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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Haditha - My Lai Lie - Part 4 of the Haditha Series

The far left lapped up the story about Haditha especially after Murtha convicted the Marines without the benefit of a trial. When Murtha, the ex-Marine, whipped out the My Lai card, the lefties went practically orgasmic. Comparisons between My Lai and Haditha ruled the Internet – even now. Just Google My Lai and Haditha – I can promise you’ll get over 90,000 hits.

One of the Haditha/ My Lai comparisons that seemed to be a fave of the Left was Rahul Mahajan’s “Haditha is Arabic for My Lai”. Mahajan’s disgusting piece of leftist drivel is chock full of lies and distortions. Why would we expect anything different from a member of United for Peace and Justice? Mahajan was also responsible for some of the more lurid articles about Fallujah. How fitting that he would now be writing lies about some of the same Marines.

Mahajan’s piece was so popular that United for Peace and Justice used it as the basis for their Haditha Talking Points. And to further demonstrate just how the article fit into the terrorists’ PR plan, the Resistance website alBasrah.net linked up to it via ZMag.

It would take more space than I have to list all the lies in Mahajan’s slander. So let’s just pick out the most vicious and rip them apart one by one.

#1 – “…Marines in Haditha decided to take revenge for the death of one of their comrades from an IED by deliberately murdering 24 innocent, unarmed men, women and children.”

Fact: Based on actual testimony from the Article 32 hearings, this was no revenge rampage. According to Lt Col Ware…

“LCpl Tatum shot and killed people in houses 1 and 2, but the reason he did so was because of his training and the circumstances he was place in, not to exact revenge and commit murder.”

“Whether this was a brave act of combat against the enemy or tragedy of misperception born out of conducting combat with an enemy that hides among innocents, LCpl Sharratt’s actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force.”

I tend to believe the Article 32 Hearing Officer’s reports more so than the spew from an anti-military propagandist.

#2 – “Afterward, the Marines lied to cover up their actions. The eight helpless men they slaughtered became ‘insurgents’.”

Fact: The Battalion Intelligence Officer’s after action report included photographic evidence, logs of all the day’s radio transmissions and a narrative of the day’s events. The after-action report including a PowerPoint presentation were sent up the command ladder to all the higher officers and not one recommended further investigation. Both LCpl Sharratt and LCpl Tatum passed polygraph exams during the investigation – unlike some of the Marines that testified against them.

Four of the “innocent civilians” attempted to kill the Marines with AK-47’s and were stopped only by the quick response of LCpl Sharratt and Sgt. Wuterich. Footage from a drone shows an insurgent leaving a home carrying a child and attempting to blend in only to be discovered by the Marines due to a bloody ear.

#3 – “Unluckily for them, a journalism student had taken video of the bodies in the Haditha morgue, with images that showed victims shot in the head from close range in execution-style killings.”


Fact: There was no “journalism student”. There was only a self-described human rights activist who was known to be part of the anti-government, anti-American Sunni insurgent sympathizers inhabiting Haditha a year prior to November 19, 2005.

The video was shopped around until someone that was willing to believe the terrorist propaganda took the bait – aka Tim McGirk. But not to worry –

"Al Qaeda in Iraq sent copies of the video to mosques in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia - used killings of women and children to recruit fighters."

HOW DID AL QAEDA GET A COPY OF THE VIDEO? We know that al-Haditha shopped the video around to many media outlets trying to get someone to pick up the story but did he supply Al Qaeda with a copy? It is a known fact that the "roasting in hell" Zarqawi had visited Haditha many times. Is there any question about the loyalties of the residents of Haditha??

Forensic evidence presented at the Article 32 Hearings did not support the claims of “execution style killings”. Per Lt. Col Ware

“Each was shot facing forward, from a distance, and with a 9mm pistol which I find inconsistent with an execution or persons reacting to an execution.”

#4 – “…a Marine’s cell phone picture of Iraqis kneeling before they were shot.”

Fact: There is no record of such a picture. TIME finally admitted that they could not confirm such a picture existed. From the American Thinker...

In the original version of this story, TIME reported that "one of the most damning pieces of evidence investigators have in their possession, John Sifton of Human Rights Watch told Time's Tim McGirk, is a photo, taken by a Marine with his cell phone that shows Iraqis kneeling — and thus posing no threat — before they were shot." While Sifton did tell TIME that there was photographic evidence, taken by Marines, he had only heard about the specific content of the photos from reports done by NBC, and had no firsthand knowledge. TIME regrets the error.

#5 – “The scale is smaller and most likely no women were raped this time, but the bestiality of the Haditha massacre is equivalent.”

Fact: This is nothing more than an attempt to gin up even more outrage from those willing to drink the terrorists’ propaganda koolaid. There has never been any mention or insinuation of rape, attempted rape or any other type of sexual attack at Haditha. Clever use of the word “beastiality” in the same sentence as rape since most people equate beastiality with sex between animals and humans. The other definition of beastiality – conduct or action marked by depravity or brutality – is more fitting when describing terrorists’ tactics rather than the incident at Haditha. LCpl Terrazas’ death by IED – now THAT was an example of brutality but you won’t see that mentioned in Mahajan’s screed.

#6 – “Now is not the time to bleat about our ‘support’ for ‘the troops’. These particular depraved murderers deserve the best of medical care when they get home – but they should get it in prison.”

Fact: No one would ever imply or claim that a member of United for Peace and Justice would deign to support the troops. Since the fake “trials” that UPFJ participated in ended with resolutions supporting the resistance in Iraq, I find it laughable that Mahajan would even put this statement in one of his articles.

The Marines at Haditha are not murderers. They are heroes that served their country with honor and followed the rules of engagement when confronted with an enemy that hides behind the skirts and diapers of women and children.

The sad fact of this whole farce is these Marines may be exonerated but the damage has already been done. Their names will always be associated with Haditha. Thanks to braying morons like Mahajan, the word Haditha will conjure up images of foaming at the mouth Marines gunning down children in their beds. THAT is depraved.

**This is Part 4 of a multi-post series exposing those that "Nifonged" the Marines in Haditha

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