Murtha’s Past Statements

Please indulge me for trotting out a reminder of Murtha's disgusting tactics in smearing the Haditha Marines. Here's a YouTube video that should be a wake-up call for people:

Here's the transcript of the Matthews-Murtha interview:

Matthews: Let me ask you something, Mr. Murtha, to give us some details, to tell us what happened at Haditha.
Murtha: Well, I'll tell you exactly what happened. One Marine was killed and the Marines just said "We're gonna take care of this." They don't know who the enemy is, the presure was too much on them so they went into houses and they actually killed civilians. And you know that I...
Matthews: Was this Mi Lai? Was this...When you say cold blood, Congressman, alot of people think you're basically saying that you've got some civilians sitting in a room or out in a field and they're executed.
Murtha: That's exactly what happened.
Matthews: Not because the Marines are scared...
Murtha: This was not an action. This was not...First they tried to say that it was an IED. There was no IED involved in this. Those troops that went in, they were so stressed out, they went into houses and killed children...women and children, 24 people they killed. Now this is the kind of stuff...That's the kind of stress they're under. I understand this. I don't excuse it but I understand what's happening. And the responsibility for this goes straight to the top. This is something that should not have happened. It should have been investigated. As I understand it, they've already relieved three commanding officers. But this is the kind of stuff that stress is gonna cause these sorts of things. That's why I'm so upset about it.

Let's look at what John Murtha said happened vs. what actually happened.

John Murtha said that "There was no IED involved in this." At the same time, he admits that a Marine was killed, which caused the Marines to snap before they went on their murderous tirade.

Question for Mr. Murtha: If there wasn't an IED explosion, how did LCpl. Miguel Terrazas get killed? The Time Magazine article Rep. Murtha is so fond of citing says that a roadside bomb killed LCpl. Terrazas:

The incident seemed like so many others from this war, the kind of tragedy that has become numbingly routine amid the daily reports of violence in Iraq. On the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb struck a humvee carrying Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, on a road near Haditha, a restive town in western Iraq. The bomb killed Lance Corporal Miguel (T.J.) Terrazas, 20, from El Paso, Texas. The next day a Marine communique from Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi reported that Terrazas and 15 Iraqi civilians were killed by the blast and that "gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire," prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding one other.

That's the only accurate part of the infamous McGirk article. Here's another Murtha fabrication:

Those troops that went in, they were so stressed out, they went into houses and killed children...

Whether they were stressed out or not, I can't say with total certainty. What I can say is that they followed their rules of engagement flawlessly during the firefight. That suggests to me that these Marines weren't stressed, that they didn't crack.

Here's the most flagrant lie Murtha tells in this exchange:

They don't know who the enemy is.

That's a bunch of crap. Their S2 intelligence officer told them to expect a white taxi to be part of the insurgents' ambush. It was part of the insurgents' ambush. The S2 told them that "that some 20 insurgents would take part" in the ambush. That's what happened.

A total of 24 Iraqis died that day in Haditha. Eight of those Iraqis were identified later as known insurgents. Five of those eight insurgents were shot immediately after they jumped out of the white taxi.

To summarize, the Haditha Marines knew alot of details about the insurgents' ambush, especially considering the fact that they "don't know who the enemy is."

That's why Murtha Must Go.

Technorati: Haditha, John Murtha, Chris Matthews, Insurgents, Haditha Marines, Miguel Terrazas, Intelligence

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog