July 15-16, 2007
Jul 15 01:24 Op-Ed News Has 'Cure' For Democrats Jul 15 02:40 Murtha's Calling President Bush Delusional? Jul 15 03:29 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Hack Journalism Jul 15 04:57 Ellison: Impeachment "a Matter of Principle" Jul 15 12:04 Coleman Leads; Ciresi, Franken Complain Jul 16 02:44 A Timeline Emerges Jul 16 14:37 Democrats' Worst Nightmare?
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006
Op-Ed News Has 'Cure' For Democrats
A far left website thinks it has the cure for the low ratings that the American people are giving the Democratic majorities in the US House and Senate. Here's their 'prescription':
Here's the situation Nancy Pelosi finds herself in. A full 54% of Americans and 76% of Democrats want Dick Cheney impeached. Cheney's 13% favorability makes him the least popular president or vice president ever. The Washington Post reports that Republicans are turning against Cheney. By failing to act, the Democratic Congress has made itself less popular than Bush. Were the Congress to impeach Cheney and the Senate to acquit him, the Democrats would win a significant majority in the Senate because the public would toss some Republicans who voted for Cheney out on their asses. So, the Democrats would not just do the right thing for the future of our nation but achieve electoral victories by moving on impeachment , whether they manage to succeed with it or not. There's no known downside to trying.The propagandist that wrote this is someone named David Swanson. I don't know where he got credentialed but that's the most incoherent yapping I've heard in ages. Considering the things I've heard on the local newspaper's message board, that's saying something. I pray that Democrats are stupid enough to take up impeachment of Vice President Cheney.
That would just cement the image of the new majority's image of being the 'All Investigations All The Time' congress. They've passed a handful of bills, mostly renaming public buildings and the like. They took 100+ days to get a bill passed to fund our troops. The only legislation that's been signed into law was the minimum wage law.
That isn't much of an accomplishment, especially when you consider that the first minimum wage bill was infamous for exempting Samoa from the bill and that the minimum wage bill that got signed was part of the Iraq supplemental and included tax cuts for small businesses.
On the other hand, they've invested hundreds of hours
The other thing that Mr. Swanson's 'article' tells us is that progressives aren't interested in the Constitution. If you read the text of H. Res 333, you won't find a point that anyone to the right of Dennis Kucinich takes seriously. They read like a news aggregator of Dick Cheney quotes that Kucinich disagrees with. You'd think that a guy who's been in the House awhile would know that disagreeing with policy isn't the same as proving a high crime or misdemeanor.
H. Res. 333 is long on bluster and short on proof. The only thing it proves is that Rep. Kucinich is as loony tunes as the Swampers that inhabit the center of the new left. Let me correct that: His co-sponsors are as loony tunes as the Swampers that inhabit the center of the new left, too.
At the end of the day, it's impossible to think that Mr. Swanson is worth taking seriously. It's only possible to laugh at him and the fools who think that there "isn't a downside" to impeaching a sitting vice president when the impeachment bill is littered with the hysterical rantings of the far left.
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 1:24 AM
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Murtha's Calling President Bush Delusional?
That's what he's doing according to this Media Matters 'article'. When asked by Wolf Blitzer about whether the surge was working, here's how the man who lied about the Haditha Marines responded:
BLITZER: All right, what do you say to the president?John Murtha still hasn't figured it out that we aren't buying into his lies anymore. He can't refute the verifiable information I find daily online. He can't persuade people with the same lines time and time again because any blogger worth his or her salt has utterly discredited Murtha.
MURTHA: Well, it's delusional, to say the least. As I said earlier, and you heard me say, it's a failed policy wrapped in illusion. Nothing has gotten better. Incidents have increased. We've had more Americans killed in the last four months than any other period during the war. More Iraqis have been killed. Incidents are up. Unemployment is still 40 percent to 60 percent. Oil production is below prewar level. And this...this rhetoric about the constitution and the changes...they say, well, they're making changes. There's no changes that have been made. They haven't done the thing that's necessary in order to satisfy the Sunnis.
So our troops are caught in a civil war. As I've said over and over again, It can't be won militarily. There can only be a diplomatic effort. And I think this surge is a perfect example where we aren't making any progress and we've got to start to redeploy the troops as quickly as possible.
