MSM Haditha weaseling

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Hartdorf Courant
Investigators have had months to measure the moments. But in war, motive is immaterial. The military courts don't measure right or wrong, just whether troops follow the rules. The Uniform Code of Military Justice gives a lot of leeway to infantrymen in combat. Whether their killings are gleeful, angry or calculated, as long as they fit into the Rules of Engagement, they aren't murderous.

I have a question, where do you have evidence of US troops being gleeful about slaughtering innocents? Do you have any? If not did you just add that to imply that as an option absent any evidence?

If not then STFU with that comparison, because it implies that there are such incidents that should be considered.

Man you guys cheat. Losers.

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Comments

[defendusa]

UJ, I am with you on this one...The MSM is pure shitt. I am tired of it. STFU, unless they have proof...and have you seen what's on Drudge? HFS!! Does it ever stop?

[warvet48]

"If not then STFU"

I'd like to cram that statement down the throat of MSM in general for all their crap. They make me sick too.

[jordan]

Jesse Hamilton. Reality much?

How about when terrorists and hoodlums are after the average lefty lib. Will they be demanding a savior, but hold said saviors strictly to the UCMJ? Save me, but only if you don't have to enter a "grey ethical area" with the ROE? Otherwise, just leave me to their tender mercies.

Somehow, I think not. Our soldiers are the only thing standing between civilization and mayhem, but some among us will no doubt "get it" too little, to late.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

It never stops. George Orwell's 1984 in about 100 years. All aboard.

[Davod]

1984 has arrived only it is the MSM, Dems and other fellow travellers who are taking the role of the government as portrayed in 1984.

[Jim]

STFU is right! These idiots really tick me off. The problems with that article are so many that I don't even know where to start.

I guess the first thing is that their reasoning is so f'ed up that it's not even worth talking about. The second problem is that this was supposed to be a straight news piece. It would be great if they'd leave the editorials on the editorial page...

Jim C

[MICHAEL in MI]

It is a coordinated effort, Uncle Jimbo. John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog highlighted the AFP's crap on 30 AUG 2007: Just Read the Headline; Don't Ask Any Questions

[...] At present, the charges being heard are those against Sergeant Wuterich. If you read AFP's article carefully, what evidence do they describe against Wuterich?

None. That's right, none at all. AFP describes not a word of testimony to support the murder charges against Wuterich. If I were to bet a nickel on the proceedings, I would bet that Wuterich won't be charged; or, if charged, will be acquitted. But AFP achieved what it was after with the headline: "Marine tells of order to execute Haditha women and children."

[Crossing The T]

I, a civilian, share your frustration.

Related to Jesse's writing on justice, I am reminded of a quote in the book "Thieves of Baghdad" written by Col Marine Matthew Bogdanos, who in his civilian life has been assistant district attorney for Manhattan since 1988. The man who rescued many precious antiquities from thieving thugs in Iraq.

Bogdanos writes some thoughts that should apply not only to law enforcement but also investigative journalism. Instead, we have a nation of assumption-loving journalists whose content "swirls into chaos."

From Pages 13-14, Bogdanos writes:

"In a career spent in law enforcement, I have learned the art of investigation is about pattern recognition. The process is a pyramid with experience, intelligence (leavened by street smarts), and hard study, (legal, forensic, and psychological) at its base. The next layer up is where you organize and analyze the raw data to narrow the universe of possibilities. At the top is the gut sense that lets you screen out the white noise and recognize the pattern. The gut, or intuition, is what lets you see the dots that others don't see. It also lets you connect those dots faster than the bad guys.

Using intuition, however, should never be confused with making assumptions. The former is essential; the latter is nothing more than intellectual laziness. Any time you assume, you close off avenues of possibility. Or you open up so many possibilities that your investigation swirls into chaos.

That said, intuition will not convict, and inference plays a role only when it is linking up empirical data to create a convincing ‘theory of the case.’ That's why investigators must proceed from hard evidence...You begin with the entire universe, and eventually you narrow your focus to specific actions carried out by a specific suspect or team of suspects. Value judgments can freeze you, and politics can throw you off the mark."

The mainstream media has fallen far off the mark; the bottom of their investigative pyramid no longer exists.

Lastly, one way to handle people like Jesse is when they are in a similar situation where packs of killing thugs embed themselves into a civilian communities in civilian clothing, a situation where his friends and family have just been blown up into bits. When they find themselves personally in immediate danger where good guys and bad guys are all mixed together in a mess of confusing violence, all you, the solider, have to do is pause.

Hesitate.

Walk by.

Just do as Jesse writes, "let the hours on the Marine-emblem clock tick by." That'll do the trick.

Jesse might not understand the untimely end for him I am implying with the word hesitation. But is it safe to “assume”, that Marines who were in Haditha and Fallujah do?

But thing is, if you Marines found Jesse unarmed and vulnerable, you'd protect him too at the risk of your own life, and you'd protect him and other strangers too– the work cannot be described as gleeful, but it is packed with the persistence of goodness. I love ya for it. Jesse should too. Instead he gleefully packs his writing with the intellectual laziness of assumptions and lack of empirical evidence, at the expense of proper investigative writing. The many journalists who do the same should all be ashamed.

[Crossing The T]

Uncle Jimbo and Marines of Charlie Company--Just an addendum, I'm hoping maybe one of you can help here.

