So many earmarks, so little time, eh Jack?

So says the Washington Times:

Jack Murtha, venture capitalist

Funny how attempts at congressional ethics reform keep running into roadblocks like Rep. Jack Murtha. The Pennsylvania Democrat and chair of the House defense appropriations subcommittee is best known in this context as the man who once called the ethics package "total crap." He represents an economically depressed corner of southwest Pennsylvania whose largest city, Johnstown, has lost 5 percent of its population since 1990. Not even considering the man's unique personal qualities, one senses where this earmark story is headed.

"Murtha has almost — but not quite — single-handedly created a new economy in his district," concludes Roll Call this week in an overview of the lawmaker's earmarking activities. Frequently, the money "is for startups that essentially would not be in business were it not for Murtha's largesse." In other cases, the pattern shows Mr. Murtha inserting an earmark, after which a company opens a Johnstown office, which in many cases then goes neglected, or never quite grows. In the case Roll Call highlights, an Indiana, Pa., groundbreaking for Rockville, Md.-based Aeptec Microsystems is all glory at the outset. Years later, the building is nearly unoccupied a month after its opening. Meanwhile, the firm's federal contracts, as secured through Mr. Murtha's earmarks, mushroom.

"The pattern that appears dominant is that the companies' federal contract dollars expand shortly after they open an office in the 12th Congressional {bullet}istrict — though it is not entirely clear how much of their work is actually conducted in the district," the newspaper concludes.

With Murtha Inc. calling the shots on defense appropriations, some are chortling that he fancies himself a kind of taxpayer-backed venture capitalist operating in service to his job-hungry district. To judge by the fruits, though, the unindicted "Abscam" coconspirator could not be considered a very successful "venture capitalist." We'd stick with a more traditional label like pork-barreller.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Yeah. "Most ethical congress" my ass. You picked a gem, PA-12.

The Cover-Up Unravels

Earlier this afternoon, NewsMax posted Phil Brennan's latest article about the Haditha Marine scandal. Here's the 'money section' of the article:

According to one intelligence officer who had viewed the entire video and who was talking to some on the defense counsel who had been shown part of it, the tape cuts off just as they see the insurgents fleeing the neighborhood — they were denied any further views of the video.

"To me, there was an obvious agenda to cover up the true nature of the day, and only focus on that piece which could be used to implicate battalion officers," he told NewsMax.com.

He added that of the hours of video shot by the UAV, the NCIS showed only a few minutes of what was filmed and acted as if that was all there was. The media eagerly picked up that fiction and ran with it, and the public was prevented from knowing the full story.

As I posted here, we now know about the 8 hour taped testimony by the S2 at the scene. We're in the process of filing an FOIA request for that taped testimony and we've contacted a filmmaker who will make a YouTube-like video of the most damning statements made against the prosecution's case. According to Phil Brennan's earlier article:

• Intelligence gathered by Marine S2 officers in advance of the events of Nov. 19th, 2005, revealed that it was known that an insurgent ambush was planned for the day.
• Although exact details of the planned ambush were not known, some important details were revealed, most importantly, that some 20 insurgents would take part, and a white car would play an important role in the ambush.
• The intelligence was made available to the officers and men of Kilo Company including Sgt. Frank Wuterich who has been charged with, among other things, murdering the occupants of a white car that came on the scene following the IED explosion that killed one Marine and seriously wounded another. The evidence will show that Wuterich acted appropriately when he shot the passengers of the vehicle.
• Although the media continues to report that 24 innocent civilians were killed that day, the S2’s testimony shows that eight of the dead, including four of the five occupants in the white car killed by Wuterich, were known insurgents and the dead civilians therefore numbered 16, not 24.
• The insurgents whose communications were intercepted and which revealed the planned ambush were the same two men who were the sources of the fallacious and dishonest Time magazine story, which was the source of the accusations against the Marines.

As I said in that post, this directly contradicts John Murtha's accusations against the Haditha Marines. There are indicators that this story's profile is getting bigger. Here's a reminder of some more of Murtha's past statements:

A decorated Marine colonel turned anti-war congressman has said Marines killed at least 30 innocent Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" in Haditha in November, suggesting the death toll may be twice as high as originally reported.

Rep. John Murtha, (D-PA), told reporters Wednesday that he got his information from U.S. commanders, who said the investigation will show that the Marines deliberately killed the civilians.

Murtha then repeats the unfounded accusations that he first made on This Week With George Stephanopoulos:

"There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," Murtha said.

Then there's this footnote in CNN's article:

(Watch Murtha level accusations against the Marines -- 1:58)

Let's establish one key point before going further: There's no mention in any article I've read that suggests that the S2's testimony was discredited in any way by the prosecution. The implications that this S2's testimony might have with regards to John Murtha are breathtaking.

Murtha has repeatedly stated:

"There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people."

The S2 at the scene says that the Haditha Marines were briefed about an impending attack. Here are some of the specifics of their briefing:

• It was known that an insurgent ambush was planned for the day.
• Some 20 insurgents would take part, and a white car would play an important role in the ambush.
• The intelligence was made available to the officers and men of Kilo Company including Sgt. Frank Wuterich who has been charged with, among other things, murdering the occupants of a white car that came on the scene following the IED explosion that killed one Marine and seriously wounded another.