Now, I see more and more people coming around. I'm more optimistic than I've ever been that we're going to start redeployment before long. The problem we've had, Wolf, and the thing that's happened that's so...hurting the troops so badly is they extend these people and break all of the rules and guidelines they have because they haven't been able to raise the number of forces that they have.
He's still peddling the line about our soldiers are caught in the middle of a civil war. The statistics don't bear that out:
At least 1,227 Iraqi civilians were killed in June along with 190 police officers and 31 soldiers, an officer at the Iraqi Interior Ministry's operations room said. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the figures. That represented a 36 percent drop from the ministry's May figures, 1,949 civilian deaths along with 127 police and 47 soldiers.He's still peddling the line about "nothing has gotten better." That isn't credible considering the fact that the sheikhs in Anbar province have booted AQI terrorists out. Further discrediting that Murthaism is the fact that Ramadi has gone from being AQI's home to being one of the most secure cities in Iraq:
A year ago, a confidential Marine intelligence report declared Anbar province (which comprises about a third of Iraq 's territory) lost to al-Qaeda. Now, in what the Times's John Burns calls an " astonishing success," the tribal sheiks have joined our side and committed large numbers of fighters that, in concert with American and Iraqi forces, have largely driven out al-Qaeda and turned its former stronghold of Ramadi into one of most secure cities in Iraq.Here's another account of the progress being made in Iraq:
You might not have gathered this from most media coverage, but something extraordinary is happening in Iraq. The United States and the Iraqis seem to be going after, and successfully wiping out, large numbers of al Qaeda operatives.The Murthaism about "nothing has gotten better" has just been discredited by the fact that Operation Arrowhead Ripper is "successfully wiping out" "large numbers of al Qaeda operatives." I'm betting that most Americans would think that "wiping out...large numbers of al Qaeda operatives" is proof that things have "gotten better."
In the past, the United States has seemed content to "cleanse" neighborhoods of trouble and then hunker down, while the terrorists simply fled and bided their time. But in the past couple of weeks, scores of al Qaeda operatives have been hunted down and killed, with many others taken into custody. America is taking the battle to them, on the outskirts of Baghdad, as part of an effort called Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
The truth is that people who've paid attention think that Rep. Murtha's credibility has taken a major hit. His credibility will plummet further after the Haditha Marine scandal is picked up by the major newspapers and cable news channels.
Who would believe him if I proved that he had wrongfully accused the Marines of Hilo Company of "killing innocent civilians in cold blood" before he'd even been briefed? Anyone who's read this blog this week knows that that's exactly what happened when Lt. Col. Paul Ware recommended that all charges be dropped against Justin Sharratt:
"To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and sets a dangerous precedent that, in my opinion, may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq," Ware wrote.It's time for Rep. Murtha to resign from Congress, to apologize to the heroes of Hilo Company and to apologize to the Marine Corps.
I don't believe he'll resign voluntarily. That's why I'm asking for people to call their representatives to demand an ethics investigation into one of the most corrupt politicians in history. I'm also asking that they fill their representatives' inboxes with emails demanding an investigation.
Anyone that wouldn't think twice about throwing Justin Sharratt's constitutional protections out certainly wouldn't think twice about lying about the verifiable progress being made in Iraq.
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 2:41 AM
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Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Hack Journalism
That's the best way I can describe the type of journalism practiced by the Trib-Review editorial board after reading this editorial. Here's a sample of their cozying up to Rep. Murtha:
Perhaps Jack Murtha put it best: The Pennsylvania congressman, among the first to make the cogent argument that staying the course in Iraq was the exercise in futility that indeed the war has become, says President Bush is delusional. Based on the president's recent performance, we could not agree more. "Staying the course" is not simply futile, it is a prescription for American suicide.My first reaction to that was whether Murtha's spokesperson called this press release in or if they simply took dictation over the phone. My next reaction was to ask why they hadn't bothered checking out the stories coming from Iraq. My third reaction was to ask if this editorial board has ever considered the possibility that John Murtha, one of the most unethical people in Washington, just might corrupt to the core.
It's obvious that the Trib-Review editorial board is filled with Murtha cronies. Either that or they're simply a bunch of liberals who buy anything said by another liberal. As for whether they'd bothered googling Operation Arrowhead Ripper or Gen. Lynch or David Petraeus, that answer is equally obvious. As for questioning Murtha's credibility, let's just say that they'd face an uphill battle to convince me that they've ever questioned Murtha's credibility.
