Lib Smear Implodes

[RoninLB]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06182008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_smear_implodes_116012.htm






New York post
June 18, 2008 --


YET another US Marine, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, had charges dropped Tuesday in the so-called Haditha massacre - bringing the total number of Marines who've been cleared or won case dismissals in the Iraq war incident to seven.

In Chessani's case, the military judge found that Gen. James Mattis had succumbed to impermissible outside meddling in bringing charges.

Bottom line: Zero for seven for military prosecutors, with one trial left to go.

But you won't see that headline in the same Armageddon-sized font The New York Times used repeatedly when the story first broke.

The Times, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa) and the rest of the anti-war drum-pounders who fueled the smear campaign against the troops two years ago should hang their hands in shame. They won't, of course. Perpetuating the "cold-blooded Marines" narrative means never having to say you're sorry.

It means never having to look Lt. Col. Chessani (charges dismissed), Lt. Andrew Grayson (acquitted), Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum (charges dismissed), Capt. Lucas McConnell (charges dismissed), Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt (charges dismissed), Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz (charges dismissed), Sgt. Frank Wuterich (awaiting trial) and their families in the eyes and apologize for the preemptive character assassination they all faced at the hands of the hyperventilating press.

Murtha and company applied "Off with their heads!" treatment to our own men and women in uniform while giving more benefit of the doubt to foreign terror suspects at Gitmo. It is worth recalling, because the press won't do it for you, what they concluded about the now-crumbling Haditha case in the summer of 2006, before a single formal charge had been filed.

* MSNBC hangman Keith Olbermann, who couldn't wait to define the entire war in Iraq by a single moment about which he knew nothing, inveighed that the incident was "willful targeted brutality." Due process? For convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, of course. For our military? Never mind.

* The Nation magazine railed, "Enough details have emerged . . . to conclude that . . . members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment perpetrated a massacre." It also judged the event "a willful, targeted brutality designed to send a message to Iraqis." Not content with hanging the troops, The Nation pinned blame on the president and a so-called "culture of impunity" that supposedly permeates the most accountable military in the world.

* The Times spilled a flood of front-page ink on the case and took things a step further in a lead editorial blaming not just President Bush, but also top Pentagon brass for the "nightmare" killings in Haditha. Timesman Paul von Zielbauer filed over 30 stories on the case, which the paper called the war's "defining atrocity."

* Hoping to facilitate a self-fulfilling prophecy, media tools around the world likened Haditha to the Vietnam War's most infamous atrocity - from The Guardian ("My Lai on the Euphrates?") to the Daily Telegraph ("Massacre in Iraq just like My Lai") to the Los Angeles Times ("What happened at the Iraqi My Lai?") to the Times' Maureen Dowd ("My Lai acid flashback") and the Associated Press, which reached into its photo archives to run a 1970 file photo of My Lai to illustrate a Haditha article.

* And, of course, there's the permanent stain left by Murtha's slanderous propaganda: "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Relatives of the Haditha Marines have called for Congress to censure Murtha, who cuts and runs to the nearest elevator when questioned about the Haditha dismissals. He and the Haditha smear merchants have skated while the men and their families suffered global whippings on the airwaves and eternal demonization in print. Whose "culture of impunity

[Joeaksa]

This story will make the back page on the home improvement section. The baastards who trumpeted this in the beginning should be hung but they have found something new to embrace and they will not do the right thing.

[sammyg2]

I noticed one of our "more progressive" members rated this thread with one star. Guess they don't like getting caught in their own filth.

[Jeff Higgins]

The only "culture of impunity" in evidence is that enjoyed by our illustrious mass media.

Most of America will never hear that these fine men were acquited. Even worse than that, some of America won't care. They will simply ascribe their acquitals to some evil behind the scenes manouvering, convinced in their own minds of the guilt of these men. These men will remain forever guilty in the minds of the "open minded" liberals, simply because they so very want them to be, need them to be, guilty so as to support their incredibly warped world view. Terrorist=good; oppressed by the evil U.S. gubmint. U.S. armed forces=evil; killing innocents far and wide. How shameful. How deluded.

[rcecale]

Here's a link to another version of the article.

This should play out quite interestingly, IMHO.

Haditha Marine prepares to sue Murtha over smear


Randy

[Danimal16]

Murtha is a POS.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Danimal16

Murtha is a POS.

