Rep. Murtha is about to feel alot more heat now that the Washington Post weighed in with this article. Here’s the most important section from the article’s first few paragraphs:

Ware’s 18-page report, released by Sharratt’s lawyers, has gone to Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, who now will decide how to proceed in the case. Mattis could deviate from the recommendation and order either an administrative punishment or a court martial, but in doing so he would be going against Ware’s strongly worded conclusion that Sharratt did nothing wrong.

If Gen. Mattis recommends Cpl. Sharratt for court martial, he should be investigated for corruption. I simply don’t see a good faith basis for further action. I can see a political basis for further action but Justin Sharratt, Frank Wuterich and the rest of these Marines deserve better treatment than that.

This section points out another hurdle that NCIS would have to overcome:

Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was never linked to any significant role in the first group of houses and has all along acknowledged that he shot and killed three or four men in another home later on Nov. 19, saying he believed the men were threatening him with weapons. Sharratt told investigators that he used a 9mm pistol to shoot the men when his rifle jammed as he and Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich were searching the house.

Ware said all available evidence shows that Sharratt perceived a threat and reacted appropriately.

“Using his training, he responded instinctively, assaulting into the room and emptying his pistol,” Ware wrote. “Whether this was a brave act of combat against the enemy or tragedy of misperception born out of conducting combat with an enemy that hides among innocents, LCpl Sharratt’s actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force.”

It seems to me that Col. Ware’s direct statements are categorical in nature and that they’re based on “all available evidence”, not on theory. Based on the Constitution, that usually means that a person can’t be found guilty by a jury examining the evidence.

Furthermore, Col. Ware’s statement that “Sharratt’s actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force” says that the government’s case is weak at best and non-existent at worst.

Based on this information, it’s easy to see that the potential ramifications to Rep. Murtha’s career are profound and troubling. Rep. Murtha repeatedly said that Cpl. Sharratt, Sgt. Wuterich and others had killed innocent civilians in cold blood. Here’s something else that Murtha said:

GIBSON: I heard you tell George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that you believe this is murder, followed by a cover-up and I’ve heard you also say that what happened is well-known in Marine circles. Why are you so sure it was murder?

MURTHA: Charles, I started hearing about this probably right before the Time Magazine article and then I heard officially about it about two months ago. And there’s no question in my mind, when they pay people, as they did right after the incident, a team went into to investigate this immediately afterward. I mean it breaks my heart to think that Marines would do this. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident. But, you know, we’re supposed to be selling ideas of America, ideals of America, and we’re losing that war.

Why did Murtha automatically assume that “Marines would do this”? Furthermore, why would he jump to saying “Hopefully, this is an isolated incident” while the investigation was still ongoing? (Remember that Murtha’s office told me that he wouldn’t comment because the investigation is ongoing.)

Furthermore, what’s Murtha’s source in saying that the Pentagon (or is he talking about the Marines?) paid people off? What evidence did Murtha base this statement off of? Here’s another exchange that should make Murtha nervous:

GIBSON: Jonathan just mentioned, there’s no charges yet filed against any of the Marines that were in this outfit, but Jonathan mentioned a moment ago, defense lawyers are already saying, well, there’s drone video and there is actual radio traffic to higher-ups that will give a different picture than you have been talking about of this incident. What do you know about that?

MURTHA: I can only tell you this, Charles. This is what the Marine Corps told me at the highest level. The Commandant of the Marine Corps was in my office just last week, so you know, I know there was a cover-up someplace. They knew about this a few days afterwards and there’s no question the chain of command tried to stifle the story. I can understand why, but that doesn’t excuse it. Something like this has to be brought out to the public, and the people have to be punished.

That’s important because Rep. Murtha said that the “Commandant of the Marine Corps was in my office just last week.” The Commandant at that time was Gen. Hagee. What’s significant about that is that this transcript was posted on May 30, 2006 on the Think Progress blog. Earlier I posted that Rep. Murtha made those incendiary accusations on May 17, 2006.

What’s significant with that transcript is that Rep. Murtha just admitted that Gen. Hagee briefed him a week after making those accusations. That’s Murtha admitting, directly, that Hagee told him about this incident approximately a week after he first accused (a) the Marines of cold-blooded murder and (b) the Marines of covering the incident up.