One other observation I'd make is that they're as given to hyperbole as Al Gore is when talking about global warming.
"Progress" has become such a nuanced, parsed and tortured term that it no longer has meaning.Let's see if I can help with that part. Last year, Ramadi was written off as the AQI sanctuary. This year, it's one of the most secure cities in Iraq. Civilian casualties dropped 36 percent from April to May. Baqouba, which once had a sign Islamic State of Iraq on its 'front gate', now is terrorist-free. Now that it's been cleared of terrorists, the food and medical supplies are flowing in.
President Bush warns that U.S. withdrawal would risk "mass killings on a horrific scale." What do we have today, sir?What we have today is insignificant compared to the bloodbath that would happen the minute we left. Harry Reid as much as admitted that by slipping Jake Tapper's questions about that:
TAPPER: I'm sorry, if I could just follow up very quickly,Do you think the Iraqi people will be safer with U.S. troops out?If Reid thought that the bloodshed wouldn't have spiked dramatically when we left, he would've answered Tapper's questions in a heartbeat.
REID: It is clear that the Iraqi people don't want us there. It is clear that there is now a state of chaos in Iraq. And it is up to the Iraqi people to make themselves safe,.We can't do it. It's time the training wheels come off and they take care of their own country. We have spent billions dollars. We're now spending $12 billion a month on Iraq. That's enough. In the last six months of the surge, six months, 600 more dead Americans, $60 billion more of American taxpayers' money. We, Democrats, unitedly believe that's enough
TAPPER: With all due respect, Senator, you didn't answer my question
REID: OK. This is not a debate
TAPPER: Will the Iraqis be safer?
REID: We're answering questions. (calling on someone else) Yes, young man? Anyone else have a question?
Our brave troops should take great pride that they rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein. And they should have no shame in leaving Iraq. For it will not be, in any way, an exercise in tail-tucking and running.Our troops will take great pride in winning every battle. That isn't the problem. The problem is that Democrats worry more about winning elections than they care about killing terrorists. The right place to affix blame is on the people who now control Congress.
The Trib-Review board won't entertain the notion that Rep. Murtha is a miscreant when the proof of that abounds but they'll chastise President Bush because a miscreant like Murtha says so. Talk about a world flipped upside down.
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 3:30 AM
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Ellison: Impeachment "a Matter of Principle"
Just when you thought things couldn't get more absurd, Keith Ellison proves that absurdity knows no limits. That's the conclusion I reached after reading this article in the Twin Cities Daily Planet. Here's where the absurdity starts:
Some people say the attempt to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney isn't anything more than a charade by far-left Democrats.I couldn't stop laughing after reading the line about Cheney's impeachment being a charade by far-left Democrats, then seeing the Daily Planet 'reporter' not classify Keith Ellison as a far-left Democrat. If you read the list of co-sponsors, it reads like a who's who of the anti-war far left. Collectively, the group is so far left that it isn't unreasonable to think that they occasionally worry about Howard Dean's conservative streak.
That's not the case for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who gets animated about the subject. The freshman Democrat from Minneapolis has joined a dozen or so lawmakers as co-sponsors of a bill to impeach Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors."
The alleged crimes are yet to be spelled out by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who sponsored the bill late last month. But Ellison accuses Cheney of "abusing his power,and abstracting information."Ellison expects us to take impeachment seriously when they don't spell out any alleged high crimes or misdemeanors? This isn't anything but another political witch hunt sponsored by the far left base of the Democratic Party.
When the House impeached Bill Clinton, everyone and their mother knew that Clinton had lied under oath. It was indisputable.
The current impeachment bill contains lots of disputed items but nothing that's indisputable. It's mostly a 'Bush lied, people died' thing. In fact, there's several things that are utterly laughable because they're based on the Downing Street Memo, a fiction that only holds sway with the fringest of the fringe lefties.
President Bush's recent decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, "broke the camel's back for me," said Ellison. "Cheney had everything to do with that decision."Rep. Ellison has proof that Dick Cheney "had everything to do with" President Bush commuting Scooter Libby? Playing devil's advocate for a minute, let's stipulate that he does. So what? Presidential pardons and commutations can't be disputed as a matter of law because the Constitution gives the President the final say in those matters.
