Haditha

What happened in Haditha in November, 2005? It started when a roadside IED killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. According to Representative John Murtha and others, the Marines then charged the closest house killing some of the civilian occupants. Then then charged the next house and killed most of the occupants including women and children. A bit later then charged a different house and killed some more civilians.

This account bothers me more than a little. I realize that war is stressful and a group of Marines already under a lot of stress might have taken it out on the closest targets, not caring that it included civilians.

There are other possibilities, though. The insurgents have taken refuge behind civilians before and it changes the picture quite a bit if there were armed insurgents hiding among the civilians. For someone who is supposed to be pro-military, Murtha is too willing to start making pronouncements before the investigation is finished.

Similarly, someone names Jesse Macbeth posted a video claiming that he committed similar actions while in the service. The military denied knowledge of Macbeth and right-wing bloggers quickly pointed out numerous errors in his statements, his discharge form, and his uniform. Still, it became a viral video among the left.

The left doesn't really care what the truth is. They are already convinced that civilians were killed without reason. What is more, they act as though this was standard procedure and that it was personally authorized by President Bush. They want atrocities to happen (regardless of what really occurred) so that they can characterize this as typical behavior. This happened in Viet Nam and helped turn the public against the war so the left is trying to do it again.

Happy Memorial Day.