Haditha Marine LCpl Sharratt’s Hearing

Murtha is a “cold-blooded crook” and as sleazy at you can get! The FBI sting video of him several years ago shows that he is a smart crook. The only reason he didn’t go to jail was because he helped the FBI nail a couple of his “friends.”

When the FBI whipped out $50k to give him, he was drooling.

At first he wanted it invested in some coal mines, then when he got a look at the cash, he changed his mind. He wanted them to invest it with a banker who was a “good friend” and had “loaned” him alot of money. Three guesses where that money would’ve eventually ended up? Probably another “loan” to Murtha!

Sorry I got off the subject, but the way Murtha treats our military makes my blood boil!

There marines were sacrificed on the alter of Political Correctness. They weren’t just convicted publicly by Murtha. Rumsfeld (and I also believe Bush) made noise assuming guild over innocence. Publicly.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197938,00.html

“We know that 99.9 percent of our forces conduct themselves in an exemplary manner. We also know that in conflicts things that shouldn’t happen, do happen,” he said.

While he said he cannot comment on the investigation because it could taint the case, he said, “We don’t expect U.S. soldiers to act that way, and they’re trained not to.”

…

“It doesn’t excuse the acts that have occurred, and we’re going to look into them,” he added. “But I would say it’s stress, fear, isolation and, in some cases, they’re just upset. They see their buddies getting blown up on occasion, and they could snap.”

Reading the interview, I saw it live, there was no question Rumsfeld took the position they were guilty and was preparing for damage control. These are not the statement a Secretary of Defense makes publicly for troops under him if he expects them to get the fair trial they deserve, whether he personally believe they are guilty or not.

I would expect this crap from a Carter administration. And its part of the reason, outside of the first couple of years after 9/11, I rank this administration right up there with Carter and LBJ. After 2003, this has not been a conservative administration in the least.

I got this in an email from a friend who works for a lawyer for one of the Marines at Haditha who said he got it from an NCIS spokesman.

Deja Vu’ All Over Again
The writer;s name is deleted.

6-26-07

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is probing allegation that eight unarmed Iraqi men were murdered at Fallujah, Iraq in November, 2004. They allegedly died at the hands of Marines from the same platoon as two Marines already under investigation for murdering 24 civilians in Haditha 18 months ago.

The alleged murders were revealed last year by former Corporal Ryan Weemer, once a Marine rifleman from 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, Third Battalion, 1st Marines. Weemer fought valiantly at the Hell House during the Fallujah battle in November 2004 and sustained three gunshot wounds. He was a fire team leader in the same squad that accused murderers Stephen B. Tatum and Justin L. Sharratt were assigned to at Fallujah during 2004 and Haditha in 2005. Along with Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich they stand accused of killing 24 people. Wuterich — the squad leader - did not fight at Fallujah. Eight other members of their squad and two officers — including the officer in charge at the ambush site — have been granted immunity to testify against them.

NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said in an email from his Washington, D.C. headquarters that the NCIS “does not comment on ongoing investigations.” It apparently prefers leaking whatever it needs to say.

The allegations of murder at Fallujah originally came to light about the same time in March 2006 that Time Magazine was trumpeting its charges of murder against the men of 3rd Platoon. The unsettling story was revealed by Weemer to a local writer while he was living near Saint Louis, Missouri. He told author Nathaniel R. Helms that the killings occurred during intense combat in Fallujah in November of 2004 when 3rd Platoon was fighting for its life, Weemer claimed. Helms wrote “My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story which is in part about the same platoon. Weemer was a fire team leader in 3rd Platoon, according the book.

The alleged killing reportedly occurred on November 10 or 11, 2004 along Phase Line Henry, an imaginary line on a map bisecting the Sunni stronghold north to south. At the time the platoon was engaged in the fiercest fight the Marine Corps has been in since the Vietnam War. Days run together in combat, so do recollections. But he is clear about this one, he told the scribe. During the killings the back of one man’s head flew off and his brains spilled out. It was ugly, Weemer said, and never left his mind.

Helms advised the penitent Marine to keep his mouth shut, the story goes.

The former Marine tried to but his story of murder got out anyway. He revealed it during a polygraph examination for a uniformed Secret Service job in early 2006. He didn’t intend to, he said. The examiner asked if he had ever participated in a “wrongful death” during the polygraph examination.

