Remember Haditha, Murtha and Marines?

Courage and Results

No one is convicted. The right wing spin doctors raise money off the very name Murtha but what really came out of the Haditha investigations? Not what you think. Anbar Province in late 2005 was a hot bed of Sunni resistance and insurrection. Indeed, many in the military considered the Province to be ungovernable. The fighting was daily and deadly but on November 19, 2005, in the town of Haditha, Anbar Province, Iraq an incident took place best described in a New York Times editorial, A Hard Look at Haditha, 4 June 2006:

...A roadside bomb struck a Humvee traveling in the vicinity, killing one of the marines on board, and sometime later 24 Iraqi civilians were gunned down, many in their homes. The victims included women, children and grandparents...

The story of Haditha was first revealed by TIME Magazine on March 19, 2006. In May 2006, Congressman Jack Murtha made the now famous comment "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Effete propagandists and spin doctors like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh immediately accused Congressman Murtha both of calling the entire military cold blooded murderers and of rushing to judge the marines involved at Haditha. Yet, from the very beginning, Congressman Murtha's clear concern was the stress that constant rotations and daily ambushes were having on the troops in general and the Marines in particular. The other aspect of Murtha's comments is that he saw the increasing Iraqi Civilian causalities for exactly what they were - recruiting tools for Al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni Insurgents. Those spin doctors politicized the incident by launching vicious attacks against Congressman Murtha, a decorated USMC combat veteran.

Why did they do that? The extreme conservatives in the Republican Party and White House were shocked when Democratic Congressman Jack Murtha, THE military expert on Capital Hill, called for an end to the War in Iraq. Murtha knew that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld had no strategy in Iraq. They only had a slogan: "stay-the-course." In what is called true leadership and courage, Jack Murtha put country before self and called for a redeployment from Iraq and the end to this war. The neo-conservatives in the Bush regime immediately turned toward a wave of personal attacks on every aspect of his life.

When the Marine Corps confirmed what had actually happened in Haditha, a very impassioned Congressman Murtha attacked the failed stay-the-course strategy and its impact on the troops. He reiterated how stay-the-course was actually aiding Al Qaeda. The extreme neo-conservative hate machine saw the perfect moment to strike; the troops be damned. Those effete spin doctors spewed hate and lies against Congressman Murtha on a massive scale which still continues today. However, no one has denied that the incident occurred which only served to exacerbated the situation.

What REALLY became of Murtha's comments is outlined in the New York Times article, Military to Report Marines Killed Iraqi Civilians, 26 May 2006:

In an unusual sign of high-level concern, the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, flew from Washington to Iraq on Thursday to give a series of speeches to his forces re-emphasizing compliance with international laws of armed conflict, the Geneva Conventions and the American military's own rules of engagement.

What does all the above really mean? Acknowledging Congressman Murtha's warning that troops were being pushed too far and that those troops were being placed in intolerable situations meant three things. First, fewer US Marines died. Second, fewer Iraqi civilians died. Third, Al Qaeda's ability to recruit died. The investigations, trials and reviews forced the U.S. Military to modify tactics and rules-of-engagements to reduce civilian casualties which rapidly reduced civilian opposition to U.S. forces. When the Iraqi civilians saw that we clearly were attempting to live up to American ideals and values, Al Qaeda in Anbar was finished. I might also point out that this was happening before the surge.

Why am I telling you this now as the very economic core of America crumbles? Because Congressman Murtha showed outstanding courage and sacrifice. He could be sitting in Pennsylvania safe with no opposition. He chose country over self. It will take strong leadership and dedication to repair the damage done to this country. As Congressman Murtha and Haditha demonstrate, the way may not always be pretty or clear. I want a nation of strong leaders who may not always agree but who always have the best interests of the country first in their hearts and minds. Clearly that is Congressman John Murtha.

Follow Hal Donahue on Twitter: www.twitter.com/haldonahue

Comments

[John Bruhns - Huffpost Blogger]

Great post Hal !!

[TexasDem0]

Hal, thank you for the post.
It seems clear that some people posting comments have missed the point.
We need strong leaders who put the country first and who are totally dedicated to the truth, even when the truth is ugly or it isn't consistent with popular opinion.