What Keith Ellison's statement does is it spotlights the principle Keith Ellison is basing this on: political differences. Keith Ellison had better return to law school for a refresher course in Constitutional Law because having political differences with the president isn't grounds for impeaching the vice president.
Finally, hearing Keith Ellison say that impeachment is a matter of principle is laughable. He doesn't have a principled bone in his body. He's ignored traffic tickets with regularity. He's avoided filing the campaign finance reports on time, even getting reprimanded for that. He's delivered the keynote speech to the Minnesota chapter of Muslim American Society's 4th annual convention. What he hasn't done is renounce the anti-semitic remarks on MAS-MN's website. (What principle does Rep. Ellison justify that with?)
Based on a long history of ignoring the laws of the land and speaking at events sponsored by hateful anti-semitic organizations, it's difficult imagining Keith Ellison being a principled man. At the end of the day, it's impossible to take him seriously when he says that principles drove him to co-sponsoring an impeachment resolution.
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 4:58 AM
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Coleman Leads; Ciresi, Franken Complain
According to this Pi-Press article, it's safe to say that Norm Coleman spoke about the reality in Iraq while Al Franken pleaded with Sen. Coleman to vote to
Minnesota's Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said Thursday the United States will have a long-term presence in Iraq but may see a change of mission.Norm Coleman's position on specific parts of the Iraq war haven't been easy to decipher but he's always been in the pro-victory camp. That's the mark of a leader. He's perfectly willing to take a temporary political hit to get the policy right. That's another mark of a leader. Compare Coleman's leadership with this:
"We are going to be in Iraq a long time. I am not supporting dates, specific dates, timetables for withdrawal," he said. "When my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about redeployment, they are talking about getting out of Iraq. I'm not. And simply because that's the reality."
Those who say U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by September are "missing reality," he said.
On Wednesday, his most high-profile opponents, Democrats Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, strongly criticized Coleman's Iraq stance.TRANSLATION: I'm pro-defeat.
"I urge you to change your position and support our troops by voting to bring them home," Franken wrote in a letter to Coleman.
"I ask Norm Coleman to tell Minnesotans his vision for finding a common-sense solution to the civil war in Iraq," Ciresi said in a statement.TRANSLATION: I'm as pro-defeat as my primary opponent is.
Both Ciresi and Franken are joined at the hip to the Nutroots crowd. That isn't to say that they aren't true believers. Franken clearly is a true Nutroots believer. That's why they aren't qualified to be Minnesota's next senator. They'd vote for their MoveOn.org contributors. I'd find it difficult, if not impossible, to believe that they'd vote Central Minnesota's interests.
Frankly, I'm not certain that Mssrs. Franken and Ciresi would know what St. Cloud values are.
"Time will prove me right. I'm up for election in '08. If I'm wrong, folks, they'll have a chance to articulate that but I'm fairly confident, as I kind of look at the lay of the land, that we will have a change of mission, we will have significant drawdown but we're doing it without telling the enemy this is when we are getting out of here, without cutting off any funds, any support for the troops," Coleman said.I've had the opportunity recently to have several email exchanges with Sen. Coleman. I'd be lying if I said that I've always agreed with him but I'd be a bigger liar if I said that I didn't find him to be a thoughtful legislator who wanted to get the biggest policies right. Sometimes that willingness to not jump to certain decisions has been seen as a sign of wobbliness. Frankly, I've wondered that from time to time.
Once you get past the nuances and details, though, it's obvious that Sen. Coleman is a serious pro-victory legislator. I don't want to overlook something else that Sen. Coleman said:
"...as I kind of look at the lay of the land, that we will have a change of mission, we will have significant drawdown."I see a drawdown happening, too, because I've read too many articles talking about significant progress being made. When you consider the dramatic improvement seen in Ramadi, it's impossible for thoughtful people to conclude that things haven't improved:
A year ago, a confidential Marine intelligence report declared Anbar province (which comprises about a third of Iraq 's territory) lost to al-Qaeda. Now, in what the Times's John Burns calls an " astonishing success," the tribal sheiks have joined our side and committed large numbers of fighters that, in concert with American and Iraqi forces, have largely driven out al-Qaeda and turned its former stronghold of Ramadi into one of most secure cities in Iraq.When we hear about food and medical supplies pouring into Baqouba, it's impossible for thoughtful people to think that things aren't improving:
Iraqi Army Soldiers with the Diyala province deputy governor of health delivered 10 trucks full of medical supplies to Diyala province, July 4, as part of an effort to provide much needed medicines for people in the area. Soldiers from the 5th Iraqi Army Division with Dr. Homm, the deputy governor of health for Diyala province, traveled to Baghdad on the morning of July 4 to escort the trucks north.Then there's this good news:
Meanwhile, food distribution planning efforts in and around Baqouba continued as a part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. The warehouses are full of rice, flour, cooking oil, beans, chai, milk, and soap. Fourteen trucks were also loaded and readied for delivery to the province.Mssrs. Franken and Ciresi are too wedded to their Nutroots friends, and their campaign contributions, to consider the possibility that conditions in Iraq are improving. They're also likely too afflicted with their BDS to think it's possible for President Bush to get something right, especially something this important.
