his client, who is alleged to have failed to fully investigate the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha November, 2005 and not reporting an alleged Law of War violation, may follow the example of another Haditha Marine, SSgt. Frank Wuterich who is suing Murtha for libel.

Murtha set off a media firestorm last year when even before the matter had been fully investigated he charged members of Kilo Company, 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment had gone on a rampage and slaughtered 24 Iraqi civilians in cold blood to avenge the killing of a member of their unit in an IED explosion. He also said that the incident occurred in the absence of any firefight, although it occurred as part of a day-long battle with insurgent ambushers that wounded 11 Marines.

Notes Bryan Preston at Hot Air (which reposts the Murtha video):

Recall that Murtha claimed to base his accusations on internal Marine Corps investigations and reports. Well, I have the 31-page report that the investigating officer issued that exonerated several of the Marines.

[...]

[...] the case against Wuterich is likely to fall apart too. He is the last Marine against whom charges from that night remain. If the charges against him fall, game over. Jack Murtha will have slandered Marines who acted according to their training during the course of ongoing combat.

Now, in the wake of this, will any Democrat pundits step up and criticize Murtha for rushing to judgment against US troops?

I doubt it, Bryan.

But if it’s any consolation, they’ll continue right on loving them. Is that not good enough?

(h/t CJ Burch)

27 Comments  :::   Post a comment »

  1. Comment by PCachu on 8/30 @ 9:42 am #

    With support for the troops like this, they hardly need an actual enemy…

  2. Comment by Dan Collins on 8/30 @ 9:44 am #

    They characterize the criticism of Murtha as a media firestorm? I feel that he got off lightly.

  3. Comment by Mikey NTH on 8/30 @ 9:45 am #

    “You have to be cruel to be kind.”

  4. Comment by daleyrocks on 8/30 @ 9:51 am #

    Gleen had a big public hoohaw with Wuterich’s lawyer over his suit against Murtha for defamation. He got the lawyer to add another veteran Congress critter to the suit for consistency who was subsequently dropped after he apologized for his comments. I haven’t checked to see what Gleen has been saying about Haditha lately. He’s probably waiting until the Article 32 hearing for Wuterich is over.

  5. Comment by JD on 8/30 @ 9:56 am #

    Dan – Other than the Right side, who criticized Murtha. The Left and the Media just nodded their heads in agreement.

  6. Comment by N. O'Brain on 8/30 @ 9:56 am #

    John Murtha is an ex-Marine.

  7. Comment by Old Texas Turkey on 8/30 @ 10:00 am #

    BREAKING NEWS ON TRADING ROOM WIRES: Nerve gas found at UN Bldg. Evacuations in progress. Still unconfirmed by any major media sources.

  8. Comment by A fine scotch on 8/30 @ 10:00 am #

    Maybe as part of the sentencing for Murtha, the court will order him to relocate to Okinawa.

  9. Pingback by BREAKING NEWS ON TRADING ROOM WIRES: Nerve gas found at UN Bldg on 8/30 @ 10:09 am #

    [...] “Evacuations in progress. Still unconfirmed by any major media sources.” (h/t Old Texas Turkey, in the comments here). [...]

  10. Comment by alppuccino on 8/30 @ 10:46 am #

    Murtha needs to be rode out of town on a rail. And then all those fat asses that gave him multiple standing ovations during the redeployment debate.

  11. Comment by Rob B. on 8/30 @ 10:59 am #

    “John Murtha is an ex-Marine.”

    SO is Harvey Keitel. Not that there is any specific reason to bring that up other than “it’s interesting” just like Harvey Keitel.

  12. Comment by Dan Collins on 8/30 @ 10:59 am #

    I think that’s “rid outta town”, alp.

  13. Comment by Major John on 8/30 @ 11:12 am #

    Not “rud” outta town?

    Murtha won’t say anything about this. And no media will press him about it either.

  14. Comment by alppuccino on 8/30 @ 11:15 am #

    At least I didn’t say “drawn and thirded”

  15. Comment by Jim in KC on 8/30 @ 11:51 am #

    At least I didn’t say “drawn and thirded”

    Technically possible, I guess. If the subject is male.

  16. Comment by southdakotaboy on 8/30 @ 12:05 pm #

    God I hope this guy wins and takes Murtha for everything he is worth. I mean literally put im out on the street. Show up at Murtha’s house with movers and a wrecking crew kind of thing.