Weemer isn’t a liar. He is a stand up young man who excelled academically and athletically at his rural Illinois high school. He just wanted to guard the White House, the first step toward a career in Federal law enforcement. .His specialized close combat training made him a front runner, he thought. The question about unlawful killing took him by surprise. The only thing he could answer was “yes,” he said. Shortly after his polygraph examination two NCIS investigators showed up at his workplace at a Starbuck’s coffee shop in Chesterfield, Missouri to question him. Weemer told them his story. It was very brief and went like this:

The Iraqi civilians allegedly gunned down at Fallujah were captured while hiding in an abandoned house in close proximity to a recent firefight, he admitted. It was a common tactic of the insurgents to fire upon advancing Marines from one position, put down their weapons, and then run to another position and take up arms secreted there to resume the fight, he said. At the time the Marine’s Rules of Engagement prevented Marines from shooting unarmed Iraqis observed fleeing areas where fire was coming down.

It was a good ploy for the insurgents as long as the Marines played by the rules but even in the beginning that didn’t always happen. Two days before the incident in question a group of four or five Iraqi men disappeared in a bright flash when they stopped to rest too close to a rifle squad from 3rd Platoon instead of running away. They were still catching their breaths when the Marines placed a satchel charge against the wall of their hidey hole. The ROE is a guide, not a mandate, one 3/1 Marine adroitly explained.

In this case the eight men were allegedly taken prisoner while unarmed, Weemer revealed to NCIS investigators. They were of military age, dressed in so-called “track suits” favored by the insurgents at Fallujah, and running from a firefight, he claimed. The Iraqi men were placed under guard by squad members while the fight raged around them. After a brief time the squad was ordered to move out. The Marine in charge radioed headquarters for instructions about what to do with the suspected insurgents. The laconic response - “They’re still alive?” - came back on the radio.

The leader took it to mean kill the Iraqis. Moments later the squad was ordered to move on. Guns were aimed, triggers were pulled, and the Iraqis died. The bodies were left where they lay. Down the road was a nest of murderers and thugs who ran the torture chambers and death houses the foreign fighters of Al Qaeda offered as public services. They had to be taken out. The Marines found photographs of decapitated corpses, torture rooms, and infernal devices from the House of Pain. It made Weemer feel better, he said, but did nothing for his conscience. Two days later Weemer was shot multiple times at point blank range by a lurking foreign fighter and evacuated to Germany. Even so he didn‘t think it was right to gun down the unarmed Iraqis, he said.

The lawyers for the defense in the Haditha case are aware of the investigation. Lt Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani’s attorney Brian Rooney, a former Marine Staff Judge Advocate and combat veteran at Fallujah, was incensed to learn about it, he said. He opined that the NCIS investigation is merely another dirty tactic to buttress up a failing case. Attorney Jim Culp, one of Sharratt’s civilian lawyers, believes the whole investigation is valueless and merely indeed to discredit the exculpatory witnesses from the Fallujah battle expected to be called by the defense. The NCIS declined to comment, spokesman Ed Buice said.

If the alleged shootings had happened a few days later there would not even be an investigation. Two days after the alleged incident the ROE was “liberalized” to allow fleeing Iraqis in Fallujah to be killed if they refused to stop. It was only the beginning. By the end of the fight the rules for killing folks were very liberal, Marines who were there agree. Fallujah gave a whole new meaning to the word, one of them quipped

Marines openly admit killing every military age male they saw at Fallujah. They used everything in the Marine Corps arsenal to do it; Javelins, TOWs, red phosphorous, white phosphorus, good ol Ma Deuce, and super-futuristic thermobaric warheads that ignite the air. When that wasn’t enough the Marines resorted to smart bombs, dumb bombs and cluster bombs that turned everything into smoking holes. The ROE allowed for them. The hard-pressed Marines cheered every time one went off. There was a lot of cheering along Phase Line Henry during November 2004. 3/1 claimed more than 1,000 enemy kills in the fight.

None of it is a secret. It is the way of the war, and the war before it, and all the wars before that one. Old Marines from Lebanon, Vietnam, and the wars before can only shrug and shake their heads at the newest turn of events in political correctness. The concept of “humane war” is hard to get one’s head around, they say. The young Marines who fought at Fallujah and Haditha agree. They say it is impossible to practice restraint as long as they are nothing more than targets waiting to be taken out by roadside bombs and ambushes.

