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.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:
"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.
- 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:
Murtha has repeatedly stated:
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.Murtha then repeats the unfounded accusations that he first made on This Week With George Stephanopoulos:
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.
"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:
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
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