Since the beginning of the operation, Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces have provided approximately 462 metric tons of rice and flour to residents of Baqouba.
It's important that we remember something Ronald Reagan said: Your eighty percent friend isn't your twenty percent enemy. Activists across the nation would be wise to remember that.
When everything is said and done, the choice is clear on who is the most qualified man for the job. The only real choice is to re-elect Sen. Coleman. It doesn't get much simpler than that.
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 12:05 PM
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A Timeline Emerges
Over the course of the weekend, I came to realize that creating a detailed timeline on when Murtha made his various allegations would help highlight his 'misstatements. The first dot in the timeline is Murtha's categorical declaration that the Haditha Marines had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." He made that accusation on 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.The next day, Murtha was asked about the sourcing for his accusations. Here's his answer:
~-
"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.
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."The Marine Corps later corrected the record:
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.Here's what we know up to this point.
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. (Sounds familiar.)
- Murtha made these malicious accusations before he'd received an official briefing.
- Murtha initially said that his information came from "commanders" and other people "who know what they're talking about."
- A Marine spokesman said that Gen. Hagee briefed him but that didn't happen until a week after Murtha went public with his accusations.
-
Murtha said that Gen. Hagee had briefed him before Gen. Hagee had briefed him. I'll let readers decide whether Rep. Murtha lied outright when he said that.
QUESTIONS:
- Was Murtha briefed by "commanders" out in the field before making these irresponsible accusations?
- Was Murtha briefed by Gen. Hagee who served stateside?
- Was Murtha even briefed before making these irresponsible accusations?
- If he wasn't briefed, had one of his Pentagon cronies leaked this information to him?
- If his cronies leaked this to him, which one leaked this information?
(H/T: Think Progress):
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?This was posted on Think Progress on May 30, 2006. Note that Murtha's story changes again when he said that the Marine Corps Commandant briefed him the prior week. This is the version that I actually believe because it matches what the Marine Corps spokesman said. There's two other interesting tidbits of information on this in that brief response that must be highlighted. Here's the first tidbit of information we need to highlight:
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.
I know there was a cover-up someplace.If Murtha was briefed by Gen. Hagee, why wouldn't he be specific as to who covered this incident up? Another question that must be answered is who was involved in the coverup? Based on Murtha's statements, isn't it possible that the "commanders in the field" who supposedly briefed him were the people who covered this incident up? After all, the investigating officer has recommended that Jeff Chessani face charges on dereliction of duty, supposedly for covering this up.
The Alleged Coverup
Let's compare the transcript of the interview between Rep. Murtha and ABCNews anchor Charlie Gibson to Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore's testimony. First review the exchange between Gibson and Rep. Murtha provided earlier. Then read the report on Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore's testimony:
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.That's one of the bullet points in Phil Brennan's June 7, 2007 article. Here's the full set of bullet points:
- Intelligence gathered by Marine S2 officers in advance of the events of Nov. 19th, 2005, revealed that it was known that an insurgent ambush was planned for the day.
- Although exact details of the planned ambush were not known, some important details were revealed, most importantly, that some 20 insurgents would take part, and a white car would play an important role in the ambush.
- The intelligence was made available to the officers and men of Kilo Company, including Sgt. Frank Wuterich who has been charged with, among other things, murdering the occupants of a white car that came on the scene following the IED explosion that killed one Marine and seriously wounded another. The evidence will show that Wuterich acted appropriately when he shot the passengers of the vehicle.
