No matter how proud their tradition, every military organization has its embarrassments.
The U.S. Marine Corps has John Murtha – currently a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania.
During Vietnam, Murtha gave signs of being quite patriotic. However, something has changed him and many who once respected him wonder if Murtha’s ambitions for leadership in a political party that has a 40 year tradition of trashing the military led to his incredible behavior.
Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., slandered those along with whom he claimed to have fought in Vietnam in a hate-filled tirade before a Senate committee in which he compared U.S. troops to Genghis Kahn. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has failed in over 40 attempts to shut off funding for our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., attempted to force a unilateral surrender in Iraq by proclaiming “This war is lost.”
But Murtha's words have hurt our Marines more than those lawmakers' words and deeds. Congressman Murtha slandered not only the Haditha Marines themselves, but stated that if these Marines were not punished, other Marines would also commit acts of atrocity.
His words have, in fact, done more to encourage and provoke our enemy to greater efforts against us than the words of any other politician.
Congressman Murtha’s “guilty verdict first – we can have the trial later” media blitz is now a well known story. In fact, it’s infamous. Murtha accused a group of Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians in cold blood. He not only made the accusation, he urged prosecution.
It turns out Murtha’s slanderous accusations were baseless. All but one of the Marines slandered by Murtha have had the charges against them dropped or have been acquitted. The final Marine awaits his day in court – and he has been informed that his case has been postponed indefinitely, or at least until after the election.
Congressman Murtha, who chairs the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee in the U.S. House, is facing civil defamation lawsuits from several of the acquitted Marines and their families. If the final Marine is exonerated, those cases will obviously be strengthened, and Mr. Murtha’s last line of defense (“The trials aren’t over yet”) will have vanished.
The pressure brought on the military by Mr. Murtha and his allies in the liberal media, first to file the unfounded charges and then to prosecute the Marines, has been obvious. The pressure to delay the final case to protect the Congressman from well-deserved repercussions is less open, but appears to be nonetheless operational.
So it appears that Staff Sergeant Wuterich will see his military career and personal reputation sacrificed to protect the Congressman who slandered him. Shame on Congressman Murtha. He ignored “Innocent until proven guilty” when he made his false accusations, and now he appears willing to deny this final brave Marine his right to justice at all. Indeed, Mr. Murtha seems far more interested in politics than in justice.
But politics can bring its own brand of justice. The people can hold Congressman John Murtha responsible for his outrageous actions, and help ensure that Staff Sergeant Wuterich receives the vindication he so richly deserves.
Congressman Murtha has an opponent. A man who is himself a decorated Iraq war veteran. A man who was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. A man who has spent nearly 3 decades serving his country in uniform. Lt. Col. William Russell (USAR ret.) is challenging John Murtha – holding him accountable for his words and actions against our U.S. Marines.
His web site, russellbrigade.com, takes you into the Pentagon during the events of 9-11. It also gives the people of southwestern Pennsylvania a real vision for economic growth and principled leadership while reminding us of the shame of Mr. Murtha’s unbelievable accusations.
The best way to ensure that the Haditha Marines get their full measure of justice is to help the man who so vehemently and falsely accused them into retirement this November. William Russell is planning to do just that.
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