BlackFive

The last Marine facing murder charges from the shootings in Haditha started his Art. 32 hearing yesterday. I doubt it will receive much coverage in the MSM, because the whole massacre story has fallen apart and charges have been dropped on all others involved in the shooting. SSgt Wuterich was the senior member of those who committed the killings, but unless something unexpected happens the murder charges against him should be dropped as well. The piece at PJ Media is fairly comprehensive and I welcome any thoughts comments or ideas. If you want to comment over at PJM it is a slightly different crowd than we have here, but entertaining.

Was a crime committed at Haditha?

The Ny Times had a piece up yesterday and the writer was lamenting the fact that these cold-blooded killers were getting away with murder. It seems impossible for him to consider the possibility that they acted in good faith, being stuk in Irak you know. Here is the letter I sent to the NYT Public Editor. H/T Armed Liberal

Dear PE,

The piece in your paper yesterday about the incident in Haditha seemed more like advocacy for the punishment of the marines involved than a look at whether it was a massacre or not. There is considerable material available about the incident including most of the investigation reports. I have read all of them and do not believe they committed a crime, maybe your writers should try reading up on some of the source material rather than simply grabbing quotes like:

"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."

No kidding, I can't prove that Mr. Noone didn't kill Kennedy, only that we don't have enough evidence to prosecute. What a stupefyingly dumb quote. It is simply an effort to turn presumption of innocence on it's head. The writer seems saddened that the prosecutions have fallen off track as they don't jibe with his view, apparently universally shared in the US and Iraq that.

"In Iraq and in the United States, the killings were viewed as cold-blooded vengeance. After a perfunctory military investigation, Haditha was brushed aside, but once the details were disclosed, the killings became an ugly symbol of a difficult, demoralizing war. After a fuller investigation, the Marines promised to punish the guilty.

But now, the prosecutions have faltered. Since May, charges against two infantrymen and a Marine officer have been dismissed, and dismissal has been recommended for murder charges against a third infantryman. Prosecutors were not able to prove even that the killings violated the American military code of justice."

What a bummer, we may not even get to frog march any of the cold-blooded killers. You ought to keep the Op-Eds on the correct page eh?.

This piece is up today as a feature on the Pajamas Media portal. I am retired Army Special Forces and a former hostage rescue and building clearing instructor, i.e. I know a bit about the rules in play here.

Was a crime committed in Haditha?

Cordially,

Jim