Jesse Hamilton was a finalist for the "Michael Kelly" award for journalism---Here's the Citation: Uncle Jimbo, I don't know how to turn this quote into one of those gray boxes. :-)

"Over the course of a year, Jesse Hamilton reported on the experiences of the Marines of Charlie Company before, during, and after their tour of duty in Iraq. He trained with them in the Mojave Desert, joined them on patrols and house-to-house raids in Fallujah, and stood with them in Arlington as they buried one of their own. Through their stories, Hamilton told the story of war and warriors. In simple, direct, and compelling prose, he showed Hartford Courant readers what Iraq looked like, what it smelled like, and what it felt like for Marine reservists from Connecticut called upon to fight."

He also won "awards" for investigative journalism. I call it assumption journalism myself. But maybe you can change my impression.

Can someone, one of the Marines of Charlie Company who he was embedded with, answer for me, was there a Marine who was glad to have him at Arlington with him? Did they find him understanding, a friend, trusted, respectful of the sacrifice?

I ask, does anyone know what article he wrote that helps us smell Iraq? What odor? My olfactory system is awaiting the stimulating details.

I ask Charlie Company, did he really train with you? Or observe? Did he carry as much as you, really?

I can say his writing smells of a problem, for the reasons in my comment above. That odor is in fact, foul. Charlie Company, am I right?

[liyak]

Every motive is immaterial!Otherwise it would
tear a person apart!The rules,
are right and wrong!try learning before,posting.Your
going in reverse.

[liyak]

Quotes and statements are,both,motives!You see motive through actions,etc.Therefore,through
numbers and letters,we can perceive,anything!

[Deltabravo]

Oh, gosh, the temptation is irresistible on a lazy Saturday. Looks like fun. Can I play?

There once was a poet named Liyak
And these threads with poems he would hijack
His haiku was a puzzle
His thoughts did bumfuzzle
As perpetually if on was he high crack.

There. I feel so much better now.
:-)

[Uncle Jimbo]

That was a full out loud Ha.

I am glad we have Liyak, ammo is important.

Cordially,

Uncle J

[Crossing The T]

I think y'all are referring to me when you write "to learn before posting"? If so, what am I meant to learn before posting? I hope you have time to clarify for me.

Is there something wrong with the Bogdanos quote? I don't know Bogdanos personally, just thought the quote was relevant to a journalist (Hamilton) who's seems to have investigative journalism wrong (and whose sloppy use of the word "gleeful" sniffs of his own blinding agenda). But maybe I'm supposed to learn something there.

Also, Hamilton's sly snip about the clock ticking Marine-emblem, caught my eye as I read his piece. I just flipped his "clock ticking" analogy on its head, in the context of battle. Which Marines wouldn't do; they don't waste time, they don't hesitate to protect freedom. Not on their clock anyway. He'd be sorry to meet the fate if Marines weren't like that. But maybe I'm supposed to learn something there.

So as for the Charlie Company questions, I wasn't there, so I can't "come out to play" on a lazy Saturday with the same power you can. Your retorts to that Kelly "award" will be real, powerful. Take the award down, piece by piece. Pack the punch, line by line. I find it extremely hard to believe Hamilton really went through the rigors of training with you, but I don't know. You would. I find it hard to believe that his presence at Arlington was welcome. But I don't know. You would. If my presence at Arlington wasn't welcome, I wouldn't go. But verbal vultures do, and Hamilton sniffs of being one.

I'm on your side, more than you will ever know that's for dang sure. But apologies if what I wrote led you believe otherwise; that would fill me with regret. But if it does, zap it from cyberspace. It doesn't deserve to be up there if it does. I'll support you in the words being annihilated with deletion ammo. :-) Thanks for letting me play on a lazy Saturday. And thanks to y'all, I can actually have a luxurious lazy Saturday, and I can assure you, more than you'll ever know, it's not being taken for granted. So long for now, friends and a lazy Saturday are waiting for me to join it all again, outside.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Davod, We're not there yet, but dang ain't we close.

The Dems have their supporters doing all sorts of tricks for them now.
- Begging for censorship, just begging for it.
- Begging for more government control. Over things that that can have serious life consequences likf Health Care. Think Hilrod (Or any dem you can name) will give a damn if you get your operation? Pssshh
- Screaming at GWB for now spending billions yet to rebuild slums in New Orleans when the levees upgrades won't be complete until 2015 and another katrina could happen next weekend.
Oh, and rebuild in a disappearing delta that is sinking an inch or more a year.
And when they also believe the oceans are going to rise 20 feet.
There is no reasonable way to talk to any of these people but they are mobbing. Something will come of it.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Sorry, 'Not spending billions'

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Sorry, 'Not spending billions'

[David]

As an acaademic in the pay of the grey eminences in Hartford, everything that comes out of that city stinks.

[liyak]

Your a tongue for a "Politician." An endex for
all to watch!

[liyak]

Uncle Jim has repeated again,
what he did elsewhere!Therefore,it's a server thing.
Buggers are hackers.

[liyak]

deltabravo,why don't you rebuke the devil,since he is a
source of "temptation?"It's because you enjoy it,and don't
have the power of el(God).Therefore you think it's
normal,to give in!=(politics).

[Ymarsakar]

liyak must be some kind of mutation of M[u]llah c[i]moc.

Man, they are cranking out bio weapons, aren't they.

[rgrmom82]

Speaking of bioweapons...

You should have a taste of my neighbors chicken parmisan.