The S2's testimony allegedly includes this important fact:

Eight of the dead, including four of the five occupants in the white car killed by Wuterich, were known insurgents.

Finally, the NewsMax article includes this stunning information:

The battalion S2 officer made a full and complete report based on his monitoring of the day’s events and the intelligence he and others had amassed then and previous days. As we wrote at the time, the PowerPoint after-action report he sent up the command ladder proved to all the higher officers that the incident warranted no further investigation.

Remember that Murtha has accused these Marines of attempting to cover this event up and that this cover-up "goes up the chain of command." If that isn't bad enough, Murtha also stated in categorical fashion that "They actually went into the houses and killed women and children."

Rep. Murtha frequently mentions his visits to Walter Reed with the purpose of touting himself as the soldier's friend. That might play with people who don't pay particular attention to the news but it won't sit well with people of conscience once they read about his inaccurate accusations. Frankly, I haven't found any part of Murtha's accusations that are accurate.

What kind of man is capable of accusing our soldiers of killing "innocent civilians in cold blood"? What kind of man is capable of accusing our soldiers of going "into the houses" and killing "women and children"?

Technorati: John Murtha, Pendleton Eight, Corruption, Intelligence, Haditha, Marines, Frank Wuterich, Insurgents, NCIS

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Murtha, Media Massacre Truth About Haditha Marines

John Murtha, who tried and convicted the Haditha Marines over a year ago, is about to get pummeled with the truth. That's because the truth was finally declassified. It was a little over a year ago that John Murtha talked with George Stephanopoulos about Haditha. Here's what Murtha said:

"There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed those innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

That quote is about to bite Murtha in his sizeable backside very soon. The reason why it will is explained here:

As NewsMax.com has previously revealed, the bulk of that exculpatory evidence is contained in the eight hours of videotaped testimony offered by the battalion intelligence officer (designated S2), all of which up until now has been highly classified and therefore unusable in open court and kept from the notice of the American people.

According to NewsMax, here's the significance of that information being declassified:

• Intelligence gathered by Marine S2 officers in advance of the events of Nov. 19th, 2005, revealed that it was known that an insurgent ambush was planned for the day.
• Although exact details of the planned ambush were not known, some important details were revealed, most importantly, that some 20 insurgents would take part, and a white car would play an important role in the ambush.
• The intelligence was made available to the officers and men of Kilo Company including Sgt. Frank Wuterich who has been charged with, among other things, murdering the occupants of a white car that came on the scene following the IED explosion that killed one Marine and seriously wounded another. The evidence will show that Wuterich acted appropriately when he shot the passengers of the vehicle.
• Although the media continues to report that 24 innocent civilians were killed that day, the S2's testimony shows that eight of the dead, including four of the five occupants in the white car killed by Wuterich, were known insurgents and the dead civilians therefore numbered 16, not 24.
• The insurgents whose communications were intercepted and which revealed the planned ambush were the same two men who were the sources of the fallacious and dishonest Time magazine story, which was the source of the accusations against the Marines.

As previously reported by NewsMax, the battalion S2 officer made a full and complete report based on his monitoring of the day's events and the intelligence he and others had amassed then and previous days. As we wrote at the time, the PowerPoint after-action report he sent up the command ladder proved to all the higher officers that the incident warranted no further investigation. None!

Let's summarize by pointing out the 'inconsistencies' between Murtha's lies and the evidence.

John Murtha said:

"There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed those innocent people."

The evidence shows that:

Sgt. Frank Wuterich killed the occupants of a white car that came on the scene following an IED explosion that killed one Marine and seriously wounded another.

John Murtha said that:

"High-level reports he received indicated that no one fired upon the Marines or that there was any military action against the U.S. forces after the initial explosion."

(Ed. Who gave Murtha these "high-level reports"?)

Yet the deaths were not seriously investigated until March because an early probe was stifled within days of the incident, he said.

The battalion S2 officer's report showed this:

The PowerPoint after-action report he sent up the command ladder proved to all the higher officers that the incident warranted no further investigation.

In other words, the biggest accusations that Murtha made, that the Haditha Marines had "murdered innocent civilians in cold blood" and that there wasn't a firefight or an IED explosion have been utterly debunked by the S2's PowerPoint report. The distribution of this PowerPoint report also debunks Murtha's myth that "the deaths were not seriously investigated until March because an early probe was stifled within days of the incident."

Let's also remember that Murtha didn't accuse these brave Marines once of "killing innocent civilians in cold blood." He repeatedly told reporters this stuff. One of the ways that he kept this accusation going was with this quote:

"I will not excuse murder, and this is what happened," he said. "This investigation should have been over two or three weeks afterward and it should have been made public and people should have been held responsible for it."

