More for Karl’s Haditha Addendum from Denis Keohane at American Thinker:
The anti war Democrats and the left insist they care about the troops. Press them on that very thing, and demand Congressional investigation based on the following:
1) The Marines were presumed guilty well before the investigation and they had their rights to self defence exercised, and it was not just Murtha, as I’ll show.
2) There were months and months of supposed leaks from the military’s investigation that were invariably reported in a way that seemed to confirm the Marines’ guilt. Was there manipulation of those supposed leaks?
3) The reporting and widespread acceptance of the Marines’ guilt at Haditha was and is a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda and other insurgencies engaged in killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and can reasonably be assumed to have led therefore to the deaths of at least some Americans as a result. A gift of a massive propaganda boon was freely given to our enemies, and it was made in the U.S.A.
4) All but one of the Marines facing murder charges have had the charges dropped, yet each of those men who were risking their lives in combat in the service of this country were themselves publicly denied the elementary right of self defense that is among the rights that they and previous generations of American soldiers have risked and given their lives to protect for others. Their families have suffered immeasurably, seeing day after day and month after month their loved ones vilified as cold blooded killers.
5) There may well have been undue pressure put on the military, including by members of the Bush administration as well as by Democrats and the media, that had the effect of denying the accused Marines fair treatment.
6) The false understanding of what happened at Haditha has made the appeal to moderate Muslims to come forward outspokenly against Islamic extremism far more difficult, while our soldiers risk their lives every day sincerely and even heroically attempting to win the hearts and minds of such Muslims.
Senator Craig pled guilty and appears to be stepping down; if Murtha’s convicted of slandering these soldiers, so should he.
If every crime and misdeed of a US soldier in Iraq wasn’t elevated to iconic status, a symptom of the irredeemable blackness of the American Heart; if every IED wasn’t heralded as a direct refutation of the lies we are fed from BushCo; if every political impasse in Baghdad wasn’t used as a club to pound in the hopelessness of our efforts…then I’d be able to see the Left as the loyal opposition. But when the rhetoric is indistinguishable from that of AQI’s propaganda organs, it’s hard to slip a tissue between them, ideologically-speaking.
The left clearly feels ripped off that these Marines aren’t going down for war crimes.
Any conviction of a Marine would render him a pawn to the lefts attempts to pin war crimes on Bush.
Rot in jail killbot whom we love and support.
It is pathetic to read the newspaper reports on this, the disappointment from the self proclaimed neutral press is palpable
And that dribbling fool Daniel Schorr was moaning away this morning on NPR’s Weekend Edition, that Abu Ghraib and Haditha were the Most Horrendous War Crime Ever in American history.
God, it’s embarrassing to know I used to think NPR was a reputable news source. That senile old has-been didn’t even give any hint that the prosecution of the Haditha Marines is collapsing even faster than the case against the Duke lacrosse team… Granted, he does commentary, but that they allow him to haunt their newsroom says volumes about NPR’s mindset.
Even if not convicted he should step down. What Murtha did was much more heinous,to those marines, and to the country as well.
1. Murtha’s not going to be found to have committed slander. The Republicans are getting as bad as the Democrats, trying to criminalize and/or civilly litigate their differences.
2. I didn’t see Dems calling on Craig to step down so I’m not sure about the connection you are making. He had to step down because his own consituency wouldn’t accept his conduct.
“…if Murtha’s convicted of slandering these soldiers, so should he.”
Well, yeah.
But, in reality?
Down the memory hole for the left.
Can Murtha be hanged instead?
FA — Mussolini style…
Step down? Murtha? The suggestion assumes there is some pretense of honor among democrat partisans. There is none.
“if Murtha’s convicted of slandering these soldiers, so should he.”
He would have to have a sense of shame, something no Democrat has.
This is hugely important. Because Murtha has incontinently compromised himself, there is the potential here to highlight the pro-terrorist propaganda aspect that is integral to the slanted coverage of incidences of perceived and actual military malfeasance.
The Haditha case is a highly embarrassing rejoinder to the Democrats’ assertions that “we are creating more terrorists.”
The wet kisses NPR and pals will give to the De Palma film etc. should be met with the clear and demonstrable assertion that these efforts are exponents of the Democrats’ lockstep with Al Qaeda propaganda efforts, and the Haditha case will immensely complicate Democrats’ protestations to the contrary.