Terry Pennington, father of Lance Corporal Robert Pennington, one of the seven imprisoned marines, says his son and the others have been in individual solitary confinement at Camp Pendleton since May 23, allowed out of their cells only to eat and for one hour of exercise each day. He also said the U.S. government has never, to this day, notified the families of their sons' imprisonments.Murtha, by the way, has yet to apologize for his unfounded accusations and proclamations of guilt.
Bacos testified last week the younger Pennington, on his third tour in Iraq, placed the dead Iraqi's fingerprints on a AK-47 and a shovel to indicate the Marines had been attacked and simply returned fire.
The senior Pennington spoke on Oct. 1 in Johnstown at a "Boot (U.S. Congressman Jack) Murtha" rally. The 74-year-old Murtha, a Democrat, is running for his 17th term in Congress, and is a combat veteran who was decorated for valor in both Korea and Vietnam.
Murtha, within a few days of the reported incident in Hamdania, Iraq, which led to the arrest of the marines and Bacos, labeled the accused "cold blooded killers." After a public outcry, Murtha recanted and accused higher-ups of covering up the incident, while offering no proof. The marines lingering in the Pendleton brig facing possible murder charges probably don't believe anyone is "covering up."
The elder Pennington told the Johnstown audience the imprisoned marines and the navy corpsman were being grilled separately every day by military investigators hoping for confessions or deals.
And in still another shining example of how Jack Murtha "supports" our troops:
Whether the Godfather role Murtha seems to be playing in the U.S. House is attractive or becoming to the nation's center of law, justice, war and taxes, and to those who elect purportedly independent congressmen from across the nation, is a matter of perception and conjecture. "Deal[-]making is what Congress is all about," Murtha said in the Times article.Read the entire article. It's a great synopsis of not only Murtha's complete disregard for our soldiers and Marines, but of his flippant, arrogant disregard of the trust of PA-12's voters, as well as the basic best interests of our nation at large.
The Times also recounted how Murtha convinced three of his congressional sidekicks to vote against a Louisiana Democrat's bill to divert money intended for military base closings to research for prosthetic limbs for veterans. The measure fell by one vote.
For their help to Murtha, the three claimed credit for $250 million in "earmarks" in the following weeks.
Jack Murtha has probably dodged as many metaphorical bullets in Washington, as he did in Korea and Vietnam. Irey hopes to end his luck.Murtha's blind pursuit of fame and fortune has left many victims; but probably none so hurt as the ones who wear our uniform in defense of our nation:
With about three weeks to go, most political pros say he is on the way to his 17th term and back to his corner cutting deals, particularly for defense spending. But Irey has not given up the struggle and this could be a year of upsets in Pennsylvania.
They certainly were not fighting for the advancement of Murtha's political career. Although Murtha himself may have thought so.
Meanwhile, the young marines languishing in their cells on possible murder charges, probably still have no idea what they were fighting for.
***UPDATE****
Lew Waters at Right in a Left World has this post regarding more of Murtha's "support" for our troops via a fundraising letter Murtha wrote. Interesting reading, to say the least.
****UPDATE****
Welcome Wizbang and Blogs for Bush Readers.