Please, do not hold back. This is Pelican OT. Tell us how you really feel!

~~~~

From the story that Randy posted:

""This is the most important case since Vietnam, if not before," Rooney said. "There's no doubt about it."

He noted the New York Times featured the case on the front page when it was being compared by war critics to the infamous My Lai massacre in Vietnam. But now, with evidence the Haditha accusations were a smear, the story has been relegated to the back pages.

"All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they're talking about," Murtha told reporters at the time.

Murtha's assertions, however, conflicted with results from the military's own investigations. An initial probe by Army Col. G.A. Watt found no indications coalition forces "intentionally targeted, engaged and killed noncombatants." Later, Army Maj. Gen. Aldon Bargewell found no cover-up."

Murtha really needs to get taken to court over this and hope that the Marines that he slandered win.

[cairns]

The Washington Post salivated over this weeks- front page- above the fold. I don't recall reading any story in that paper about the acquitals- but they could have been buried somewhere.

This is the like the Duke rape case- only worse. The vast majority of the media (and all you left wingers who were ready to- or did- condemn those soldiers) have absolutely no shame.

[stevepaa]

The root cause of the over reactions to the incident lie with the initial report about an IED being inaccurate. Whoever sent out the first PR statement from the Marines started all of this.


lest you forget

In the same LA Times story, Republican Representative John Kline of Minnesota was quoted as saying:
There is no question that the Marines involved, those doing the shooting, they were busy in lying about it and covering it up — there is no question about it. But I am confident, as soon as the command learned there might be some truth to this, they started to pursue it vigorously. I don't have any reason now to think there was any foot dragging.[25]


Anyone who jumped the gun with accusations without real basis needs to be accountable.

[pwd72s]

Ron, your title says it all...

[stevepaa]

The vast majority of the congress(and all you rightwingers who were ready to- or did- support the invasion of Iraq ) have absolutely no shame.

fixed it for you lest anyone forget how easy it is to jump on the bandwagon.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

Anyone who jumped the gun with accusations without real basis needs to be accountable.

Absolutely. Accross party lines. This is not a "Republican vs. Democrat" issue that should be politicized.

As a side note, however, I think it remains clear that "left wingers" jumped on the lynching bandwagon, while "right wingers" did not. "Democrat" is not always synonomous with "left winger", nor is "Republican" synonomous with "right winger". There is way too much cross breeding to make such generalizations about parties. So let's not play a tit for tat game trying to see our left wingers and raise us one right winger. That is not what this is about.

There exists a faction in our society that appears to firmly believe our military, and the people who deploy it are evil. That same faction seems to believe the terrorists of our world are not; that they are merely misunderstood. They give terrorists every break imaginable; every benefit of the doubt. In stark contrast, they never hesitate to jump on the bandwagon (often on the sketchiest of "evidence") to accuse, try, and convict our men. Not in a court of law, but in their press. These folks tend to be of the "liberal" persuasion; not necessarily of, or exclusive to, the Democratic Party.

In typical liberal fashion, they follow their hearts more so than their minds. In spite of their constant claims of having "open minds" (especially when compared to those of conservatives), they are unshakeable in their beliefs. Beliefs originating in their hearts, not their minds. "Facts" that support those heartfelt beliefs are readily accepted as such, regardless of a lack of supporting evidence. Real facts that contradict those heartfelt beliefs are just as quickly dismissed, regardless of the evidence supporting them.

That is what we see playing out before us in this case. The liberal mindset was very quick to eagerly accept their guilt, long before any evidence of any substance came to light. Now that the evidence has been collected, now that it has been presented in court and found to be either lacking, non-existant, or outright false, the liberal mind either ignores or rejects that evidence. It does not fit with their heartfelt beliefs that our military men are inherently evil. The "open" liberal mind simply cannot digest that. The liberal personna cannot admit it was wrong about such a matter. Everyone in their liberal circles just knows these things, after all. It really is a bizarre way to digest facts and data, and it is pretty much the provence of the liberal. Conservatives tend to weigh facts and data before arriving at a conclusion. Liberals arrive at a conclusion, in their hearts, and then looks for "facts" and "data" to support it, picking and choosing along the way.

[dipso]

On April 17, 2007, the Marine Corps dropped all charges against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony. Seven other Marines involved in the incident have also been granted immunity.[48]
On August 9, 2007, all charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy Stone were dropped.[35] On October 19th, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt's commanding officer decided the charges should be lowered to involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault..[11]
On September 18, 2007, all charges against Captain Lucas McConnell were dropped in exchange for immunity and his cooperation with the investigation. [49]
On March 28, 2008, all charges against LCpl. Stephen Tatum were dropped. [50]
On June 17, 2008, all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani were dropped citing unlawful command influence.[13]
[edit]

As of June 2008, Wuterich is charged with nine counts of manslaughter.

They were not dropped because it didn't happen, they were lowered or dropped because they are rolling on the seargent.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Absolutely. Accross party lines. This is not a "Republican vs. Democrat" issue that should be politicized.

-snip-

Conservatives tend to weigh facts and data before arriving at a conclusion. Liberals arrive at a conclusion, in their hearts, and then looks for "facts" and "data" to support it, picking and choosing along the way.

Your first sentiment is spot-on. Your second is pretty much horse*****. Both sides often lead with their opinion and then regard or disregard the facts as they see fit.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Your first sentiment is spot-on. Your second is pretty much horse*****.

I like to strike a balance in my posts.

[Flatbutt1]

Originally Posted by dipso

On April 17, 2007, the Marine Corps dropped all charges against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony. Seven other Marines involved in the incident have also been granted immunity.[48]
On August 9, 2007, all charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy Stone were dropped.[35] On October 19th, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt's commanding officer decided the charges should be lowered to involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault..[11]
On September 18, 2007, all charges against Captain Lucas McConnell were dropped in exchange for immunity and his cooperation with the investigation. [49]
On March 28, 2008, all charges against LCpl. Stephen Tatum were dropped. [50]
On June 17, 2008, all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani were dropped citing unlawful command influence.[13]
[edit]

As of June 2008, Wuterich is charged with nine counts of manslaughter.

They were not dropped because it didn't happen, they were lowered or dropped because they are rolling on the seargent.

Having the charges dropped doesn't mean it DID happen either.

[cairns]

"The root cause of the over reactions to the incident lie with the initial report about an IED being inaccurate. Whoever sent out the first PR statement from the Marines started all of this."

Absolutely amazing....you STILL blame the Marines. If you had a shred of decency or intelligence you'd read Jeff's post above and take it to heart.

But I'm not holding my breath....

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I like to strike a balance in my posts.

You do a poor job, Jeff. Your cogent remarks outnumber your silly-ass hasty conclusions by a margin of at least 6 to 5.

[nostatic]

with one abstention?

[Jeff Higgins]

Yeah, but I get to write both opinions...