A new study just released by the Pentagon revealed that the majority of contemporary Marines apparently agree with the way the Iraqis at Fallujah were handled. In a survey of U.S. combat troops in Iraq less than half of Marines said they would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian. And the closer they are to the pointy end of things the more enthusiastic they seem to be about killing the perceived enemy without hesitation. Only 38 percent of Marines polled said noncombatants in Iraq should be treated with dignity and respect.

Such was apparently the case at Haditha as well, the Marine Corps believes. The three enlisted Marines are charged with gunning down the innocent Iraqis there in retaliation for the killing of Miguel “T.J.” Terrazas, a 20-year old lance corporal who also served in 3rd Platoon at Fallujah with James Crossan, another 20-year-old Marine grievously wounded in the same ambush. Terrazas was blown in half by a carefully concealed improvised explosive device that smashed Crossan to bits. The improvised explosive device that killed Terrazas unleashed the terror that was soon to come.

The alleged killers at Haditha are very ordinary Marines. Former Marines who served with all five men at Fallujah described Tatum as a quiet, competent Marine and Sharratt as the best SAW gunner in the battalion. Sharratt can tear down a Squad Automatic Weapon in 49 seconds, a battalion record. They described Terrazas as a nice kid with a friendly smile. Ditto for Crossan. All of them are glad Crossan made it out alive. The same Marines would probably tell you their old buddy from Fallujah who is stirring up all the fuss was just as good a Marine as the rest of them if they weren’t so angry with him. Nobody expressed any remorse for the dead Iraqis.

A senior Marine officer familiar with both the Fallujah allegations and the Marines under suspicion labeled the investigation a “fishing expedition.” He opined that NCIS is more interested in discrediting potential witnesses for the defense in the Haditha case than determining if multiple murders were committed by 3rd Platoon Marines at Fallujah. The case is receiving international attention and is a focal point in the Pentagon’s latest campaign to get American warriors to play by the rules. No doubt the Fallujah allegations will ignite more of the same. The Iraqis who instigated the fight intended it to be that way.

“There is no crime scene, no victims, no bodies, and no witnesses except the unsubstantiated allegations of one and possibly two Marines. Until they told NCIS there wasn’t even a report of a crime,” the officer said. “Who does this serve?”

The investigation took a startling turn in late May when NCIS investigators contacted Navy Cross recipient Robert J. Mitchell in Phoenix, Arizona. Up until then the story had remained under wraps. Mitchell earned the nation’s second highest award for bravery while serving as a squad leader in 3rd Platoon, Kilo, 3/1 at Fallujah saving Marines — lots of Marines. Appreciative Marines who fought with Mitchell thinks NCIS took it too far this time.

On two recent occasions NCIS special agents contacted Mitchell at his home, he acknowledged. The first time two agents visited his home and talked to his wife while he was away. That really got him angry, he said. . The second time he was contacted Mitchell agreed to meet with Special Agent Mark Fox at a Phoenix bookstore after Fox strongly urged him to cooperate. Fox was the same NCIS Special Agent who interviewed Weemer.

Fox told Mitchell the nature of the allegations and confirmed who made them. Mitchell said. Then it was his turn to be surprised. Mitchell told Fox he first heard about the alleged killings from Helms while he was writing the book. Mitchell is a big player in the Hell House story and earned a Navy Cross there. Helms reportedly asked Mitchell whether the allegations were true while he was being interviewed for the book.. Ironically, Mitchell was looking for a copy when he met with SA Fox at the bookstore. .

Mitchell said he agreed to talk to Fox after hearing about threats of recall to active duty allegedly made by NCIS agents against other Marines for failing to cooperate. Even though NCIS agents never threatened him he feared the possibility of recall anyway after talking to the other Marines. And he was still pissed about them scaring his wife. He expected the worst.

“NCIS didn’t threaten me,” Mitchell said. “It wasn’t what I thought. He (Fox) wanted to know our movements, where we were. Who was with me, that kind of stuff; it is not what you think. I was not being investigated. I think they wanted to know who was on the radio.”

With Fox’s knowledge Mitchell recorded the interview for his own protection, he said.

