But that didn't stop the media from inflicting their damage on the Israelis before the facts came in just as Murtha and Co. have done to our Marines. Then after being proven wrong, no retractions are ever offered as I'm sure will be the case with the Haditha allegations once they are proven wrong as well.
Washington Times Op-Ed "Two incidents -- the deaths of 24 Iraqis at Haditha on Nov. 19 and the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach on June 9 -- illustrate the difficulties inherent in minimizing civilian casualties while fighting enemies who routinely use civilians as human shields. And the two cases should also serve as important cautionary notes to politicians and journalists about rushing to judge good soldiers guilty of misconduct before the facts are in.
..Sen. John Murtha, a Marine veteran and a fervent opponent of the Iraq war, is not waiting for the conclusion of the investigation to accuse the Marines of killing civilians in "cold blood" at Haditha...
When it comes to Haditha, certain facts are not in dispute: The town, located in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, a haven for foreign jihadists and a hotbed of support for Saddam Hussein, had become very dangerous for American troops. During one 48-hour period in August, the New York Times noted, 20 U.S. soldiers were killed in Haditha -- six while out on patrol and 14 more when their amphibious vehicle ran over antitank mines.
Four other American soldiers died in a firefight inside a hospital, where terrorists hid behind patients. With that history in mind, a 13-man Marine squadron left its base in Haditha shortly before dawn on Nov. 19. Two miles from their base, an improvised explosive device went off under one of the vehicles, killing one Marine and seriously injuring two others.
After that, virtually every other fact about what took place at Haditha that day is open to question. Haditha residents claim Marines lined people up against the wall and executed them." read morecross posted today @ chicagoray.blogspot
