May 28, 2006
The unreported story...
The incident at Haditha is still being investigated. If the marines did murder civilians, it was a terrible thing, and they should and will be punished.
But the press and the anti-American Left is already drooling over the story, and has already convicted, and is already telling lies. (See this by Hugh Hewitt, where he interviews Gen Bahms, whose words were misrepresented by the WaPo.)
But incidents like this, or Abu Ghraib, or My Lai, always have another story that they cast like a shadow, a sort of anti-story. And that story is NEVER REPORTED.
There are two parts to the unreported story.
One is that the tactics of the Viet Cong, or the "insurgents" in Iraq, are intended to provoke atrocities. The My Lai Massacre story is still being told--my son learned about it in school--but it's never mentioned that the Viet Cong routinely used civilians to cover their attacks, and routinely pretended to be civilians. These are war crimes, they were committed daily, but get no attention from the sort of people who are eager to find American war crimes. And the explicit intention of these war crimes, taught by the Soviets, was to provoke attacks on civilians.
Similarly, there is very little mention of the terrorists in Iraq or Afghanistan using schools and mosques and civilian crowds for their attacks. It is virtually unreported that Abu Ghraib prison was under frequent mortar and rocket attack by the terrorists, and at the same time we were humiliating some prisoners, they were killing and maiming them by the hundreds! Kinda spoils the artistic effect of the story to put in those extraneous details...
Second, the other part of the unreported story is that, for every My Lai (or Haditha, or Abu Ghraib) there were tens of thousands of My Lais that didn't happen. Daily incidents that didn't result in any massacres. Another tiresome detail best left out, so as not to spoil ones Pulitzer possibilities.
And you know what's going to make me really furious, if this works out the way these things have in the past? Not the blatant Left who will be crowing and high-fiving over this, but the hypocritical Left, who will pretend to be "heartbroken," and to be "devastated" that the "American they love could have fallen so low," and "our military's honor be so besmirched." Foul liars. They never show the slightest interest in the (infinitely greater numbers of) good deeds our soldiers do, so they have not the slightest right to pretend that they care.
Oh, and Third. It occurs to me that there is another part to the unreported story. The tactics of our enemies (and similarly the enemies of Israel, or Britain or Australia) testify to the simple fact that we are the good guys. They only work because we care. We would never try to provoke the terrorists into massacring civilians--why bother, they do it voluntarily all the time, and the press and the Left don't care about those civilians anyway.
This whole story is based on the fact that we are the good guys, and the Left and the press is allied with our enemies to use this against us.
Correction: The interview with General Bahms was by Mary Katherine Ham. She co-blogs at Hugh Hewitt's blog.
A richly deserved takedown:
Mr. Murtha's Rush to Judgment
Sunday, May 28, 2006; B06 [WaPo]
A year ago I was charged with two counts of premeditated murder and with other war crimes related to my service in Iraq. My wife and mother sat in a Camp Lejeune courtroom for five days while prosecutors painted me as a monster; then autopsy evidence blew their case out of the water, and the Marine Corps dropped all charges against me ["Marine Officer Cleared in Killing of Two Iraqis," news story, May 27, 2005]. So I know something about rushing to judgment, which is why I am so disturbed by the remarks of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) regarding the Haditha incident ["Death Toll Rises in Haditha Attack, GOP Leader Says," news story, May 20]. Mr. Murtha said, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." In the United States, we have a civil and military court system that relies on an investigatory and judicial process to make determinations based on evidence. The system is not served by such grand pronouncements of horror and guilt without the accuser even having read the investigative report. Mr. Murtha's position is particularly suspect when he is quoted by news services as saying that the strain of deployment "has caused them [the Marines] to crack in situations like this." Not only is he certain of the Marines' guilt but he claims to know the cause, which he conveniently attributes to a policy he opposes. Members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq need more than Mr. Murtha's pseudo-sympathy. They need leaders to stand with them even in the hardest of times. Let the courts decide if these Marines are guilty. They haven't even been charged with a crime yet, so it is premature to presume their guilt -- unless that presumption is tied to a political motive.
ILARIO PANTANO
Jacksonville, N.C.
The writer served as a Marine enlisted man in the Persian Gulf War and most recently as a platoon commander in Iraq.
Posted by: Chicago Station at May 28, 2006 05:37 PMAmerican they love could have fallen so low.
That's the certain sign that the person is completely ignorant of history. Americans are human, and no human conflict has ever been free of atrocities - you get large groups of humans with the power of life and death put in high pressure situations, and you'll have summary executions and looting and the murder of innocents.
The amazing thing is that it happens so infrequently when it's US troops with the power. The concept of "well behaved troops" is almost an impossibility. Strictly disciplined troops, sometimes historically; but well behaved troops? In any other time or place? It's laughable...as though our army is somehow less honorable than it's been in the past - just crazy.
Posted by: Ethan Hahn at May 28, 2006 06:46 PMThe paradoxical aim of any military is to help men wreak death and havoc (hopefully with enthusiasm, dash, creativity and no squeamishness) and at the same time keep them "law abiding." There is no complete solution this problem, but anyone who pokes about in odd corners of military history knows that we are doing much better at this now than ever before.
I remember reading a story about the famous Marine general Chesty Puller. During the Korean war a chaplain was escorting three prisoners to the rear. He encountered a young private bringing ammo to the front. He ordered the man to drop his task and deal with the prisoners. The guy immediately shot all three, and continued with his job.
The chaplain rushed to Puller in the greatest outrage. Puller listened with deep sympathy, and said he'd take care of the matter. Then after the chaplain left he suggested they give the young man a BAR and send him to the front...
Posted by: John Weidner at May 28, 2006 09:17 PM