This is disgusting stuff. I'm unable to point to a single part of Murtha's story that's accurate. What's more disgusting is that Murtha made these accusations before he was officially briefed on the incident. Furthermore, Murtha accused the Marines of not investigating the incident because they tried covering the incident up. Also, Murtha said that there wasn't a firefight and that there wasn't an IED explosion.

We now know that those things are bald-faced lies. We know that they couldn't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a civilian court. I'd bet the proverbial ranch that this strengthens Sgt. Wuterich's libel lawsuit against Murtha to the point that Murtha's attorneys will want to settle this before trial. I suspect that the blogs, FNC and talk radio will be the only people that will talk about Murtha's lies, which have undercut the war effort and that have besmirched these Marines.

It's also time to start an ethics investigation into Murtha's accusations of the Haditha Marines. He attempted to play judge, jury and executioner in this case. He made accusations that he should've known wouldn't hold up. worst of all, he did all this to score cheap political points.

I can't find a single honorable characteristic about Rep. Murtha. Murtha needs to step down so that the people of PA-12 will finally have an honest representative. Murtha needs to step down so we can get rid of one of the most corrupt politicians in this nation's history.

Technorati: John Murtha, Scandals, Corruption, Haditha Marines, Civil Lawsuit, Court Martial, Frank Wuterich, Kilo Company, Insurgents, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Murtha: Surrender now!

And we better be fast about it, before we actually emerge victorious! After all, when you've been banking your whole political career on the notion that we must lose in Iraq at all costs, what else can one do, eh Jack?

Murtha Insists: Redeploy Out of Iraq Now

June 3 (LPAC)—"There's a bloodbath now that is going on" in Iraq and the only solution is for the U.S. to redeploy out of the country, declared Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa), who has one of the most accomplished military records in the U.S. Congress. Murtha also demonstrated today on the ABC News show, "This Week," that he is one of very few elected officials with a competent and full intelligence picture on Iraq.

...With a competent and full intelligence picture??? Is that so?

U.S. general says troop surge has led to progress in Iraq

By Aamer Madhani

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - With the last month marking one of the deadliest periods for U.S. troops since the start of the war, the second-ranking U.S. military commander in Iraq said Thursday that some progress has been made in the early going of the troop buildup.

Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of multinational troops in Iraq, said that overall sectarian violence is down, attacks in volatile Anbar province have been cut by half and nearly 18,000 enemy fighters have been captured this year.

"We've made small progress here. We have not made the progress that I think is necessary yet, but I hope over the summer that we will continue to make progress," Odierno said.

For the moment, however, any gains on the security front have been overshadowed by the American death toll.

At least 122 U.S. service members were killed in May, making it the deadliest month of the war since November 2004, when 137 troops were killed in action as the military fought some of the most pitched battles of the war in the embattled city of Fallujah. Two others U.S. soldiers who were captured in an attack earlier this month remain missing.

This increase in casualties, however are expected, since our soldiers are actually confronting and taking out the bad guys:

The increased casualties are of course lamentable, and for the individuals and families involved, they bring a heavy price. But exposure to violence is the nature of combat, and battles are fought to win. We are seeing benefits that will help bring us victory.

1. An increase in actionable intelligence from residents. The population sees that the Coalition is sharing in their hardships, that we are living among them and so a level of trust with local communities is developing that had not been there before.

2. With this increase in actionable intelligence naturally come more successful actions, in the form of raids, ambushes, attacks, and searches. The liberation of 41 prisoners from an AQ prison last month is one excellent example out of many that have been reported, and many more that have not been reported. This increase in successful operations in turn degrades the enemy's capabilities and effectiveness.

3. The press has reported the terrorists are moving to different areas outside of Baghdad, where the violence has picked up. What is not being widely reported, but is unclassified, is that in response, Coalition commanders have moved more troops into those same areas to counter the insurgents' operations. The increase in violence in these spots is a sign that they have not eluded us by fleeing., rather than that violence is really spreading.

4. Because the Coalition has moved into these COPs or JSSs with the ISF elements, trust has grown between the two forces. Any combat veteran with tell you that participating in combat with another person is the quickest way to build a deep and dedicated relationship, which in turn leads to a corresponding strong trust. This trust is not just a trust between units, it is a trust between individuals, which is the strongest trust, that compels a person to do anything for his friend. This in turn makes for more effective missions.

5. Some in the ISF that have been working with the bad guys due to a lack of Coalition presence now have, for lack of a better term, "supervision". It is now harder for these bad apples to slip away and participate in passing intelligence to, and participating in, operations with the enemy, death squads, militias, and in insurgent activities. It is informative to note how the secretarian violence has dramatically decreased since the start of the surge. This is a result of the surge, not of some random phenomenon.

6. An increase in the raw numbers of US and Iraqi Security Forces in Baghdad means more soldiers per capita in Baghdad. With more soldiers come more contact with friendly Iraqis, neutral Iraqis, and insurgents. So while the vital trust is built, the vital enemy contact is made; and so more good is done and more enemy are killed or captured; but more Americans are, unfortunately, killed and injured.

But I'm sure that Jack Murtha, being the "most competent" military mind in congress, already knew that.

Or did he?