One of the great things about blogging is the number of contacts you have that are the BEST resources ever. When I started blogging about Haditha, I was lucky enough to "meet" David Allender who runs the Defend Our Marines website. David has been a stalwart supporter and defender of the Haditha Marines. His website was cited by Frontline after their ROE broadcast. Nat Helms has done some exclusive reporting for Defend our Marines also.
After reading Jason Washburn's claims about Haditha, I contacted David to see if he could recall anything about Washburn in all the testimony. Like me, he was stumped but disgusted that Washburn was citing Sgt Dela Cruz as his source of information. Here is what David has written about Washburn's use of Dela Cruz and the use of Haditha during the Winter Soldier reincarnation... You can read the whole thing over at Defend Our Marines...
How does Washburn know what happened in Haditha? According to the London Times, he heard about it from his good friend, Sgt Sanick Dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz is one of the sleaziest characters to emerge from the Haditha prosecution. And I say that reluctantly. I wanted to believe the best of Dela Cruz and gave him every benefit of the doubt.
But facts are facts. Dela Cruz lied to NCIS agents, then, when he failed a polygraph lied about his first lie. Incredibly, the government offered him immunity, but, thankfully, his testimony has not been believed. An Investigating Officer is on record as saying he could not rely on Dela Cruz for the truth.
So here we go again. Marines will be condemned for Haditha based on rumors and sea stories. After an exhaustive investigation, there is no evidence to support Washburn's claim of "rampaging Marines".
I look forward to hearing more from David about his research and hearing what the IVAW members claim to know about Haditha.
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