In other words, Rep. Murtha has just painted himself into a proverbial corner. He didn’t leave himself any wiggle room, either. That isn’t all, though:

By clearing Sharratt in the specific shootings of Jasib Aiad Ahmed, Kahtan Aiad Ahmed and Jamal Aiad Ahmed, Ware also appeared to clear Wuterich in the same attack, concluding that the Marines’ version of events was more credible than the claims of local residents who said the deaths were executions. Ware found that physical evidence showed that the shots, all facing forward and from a distance, were “inconsistent with an execution or persons reacting to an execution.”

That’s exactly what Col. Ware just did. This is significant because Sgt. Wuterich filed a defamation lawsuit against Rep. Murtha:

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.

Col. Ware’s recommendations would seemingly bolster Sgt. Wuterich’s defamation lawsuit against Rep. Murtha, too.

The potential political ramifications of this can’t be overstated. If these charges are dropped, then serious journalists will press Murtha on what he based his statements on. They’ll also press Speaker Pelosi about why she didn’t investigate the accusations by Sgt. Wuterich against Rep. Murtha. If it’s shown that Murtha lied about the Haditha Marines, his diatribes about civil war in Iraq and the war being unwinnable won’t be taken seriously.

There’s one last thing that must be noted in all this:

GIBSON: In terms of a cover-up, do you think this ever would have come to light if Time Magazine hadn’t pursued this so relentlessly using the video form this human rights organization?

MURTHA: No, I do not think it would have come out, and it’s unfortunate because this is how you lose the Iraqi people. If you’re going to win a war like this, you got to promote the ideals and ideas of American democracy, and there’s no question in my mind that we’re losing it.

While Rep. Murtha ‘bemoans’ an imaginary coverup, the facts say otherwise. There are people with a different opinion of that night’s incidents:

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.

I’m curious why Rep. Murtha would say that it’s “unfortunate” that the Marine Corps covered this incident up. Why would he say that when sworn testimony by the S2 intel officer who gathered all this information, put it into a PowerPoint report and sent it up the chain of command totally refutes his charges of a coverup?

Is Rep. Murtha lying? Or is Rep. Murtha ‘just’ accusing the S2 intel officer? Or is Rep. Murtha accusing the S2 officer and the S2’s superiors of lying, too?

We the People demand an answer. If Rep. Murtha isn’t willing to talk about it freely, then our next remedy is to petition the House leadership to hold hearings to get to the truth of the matter.

Technorati Tags: John Murtha, House Sanctions, Murder, Scandal, Corruption, USMC, Justin Sharratt, Frank Wuterich, Haditha Marines, Paul Ware, James Mattis

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. […] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: The Constitution, Military, Iraq, House of Representatives, Intel, Pelosi, Corruption, Investigations, John Murtha, Scandals, Democrats, Liberalism, Subversives, Congressional Oversight | […]

   Pingback by Let Freedom Ring » Blog Archive » Washington Post Weighs In on Murtha Scandal — July 11, 2007 @ 2:28 pm

1. Even more disgraceful are the voters of Pennsylvania that vote for this loud, sloppy, senile fatass. How can one vote for this guy and get a good nights sleep?

   Comment by SEW — July 11, 2007 @ 4:52 pm

2. Murtha, the guy I watched on a FBI ABSCAM video saying “we can do business after a few transactions” to an FBI agent on tape is going to worry bout this little misunderstanding? LOL…

   Pennsylvania, Mass, NY and Ca voters should have their voting rights taken away for a few years for being so stupid as to believe these scumbag corruptacrats.

   Comment by Mitch the Bitch — July 11, 2007 @ 5:26 pm

3. This loathsome piece of traitorous trash, needs to be sliced, diced and fileted…and thrown out of Congress.
   Btw..the medals he received are highly suspect…he admitted it years ago and then denied he said it.

   Comment by Xango Annie — July 11, 2007 @ 8:30 pm

4. Yes, Mitch, it’s the same one who, with all the evidence the FBI has, still hasn’t seen the inside of a police station or courtroom for it. (My, oh, my, our sentences for the same thing wouldn’t even be half over yet, but the trials would have been years ago.)

   And don’t expect the Washington (Com)Post to talk about it, either. It doesn’t fit in their definition of “news”, and certainly doesn’t rate an editorial.

   Comment by Carlos — July 14, 2007 @ 7:34 am