Murtha can go to hell....

[Hannibal]

This is what a former marine says to the media about Marines in Iraq? What does he think his comments will be like when they are replayed a few hundred times on Aljazeera?? What a moron this man has become.

A US lawmaker and former Marine colonel accused US Marines of killing innocent Iraqi civilians after a Marine comrade had been killed by a roadside bomb.

"Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," John Murtha told reporters. The November 19 incident occurred in Haditha, Iraq.

"There was no firefight" that led to the shootings at close range, the Vietnam war veteran said, denying early official accounts, which said that a roadside bomb had killed the Iraqis.

"There were no (roadside bombs) that killed these innocent people," he said.

Time magazine reported the shootings on March 27, based on an Iraqi human rights group and locals, who said that 15 unarmed Iraqis died, including women and children, when Marines barged into their home throwing grenades and shooting.

"It's much worse than reported in Time magazine," Murtha said.

At least three Marine officers are under official investigation, and no report has been released, Army Times said Tuesday.
Murtha is a harsh critic of the war in Iraq and said that such incidents are the result of inadequate planning, training and troop numbers in Iraq.

Source

[odannyboy]

Are U.S. troops, when put into a situation where war is never ending, terrorists/insurgents so easily blend into the civilian population, somehow incapable of such a thing?

Anyone, no matter what moral high ground one stakes a claim to, is capable of such actions. When things spin out of control anything can happen, and it always has been this way throughout time.

We can no longer pretend everything is going swell in Iraq, when Rush and his unthinking cheerleaders turn Abu Ghraib into a "college prank" they will also find some way to justify or otherwise exonerate the guilty parties in actions such as these.

Murtha correctly sees the quagmire that our President has created in Iraq, and has been one of the harshest critics. He also has genuine credibility, and genuine credentials. I don't know the whole story here or even if Murtha is correct in saying what he did but I know one thing:

When the man talks I pay attention to what he has to say.

[odannyboy]

Listen to Murtha say it himself:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/05/17.html#a8330

[Woodmonkey]

This slam against our military doesn't surprise me at all. When I think of him, I think of his complete disrespect toward a young Army Sergeant who dared to disagree with him at a public meeting. It's on video - Sgt. Mark Seavey confronted Democrat Reps. Jim Moran and John Murtha at a town hall meeting in Arlington, Va.

http://media.michellemalkin.com/videos/seaveyvideo.wmv

Here is the transcript -

"Yes sir my name is Mark Seavey and I just want to thank you for coming up here. Until about a month ago I was Sgt Mark Seavey infantry squad leader, I returned from Afghanistan. My question to you, (applause)

"Like yourself I dropped out of college two years ago to volunteer to go to Afghanistan, and I went and I came back. If I didn't have a herniated disk now I would volunteer to go to Iraq in a second with my troops, three of which have already volunteered to go to Iraq. I keep hearing you say how you talk to the troops and the troops are demoralized, and I really resent that characterization. (applause) The morale of the troops that I talk to is phenomenal, which is why my troops are volunteering to go back, despite the hardships they had to endure in Afghanistan.

"And Congressman Moran, 200 of your constituents just returned from Afghanistan. We never got a letter from you; we never got a visit from you. You didn't come to our homecoming. The only thing we got from any of our elected officials was one letter from the governor of this state thanking us for our service in Iraq, when we were in Afghanistan. That's reprehensible. I don't know who you two are talking to but the morale of the troops is very high."

Moran - who is one of the few congressmen supporting Charlie Rangel's call to restore the draft - responded quickly: "That wasn't in the form of a question, it was in the form of a statement. But, uhh... let's go over here." And he took the next question.

Notice at the end how neither Murtha nor Moran had the courtesy to respond and Moran quickly got the attention off Sgt Seavey's remarks and somewhere else. Not even a 'thank you for your service'.

[Snowden]

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

This slam against our military doesn't surprise me at all. When I think of him, I think of his complete disrespect toward a young Army Sergeant who dared to disagree with him at a public meeting. It's on video - Sgt. Mark Seavey confronted Democrat Reps. Jim Moran and John Murtha at a town hall meeting in Arlington, Va.

http://media.michellemalkin.com/videos/seaveyvideo.wmv

Here is the transcript -

Notice at the end how neither Murtha nor Moran had the courtesy to respond and Moran quickly got the attention off Sgt Seavey's remarks and somewhere else. Not even a 'thank you for your service'.

I remember this, so nothing he does now should surprise us, I suppose.

Still - accusing our Marines of murder? Because that's what it is that he's doing here. Murtha needs somebody to teach him about reality - he seems to have forgotten what it's like, and he obviously has an agenda.

[Headhunter]

Odannyboy, you make valid points and unfortunate incidents happen. It is the 'Nature of the Beast' when one fights a war where one side doesn't 'obey or play by the rules'. Our troops are extremely well trained. They ID a target before engaging that target. They have to get permission to engage target, but there are time's when permission is never asked for nor given, it is understood (Only fire when fired upon). I don't know the full details of the incident that is mentioned but I feel it is up to the military to deal with it, not the media.

[USA11B]

I believe the Pentagon and possible others are lookning into this also.
SOURCE