MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

The Haditha trial in the media

• Posted by Beth on June 3rd, 2006 filed in General, Iraq, Journalism, Moonbats, Support the Troops, The War    

Michelle Malkin has another instance of the media’s prosecution of the unindicted Marines of Haditha–the UK Times editor has apologized via email but the damage is done, in my opinion. READ THIS. Unless they issue a correction on the front page so none of their readers will miss it, I won’t be satisfied. An emailed apology to Malkin and her readers alone doesn’t cut it–we know it’s bullshi’ite already. It’s their regular readers who need to see a correction.

I’ve mentally wrestled with how to write my thoughts on this whole Haditha “incident” for a week without rambling, and I can’t do it without rambling a bit. (Thanks to Larry for the email that gave me the push to at least try, though.) It’s incredibly frustrating that after three years of fighting in Iraq, there are still the same old battles being fought against the war by the media and the Anti-Victory Left. And after three years, their arguments (lies) seem to have taken hold in the collective consciousness, so much that Jesse MacBeth was immediately believed by so many on the left, and so much that Haditha has become “My Lai” to them. And even more maddeningly, the presumably pro-victory people who find the story in the media so easily plausible and express such elitist outrage.

But it’s more than all that.

This Haditha “incident,” which some seem to forget could easily have been fully justified, to me simply isn’t that big of a deal. Sorry, it’s not. Even if it had been the worst scenario, it’s not indicative of the reality on the ground. But does the media know that? Do the anti-victory leftists know that? Of course not! Have they been there? Do they know what actually BEING in that situation is like? Of course they don’t, and neither do I.

Here’s the typical idiotarian comment:

Okay, fine. But tell us: Did marines massacre a bunch of civilians at Haditha, or not? You never dealt with that issue directly. Don’t by shy. Tell us what you think. Yes or no?

If, as I suspect, you’ll try to weasel out of an answer “pending the complete investigation,” bear in mind that I am not asking for the names of those who pulled the triggers. The USMC waited four months to request a criminal investigation; as a result, both prosecutors and defense lawyers have told the Washington Post it will be difficult to sustain convictions because basic evidence is now unavailable and killers have had time to corrodinate (sic) their stories.

So if there are no convictions, as seems likely — and probably the object of the USMC’s delay to begin with — then will your line be that there was no massacre?

The Marine Corps didn’t drag their feet; it only became an issue after Time Slime Magazine said they had this story from a doctor in Haditha. When the Marine Corps learned of it, they immediately began their investigation, not eager to have accusations of a coverup. It’s disgusting to me that it’s always ASSUME THE WORST from the military; assume the coverup, assume there were “massacres” conducted by those evil, bloodthirsty, warmongering, brainwashed military men.

If so, then who killed those people? The Marine Corps now admits there was no firefight. They admit that the civilians weren’t killed by shrapnel. Among the dead were women, a legless old man in a wheelchair, and at least one infant. Who killed them? Not the names, but whose forces?

Oh really? They admit there was no firefight? Where? Don’t you mean that’s what Murtha says? Here’s what we know:

During a routine patrol on the morning of November 19, the Third Battalion of the First Marine Regiment came under small-arms attack and returned fire, shortly after their convoy of four Humvees was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED), killing one marine, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, Texas, in addition to a number of nearby Iraqis. What happened next is unclear and the subject of widespread speculation.

Widespread speculation, indeed. The Marine Corps’ press release was inaccurate, this we also know. A “lie?” No. It’s called “the fog of war.”

He acknowledged that the initial, oral reports from the field indicated, inaccurately, that noncombatants were killed in the bomb explosion. The Marines also issued a news release the day after the killings that said 15 Iraqi civilians had died in the bomb blast and eight insurgents had been killed in an ensuing firefight.

Yet debriefings on Nov. 20 gave rise to another version of events. Marines at the site said that the civilians had been killed by crossfire during a firefight with suspected insurgents, the officials said.
[...]
That Iraqis were killed by gunfire, not by the bomb explosion, did not raise any red flags because Marines were saying that insurgents had been firing at them after the bomb went off, he said. In addition, the bomb attack that morning was followed by a series of other insurgent attacks that day, further confusing the situation.

In retrospect, he said, it might have been advisable to correct the inaccurate news release, but the Marines did not consider doing that at the time.

So you have what oral reports said initially, and further debriefings. Then you have a video taken by an Iraqi, days later. Then you have more oral accounts from Iraqis, and the piece in Time magazine. When the Time piece comes out (and Jack Murtha launches his newest weapon against the war), the Marine Corps learns of “the other side” of the story–the Iraqi reports–and starts investigating.

What I believe (slightly edited from a comment I left here):
I think what probably happened was after the IED killed Terrazas (the guy who seems to be forgotten by all the hand-wringers) and the firefight ensued, some civilians–if you can call them that–did get killed. “Civilians” who were engaged with the Marines, that is. (In other words, not civilians.) But not babies, unless they were being used as shields (and were accidentally shot), which the insurgents often do.
I fully believe the “insurgents” did the killing, and the Haditha doctor that reported the killings (who, by the way, appears to be no friend of the Americans) reported what he was told to report by the insurgents. Or he did so all on his own, I don’t know. I think his story is bullshi’ite, basically.

I find it mind-boggling that people would accept the accounts given by Haditha Iraqis rather than wait to see what those Marines who actually were there have to say in sworn statements–unless they think the Haditha Iraqis are more credible, more honorable than US Marines. That says a hell of a lot more about the media, Jack Murtha, and the “antiwar” left than they probably care to acknowledge.

Finally, our Marines lose their brothers in Iraq all too often, and sometimes tragically lose whole squads at once. Why is it so easy for some to believe that these Marines, unlike so many others, go on a a rampage, as though death and destruction were something new and shocking to them? And another question–why on earth do people expect that no civilians will ever be casualties of war? What do these people think happens in war? It’s not pretty. It’s not all about looking “intimidating” (although not too much!), building schools and handing out treats to children, although we do a good job at that as well (not that the “antiwar” mob wants to acknowledge it). Nobody likes it, and most of all, those who fight want war least of all. But as long as human life exists, there will be wars. Either we fight to win, or we just give up and let fate take its course (more about that in another post), no matter what that fate shall be. I’m not willing to accept the fate our enemies have in mind for us, EVER. And I will never pretend to know what goes through the minds of those at the tip of the sword, those who endure, survive, or fall to the death and destruction to defeat that enemy. Shame, shame, shame upon those who think they know, because they don’t–and all too often, they do as much damage to the conduct of the war as does the enemy. But infuriatingly, they won’t know that shame, because they simply think it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters to them, except for defeat in Iraq–our defeat. Bullshi’ite. FIGHT*.

Now, read the commentary from a Marine in Fallujah, because what those guys have to say DOES MATTER.

Tags: Haditha, Hadithah, Marines, USMC, military, insurgency, terrorists