[Yermammy]

I would suggest that every Congress person that isn't paid off, to vote for Impeachment. All four of them.

[vegas9999]

You mean the truth that even the NY Times pointed out. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/us/politics/26ads.html?ex=1380168000&en=ee77cec5c6225e9d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

[Hal Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

You got it. Folks like Yermammy are a huge part of the problem. They are frightened and try to say "everyone else does it too". No one is perfect but there are standards. When people like yermammy here dispose of those standards you get corruption etc. That leads right into the old saying about evil thrives when good men do nothing.

[BenMurphyNYC]

The lawsuit has been filed, right? I don't understand the suit, on the date in question several events led to the killing of civilians attempting to surrender and then at least one of the Marines urinated on a corpse - either that happened or Sgt. Cruz' testimony is false.

[Hal Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

Ben this whole thing, as I said, was wound up by effete spin masters like O'Reilly. It is they who spun this into being about the marines and not about the tactics and the facts that our troops were being placed in completely untenable positions. Near as I can tell they all got immunity to learn the real story. But Murtha's point was that the marine corp tactics were increasing resistance and aiding recruiting by Al Q. The real bottomline outcome of Congressman Murtha's comments are fewer dead marines, fewer dead Iraqi civilians and fewer recruits for Al Q. Murtha is paying a hell of a price but he is standing his ground and I thank him.

[Henry]

I am plagued by the murder rape and immolation of a 14 year old girl, the murder of her sister, and the point blank execution of their parents. This was premeditated and it was carried out by a group of traffic site soldiers. I listen to the people of America talk about these soldiers as our "best" and shudder to think. How is any of this different than what Slobodan Milosevic was to be convicted for?

[Hal Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

Quite a bit different actually. Murtha's point was that when you continually push good people into harms way without proper guidance and little support including rest and relief with no end in sight those people break. That is why integrity and honesty are valued so highly by the military. We know that the line between the barbarian and the warrior can be extremely thin.

[GENERALBEE]

THANKS, HAL

I AGREE. WE NEED STRONG LEADERS. I HOPE, UNDER OBAMA, THIS WAR WILL BE OVER, QUICKLY.

CAN YOU SEE, PALIN, IN CHARGE? SHE SHOULD PULL OUT AND GO HOME AND TAKE CARE OF HER FAMILY.

WHAT A VERY BAD CHOICE FOR MCCAIN. WHAT WAS HE THINKING.

NO LEADERSHIP IN GOVT. BUSH NOT TAKING THE BLAME FOR THE RECENT DEBACLE. EVERYTHING WAS "SOUND" IN MAY, ACCORDING TO HIM.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOUR OPINION

BEST

[vegas9999]

Just love how you liberals jump to believe something bad about our military.

[MajorKong]

I find the right wing near-religious fetishism of the military disturbing.

[Topsailsman]

Vegas,
just love how you conservatives jump to believe that everything the military does it right.

[TexasDem0]

How many years did you serve in OUR military?

[Hal Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

Some are but those change nothing. And the timing is at best suspect. The marines should be putting lawsuits against O'Reilly rather than another marine. Sadly, politics are in play here far more than principal.

[PioneerKing]

HAL:

Do you support McCain who jumped on the attack Murtha bandwagon?

Do you suppport McCain who has lied so much during this campaign one wonders if McCain was telling the truth about whether he really was offered the opportunity to leave Vietnam before the other troops were released?

Do you support McCain who picked Palin in his quest to win an election at any cost?

[Hal Donahue - Huffpost Blogger]

Is this a serious question? It is extremely sad to see the elderly senator from Arizona going out this way. Rightly or wrongly, the man had a reputation for honesty and integrity - that is now completely gone. The Economist (a conservative magizine) asked where the real McCain has gone. In his biography, he admitted that he had put party before country and constituents - now he does it all the time. Sad, very sad to see. I support Obama fully and assist with veterans for Obama

[vegas9999]

Let us wait until the lawsuits against Murtha are filed.

[VikingQuest]

Already been done:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101345.html