NCIS spokesman Ed Buice told Helms his agency’s special agents are authorized to interrogate both military members and civilians when investigating criminal complaints. Here is his email:

“NCIS is empowered to investigate and arrest both service members and civilians. Our clients are military—we serve, protect and interact with the Navy and Marine Corps but, with very few exceptions, NCIS investigators are not uniformed service members. We do have a small cadre of investigative personnel who are active duty but primarily NCIS investigators are sworn civilian federal Special Agents, just like the FBI, Secret Service, etc. Cases can be tried in both civilian and military court systems.”

Too bad 3/1 is on trial at all, disenchanted Marines said. Known throughout the Corps as the Thundering Third, the battalion is one of the most decorated infantry battalions currently serving in the United States Marine Corps. Now it is the most disgraced as well. In addition to being the home of two Navy Cross recipients and a galaxy of Silver and Bronze Star holders, it was home to four officers and three enlisted riflemen who face criminal charges for participating in the alleged murders at Haditha. That one of their number died in a deceitful ambush and another was grievously wounded that day is not part of the equation; just a footnote. Killing civilians during desperate combat without following the rules is against the law.

Critics of the Pentagon’s penchant for prosecuting it own say the latent, specious NCIS investigation of the alleged killings at Fallujah are another indication the policy makers who construct the rules want a clean war; a nice, neatly packaged war with heroes and villains of their own invention. Their hope for a military solution to a political problem is being painted with the blood and souls of American warriors.

Military leaders managing the Iraq war say it can’t be won by indiscriminately killing Iraqis. Every time an Iraqi civilian dies the enemy gains another family of recruits.. General David H. Petraeus made a point of mentioning both Fallujah and Haditha in a recent speech asking the Soldiers and marines fighting under his command to make restraint a principle element of their war fighting tactics..
“There is great stress in combat, and this particular type of combat can be very frustrating. Stress in combat increases the potential for something bad to happen. Strong commanders are the only thing standing between us and another Abu Grahaib or Haditha. If something like that were to happen now, it would be a terrible setback in a war that we can still win. I am in Fallujah now, and those who have closely followed the war will need little reminder about what happened here in April 2004, and how our reprisal to barbarism caused an escalation in the war,” Petraeus explained.
The notion of using the minimum force necessary to accomplish the mission simply doesn’t compute in the minds of many who have experienced war up close and personal.

“Humane war,” an old Marine wearing an Iwo Jima cap said at the local Marine Corps League fund raiser one recent Saturday, “what a load of crap.” Another former Marine cooking a pork steak said if they had rules then like they have today we would have lost World War II.

“A Marine’s job is to make the other guy die,” the salty old Devil Dog observed through the smoke of his barbeque pit. “Who and why is something for historians to figure out. Somebody in this crazy war forgot that.”

Everybody involved in the Fallujah investigation is just “doing their jobs.” The reason and purpose of bringing battle to Fallujah in the first place is apparently now academic. The job of the Marines at Fallujah was to take the war to the enemy and completely destroy him. That is why they sent in Marines. If they had killed the Iraqi men two days later when it was okay to kill fleeing Iraqis there might not even be an investigation. They were just doing their jobs. The realization of what that sometimes means always seems to come as a surprise to the uninitiated.

The NCIS is mandated by the Secretary of the Navy with investigate all reported war crimes. It is just doing its job bringing suspected criminals to justice. The general who authorized the investigation is laboring under a directive from the Secretary of the Navy to do his job by investigating alleged war crimes. And the Iraqi insurgents killing Marines and Soldiers with so much energy are just doing their jobs as well.

Now the Marines from Fallujah are going to pay for it.

None of that helps the former Marine whose dreams of a career at the White House have been trampled by the NCIS just doing its job. The images of helpless men dying will forever be with him. Nor will the investigation bring comfort to those appalled at what allegedly happened in that unknown house in Fallujah. It is a really good read and somebody should have published it… mainstream press just won’t give them a break.

What the investigation does do is reinforce the beliefs of those who think the timing and tactics of the NCIS is conveniently related to ensure outcomes at the criminal trial for the Haditha Marines. Worse, the investigation will create even more doubt in the minds of America’s hard pressed warriors trying to do an almost impossible job in an atmosphere already poisoned by suspicion.

So where is the justice?