Haditha Charges Dropped Against LCpl. Stephen Tatum
GREAT NEWS!!! All charges have been dropped against LCpl. Stephen Tatum. Let the rejoicing begin. Here’s what Newsmax is reporting:
Charges against Lance Corporal Stephen B. Tatum, 26, for his alleged involvement in the death of Iraqi civillians in Haditha, Iraq on Nov. 19, 2005, were dismissed today.
Charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and aggravated assault were referred to general court marshal Oct. 19, 2007.
Marine Corps Spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said the charge were dismissed to “continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident.”
There will be a further explanation forthcoming from military officials.
This is cause for great celebrating, especially since it brings us one step closer to forcing John Murtha to talk about why he made his accusations in the first place. All that’s left is for the Marines to drop all charges against Sgt. Frank Wuterich, Lt. Andrew Grayson and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.
This is another chapter in the indictment against corruption meister Rep. John Murtha. Frankly, it’s time for someone to file an ethics complaint against him. It’s time for him to be run out of the US House of Representatives. He accused the Haditha Marines of “killing innocent civilians in cold blood” on May 17, 2006. Since then, charges against LCpl. Justin Sharratt, LCpl. Stephen Tatum, Sgt. Sanick Del la Cruz, Capt. Randy Stone and Capt. Lucas McConnell have been dropped.
Here’s a timeline of the unravelling of Murtha’s story:
May 17, 2006
Rep. John Murtha, an influential Pennsylvania lawmaker and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, said today Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood” after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush that killed a Marine during a patrol in Haditha, Iraq, Nov. 19. The incident is still under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Multi-National Forces Iraq.
———-
“It’s much worse than was reported in Time magazine,” Murtha, a Democrat, former Marine colonel and Vietnam war veteran, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “There was no firefight. There was no [bomb] that killed those innocent people,” Murtha explained, adding there were “about twice as many” Iraqis killed than Time had reported.
May 18, 2006
Asked about his sources during a midday briefing on Iraq policy in the Capitol, Murtha confidently replied, “All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they’re talking about.”
Although Murtha said that he had not read any investigative reports by the military on the incident, he stressed, “It’s much worse than reported in Time magazine.”
May 30, 2006
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.
June 14, 2007
As previously reported by NewsMax, 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.
August 4, 2006
Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is being sued by one of the accused Marines for libel. He had told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Gen. Michael Hagee had given him the information on which he based his charge that Marines killed innocent civilians.
But a spokesman for the Marine Corps said Hagee briefed Murtha on May 24 about Haditha. Murtha had made comments on the case as early as May 17. On May 17, for example, he said at a news conference, “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”
A spokeswoman for Murtha was not immediately available.
It’s time that Rep. Murtha be held accountable for his despicable actions. He accused the Haditha Marines of “killing innocent civilians in cold blood” before he’d been briefed. In fact, he made those accusations before the investigation was complete. That’s unacceptable. He owes these men, and the Marine Corps, a written formal apology. He owes the House of Representatives a similar apology and his immediate resignation. Anything less isn’t acceptable.
This is what happens when House leadership doesn’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities. This wouldn’t have happened had Democrats not allowed Rep. Murtha to run amok.
That level of corruption isn’t acceptable. That level of corruption deserves swift and severe punishment.
To demand anything less is to not fully apologize to the Haditha Marines that were wrongfully accused by Rep. Murtha.
Technorati Tags: Haditha Marines, Stephen Tatum, Justin Sharratt, Randy Stone, Court Martial, Due Process Rights, Ethics Complaint, John Murtha, Resignation, Congressional Oversight
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
March 28th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
And how much did it coast the DON and Marine Corp to put on this dog and pony show for the fattest pig of all, Congressman Murtha?
Talk about waste fraud and abuse.