Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Murtha's about to put his money in front of his mouth.

A marine is suing for defamation...

A Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) defamed him when the congressman made public comments about the incident earlier this year.

Attorneys for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's reputation by telling news organizations in May that the Marine unit cracked after a roadside bomb killed one of its members and that the troops "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha also said repeatedly that the incident was covered up.

What took him so long?

HT: Washington Times

7 comments:

ABFreedom said...

I hope he buries Murtha ....... Literally.

Dan Trabue said...

Unfortunately, it looks like the Pentagon agrees with Murtha. According to the reports I've read, it appears the Pentagon will be charging these soldiers with crimes later this month.

According to AP:

Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

This is sad news for all involved. If true, it further demonstrates how our soldiers have been placed in a lose-lose situation and had expectable disastrous results. It is a tragedy for the Iraqis killed and for our soldiers and their families, as well, which was Murtha's point. And it is a tragedy that was written by Bush and the supporters of this invasion.

Do you expect that Murtha will lay a countersuit against the soldier suing him? Of course, he wouldn't.

Gayle said...

I'm with Ab, Mr. Tastic... I hope so too!

The MSM just couldn't wait to jump to conclusions on this. They are only happy when they are defaming our troops, but they absolutely detest showing anything good that they do! It totally ticks me, and all of us conservatives, off to the max!

But as you can see by the comment above mine, liberals would love for Murtha to be right. What does that tell you about liberals?

Neo-Con Tastic said...

Murtha is defaming a marine. "Innocent until proven guilty."

-I don't believe he's guilty anyway.

Dan Trabue said...

Miss Gayle said:
"But as you can see by the comment above mine, liberals would love for Murtha to be right. What does that tell you about liberals?"

I would point out that, despite what she's suggesting (would love for Murtha to be right...), that what I ACTUALLY SAID was, "This is sad news for all involved. If true, it further demonstrates how our soldiers have been placed in a lose-lose situation and had expectable disastrous results."

It is not loving nor supportive of our soldiers to place them in situations where they're likely to end up being convicted by the Pentagon for the crime of being in an unwinnable situation. WHEN shall we hold those responsible accountable? WHEN shall we truly begin to support our soldiers?

Wasp Jerky said...

In order for it to be defamation, the charges have to be false, which, as Dan and the Pentagon point out, doesn't look so good for the guy bringing the lawsuit.

The Marine's lawyers would also have to prove that Murtha made his comments outside the scope of his role as a congressman, which also seems unlikely.

Dan Trabue said...

Normally, I'd agree with you. I hate the business of holding trials in the media (as in OJ, Michael Jackson, etc). Let the criminal process do its work! And I agree with you in this case, too, insofar as the individual soldiers are concerned. If Murtha singled one of those soldiers out by name, I'll join you in criticizing Murtha.

But in this particular case, we're talking possible WAR CRIMES, which will only serve to hurt the whole of the US if it is true as the Pentagon seems to think. With the US' past history of sweeping some war crimes under the rug or refusing to acknowledge them, it is vital to our national security that we confront any war crimes (or even the appearace of them) with a strong, thorough and expedient investigation into the matter.