- Although the media continues to report that 24 innocent civilians were killed that day , the S2's testimony shows that eight of the dead, including four of the five occupants in the white car killed by Wuterich, were known insurgents and the dead civilians therefore numbered 16, not 24.
- The insurgents whose communications were intercepted and which revealed the planned ambush were the same two men who were the sources of the fallacious and dishonest Time magazine story, which was the source of the accusations against the Marines.
- 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. None!
In addition to revealing that an after-action report was created and sent up the chain of command, Capt. Dinsmore's testimony also provides heretofore classified information that shows the amount of intel gathered on the attack was extensive, specific and accurate.
It isn't a stretch to think that Col. Ware took Capt. Dinsmore's testimony into consideration before issuing his recommendations that all charges be dropped against LCpl. Justin Sharratt.
Considering Murtha 'knew' that a coverup had happened "someplace" and that Capt. Dinsmore had given specific details about the insurgent attack against the 3/1 Marines that were accurate down to the last detail, who would you believe? Furthermore, let's factor in that Capt. Dinsmore had filed an after-action report with his superiors that included the extensive details of the attack.
When given that decision, isn't it an easy choice?
That's why John Murtha must resign his seat in the House of Representatives. That's why John Murtha must apologize to Justin Sharratt, Frank Wuterich and the other members of Kilo Company. That's why John Murtha must apologize to the Marine Corp, too.
Finally, here's a quotes from Col. Ware's report:
Col. Ware wrote in his report: "It is difficult, if not impossible to believe that trained and experienced Marines would decide to execute 4 unarmed men by leading them into a house, moving them to a back room with no light [curtains were closed] and allow them to move about the room while trying to shoot them with the least-effective weapon in their arsenal."Then there's this from the Washington Post article:
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."Frankly, the things Col. Ware is quoted as saying sound airtight and unequivocal whereas Rep. Murtha's claims seem to shift from interview to interview. Saying that the comparison doesn't flatter Rep. Murtha is understatement.
UPDATE: Welcome Gateway readers. Be sure to check out all the great stuff I've posted here and also the great stuff posted about Murtha at California Conservative.
Putting things in timeline form helped 'highlight' Murtha's shiftiness for me. (I knew it before but the timeline shows step-by-step the 'shifting sands' nature of his statements.
Originally posted Monday, July 16, 2007, revised 13-Oct 10:52 AM
Comment 1 by Bryan at 10-Aug-07 07:52 PM
It is time for John Murtha to publicly apologize to the Marines.
It is time for John Murtha to resign in disgrace.
John Murtha is a pathetic individual who has no place representing the proud, brave, and courageous American people.
You disgust me, my family, and everyone I know.
Democrats' Worst Nightmare?
Based on an op-ed he wrote, Peter Brown of Quinnipiac University thinks that Fred Thompson is the Democrats' worst nightmare. I don't disagree.
When one political party tries to influence the other's presidential primary race the reasonable assumption is that someone is trying to stop the nomination of a candidate that party does not want to face in November.I've thought that for awhile now but that opinion is spreading. Here's a few newspaper and blog headlines that support that:
That's why a Democrat-aligned group injecting itself into the Republican campaign by alleging that Fred Thompson lobbied for abortion rights is a pretty good indication the other side thinks he has serious potential.
Fred Thompson Was Nixon's Mole (Netscape.com)Here's another of Prof. Brown's observations:
Democrats Tear Into Fred Thompson (Free Republic)
Meet Fred Thompson: Friend of Felons (The Nation Magazine)
Democrats Fret Over Fred ( Captains Quarters)
In this case his Democratic foes are trying to define him negatively for GOP voters before he can make a good first impression. That's why in the last few weeks we have seen a stream of stories that would seem to be aimed at derailing his candidacy. Some were clearly planted in the news media with information from partisans of other candidates or causes. Others may have arisen independently from a news media itching to vet Thompson.Fred Thompson has been the 'recipient' of more attacks than any other candidate. The next closest in that category is Rudy Giuliani. I've said all along that this will essentially turn into a Rudy-Thompson race fairly soon. That isn't to say that Romney will get out anytime soon. He clearly has the money to stay in the race. What he doesn't have is a loyal, on fire base of support.
The fact that he hasn't gotten as many attacks as Sen. Thompson and Giuliani have gotten tells me who Democrats don't fear.
Posted Monday, July 16, 2007 2:38 PM
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