  17. Comment by dicentra on 8/30 @ 12:39 pm #

    Not “rud” outta town?

    No, Major, “rud” is the past participle of “rode” in the South, whereas “rid” is the preterite. Thus:

    “He should be rid outta town,” but “He was rud outta town yestidee.”

    You’re conflating “rid/rud” with “slide/slud,” wherein “slide” is present tense and “slud” is past tense.

    Easy mistake to make. I do it all the time in user manuals.

  18. Comment by edavis on 8/30 @ 12:54 pm #

    I’m not sure this a firm basis for a libel suit (see below)*, since you have to prove Murtha knowingly said false things and I don’t know how you sue a Congressman when he’s acting in his official capacity, but I suppose I could throw a few farthings that direction.

    *“We can’t say those guys didn’t commit a crime,” said Michael F. Noone Jr., a retired Air Force lawyer and law professor at Catholic University of America. “We can only say that after an investigation, there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute.”

  19. Comment by BJTexs on 8/30 @ 12:59 pm #

    eDavis:

    You may be right but go to hotair and watch Murtha’s Hardball appearance and see how much he was wrong about the facts and how almost gleeful he was to pin the blame to “the very top.” He was so invested in the “they were under so much stress” narrative that his commonn sense and decency for his fellow Marines went right out the window for a partisan quickie.

    I hope they bankrupt him.

  20. Comment by Pablo on 8/30 @ 1:10 pm #

    SO is Harvey Keitel. Not that there is any specific reason to bring that up other than “it’s interesting” just like Harvey Keitel.

    Rob, I think the point is that Harvey Keitel is still a Marine, because once a Marine, always a Marine. Unless you are, for instance, Jack Murtha who has earned the title ex-Marine.

  21. Comment by Pablo on 8/30 @ 1:21 pm #

    edavis, Murtha on CNN:

    When this thing’s all over, you’re going to see exactly what I’ve said to be true. That, there was an IED attack, it killed one marine, and then they overreacted and killed a number of civilians without anybody firing at them. That’s what you’re going to find out.

    But my whole point is, I — I understand what happened. I don’t excuse what happened, but I understand it because the pressure. Going out every day, they miss an IED explosive device, they find IEDs, somebody gets killed with an IED. They don’t know who the enemy is, the pressure is tremendous. So when you find something like that, you’re going to find these people cracking. And that’s what happened to this –

    ….

    Wolf, you read the “Time” magazine articles. There are pictures, there are photos. You don’t have to talk to the military about the proof. But you will see when the investigation is done that this was an overreaction by our troops, and this is the type thing that hurts us so badly. We’re trying to win the hearts and minds of the people. Abu Ghraib was another example where they had inadequate forces, untrained people, undisciplined people in a prison. Had one person in a prison who had a court order against him, he couldn’t see his family. He told the army that, and they still put him in a prison. So here we are with troops untrained, inadequate forces. They go out every day and there’s tremendous stress and this is the kind of things that happens.

  22. Comment by Les Nessman on 8/30 @ 2:04 pm #

    Does anyone know Murtha’s number, so I can call and ask for a comment?

  23. Comment by Pat in Colorado on 8/30 @ 3:46 pm #

    Actually, I think the proper phrasing is “tarred and feathered, THEN rid outta town on a rail”.

  24. Comment by Andrea Harris on 8/30 @ 6:36 pm #

    “They go out every day and there’s tremendous stress and this is the kind of things that happens.”

    Wow. War is stressful. Who knew. Is Mr. Ex-Marine Murtha saying that actually being in a battle would have left him crying like a baby and shooting bullets at random? What is he saying? (Was he ever actually in a war? I admit I don’t follow the bios of senators, mostly because I don’t care, but I find this admission intriguing.)

  25. Comment by mojo on 8/30 @ 6:45 pm #

    No, Major, “rud” is the past participle of “rode” in the South, whereas “rid” is the preterite. Thus:

    “He should be rid outta town,” but “He was rud outta town yestidee.”

    It’s “He done shoulda been rid outta town”…

    GRAMMARIST!

  26. Comment by alppuccino on 8/31 @ 6:30 am #

    Rud, rid – Murtha should be made up to look like Pelosi so that he can be more accurately presented as the slutty, conniving little strumpet that lives deep within his wrinkly soul.

  27. Comment by Zelda on 8/31 @ 7:56 am #

    I hope he is sued into third world poverty.

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