Archive for the ‘Haditha’ Category
Cpl. Sharratt Files Suit Against Congressman Murtha
September 25th, 2008
Congressman Murtha might find himself in a bit of legal jeopardy if this suit holds up and moves forward:
A slander lawsuit against Congressman John Murtha is expected to be formally filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon.
The litigation stems from a 2005 incident in Iraq and Murtha’s reaction to it.
At that time, a group of Marines were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians in a raid in Haditha. Shortly after, Murtha appeared on various news broadcasts and characterized the Marines as cold-blooded killers.
The Marines were later cleared or wrongdoing in the incident.
One of the Marines, 24-year-old Cpl. Justin Sharratt, of western Pennsylvania, is suing Murtha for slander.
Murtha’s comments about the incident have also served as the campaign focus for the man who wants to unseat Murtha in November, retired military officer William Russell.
Russell said, as a career military officer and 911 Pentagon survivor, he has a personal interest in seeing the record and reputations of the Marines cleared. He said a right to justice goes beyond politics. Even so, within the last couple of weeks, Russell’s campaign launched a 60-second ad that focuses solely on Murtha’s widely reported comments of the eight Marines at Haditha as “killing innocent civilians in cold blood.”
Russell said on Thursday he has met with Sharratt and his parents, and said the federal lawsuit has been a long time coming. A legal fund was established when Sharratt was exonerated of the charges.
If there has ever been an important race here in Pennsylvania, this is the one.
I hold no real hope though that Russell can overtake Murtha as the Congressman has both a wide lead in the polls and the support of the state party leaders.
Posted in 
Another US Marine Sees Haditha Charges Against Him Dropped
June 17th, 2008
My bet is Congressman Murtha will go into hiding over the next few days.
After all, he won’t want to be questioned again about why yet another Marine’s charges have been dropped in relation to Haditha.
Charges against the Battalion Commander of the Haditha Marines have been dropped.
While it remains to be seen if the charges will be filed again in the case of Lt. Col. Chessani, the fact remains that not one Marine has been found guilty of the charges levied against them primarily stemming from a Time Magazine reporters account.
Head on over to Blackfive with the link above for all the details. The only thing I might add to this final sentence penned by Uncle Jimbo:
Shame on you Mr. Murtha you disgraced yourself, the Congress and earned the disgust of 99% of the US military.
is that there were also many civilians angry at the press in general for their handling of this case but the contempt felt for Congressman Murtha far outweighed even that.
More here.
Where Do They Go From Here?
April 5th, 2008
Michael Reagan posts what I consider to be one of the finest pieces on Haditha written to date.
It may be simple in its explanations, but it is concise in its facts which is refreshing on its face:
You’d hardly know it if you relied on the mainstream media, but the government’s case against the Haditha Marines took another body blow last Friday that may be the beginning of the end for this whole sorry attempt to severely punish eight heroic United States Marines for doing what they are trained to do.
In a surprise development on the day Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum’s court martial was scheduled to begin, all charges against him were dropped without explanation.
I wonder however, if Time Magazine and Congressman Murtha have an answer to the question posed in the last paragraph of this piece:
And thanks to John Murtha and the liberal media, these Marines can now join my Dad’s wrongly accused Secretary of Labor Ray Donovan in asking where they go to get their reputations back.
I’ve often said politics and war do not make good bedfellows. When you add in a press ready and willing to paint our military in the worst of lights..well it is a true recipe for disaster.
As to where these young men go to regain their reputation I say only, it was lost only to those who refused to wait out the facts. There will be no apologies from the press or Congressman Murtha to be sure.
For those of us willing to believe that even our troops are innocent until proven guilty, there is no reputation to be regained.
There is simply gratitude that we have such men and women who are at the ready always to defend this country and sorrow that they and their families had to endure this ordeal at the hands of those who peddled their wares and political ambitions.
