Redstate

By streiff Posted in War — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Ever since Representative John Murtha took on the role of judge and jury earlier in the year proclaiming Marines at Haditha were guilty of murder in “cold blood” murder the story has become shakier. First, the Commandant of the Marine Corps contradicted Murtha’s assertion that General Hagee was the source for the story. This seems likely as Hagee met with Murtha a week after Murtha made his accusations.

Then sources friendly to the slandered Marines have begun to leak documents to the Washington Post resulting in a series of stories which provide a set of facts much more complicated than Murtha’s simple and simplistic narrative (see here | here | here). Today another shoe drops when we learn that contemporaneously with the Haditha incident, the squad leader most heavily libeled by Murtha, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, was recommended for a decoration for valor.

Read on.

The platoon commander for the squad of Marines who killed as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians during an attack in Haditha last year recommended later that the sergeant who led the attack receive a medal for his heroism that day, according to military documents.

Lt. William T. Kallop wrote in a praise-filled memo that the incident on Nov. 19, 2005, was part of a complex insurgent ambush that included a powerful roadside bomb followed by a high volume of automatic-weapons fire from several houses in the neighborhood. He lauded Sgt. Frank Wuterich for his leadership in the "counterattack" on three houses while the unit received sporadic enemy fire.
…
[Lieutenant William T.] Kallop described the response to the bomb attack as successful, largely because it led to the arrest of 18 people, which in turn led to the capture of more insurgents who were "complicit in the ambush."

There are several significant things this award recommendation tells us. First, it documents that the unit believed it had come under a coordinated attack in Haditha. Second, it seems to demonstrate that far from covering up the incident that the platoon leader was pleased with the performance of that squad during the fight. Third, it bolsters the credibility of the statement by the battalion commander and a Marine civil affairs noncommissioned officer that the action was unremarkable.

The Washington Post writer notes:

While it is possible that the Marines concocted a story after the shootings, Kallop's recommendation and the fitness report were completed in January, weeks after the incident but months before a criminal investigation was launched in March. Senior officials have said an investigation looking into command responsibility has concluded that officers should have been more diligent in investigating the shootings.

Indeed, and it also be counterintuitive to draw attention to a massacre by recommending the lead perpetrator for a decoration for the action.

More and more Haditha is looking to turn out as predicted, a tragedy, a terrible loss of innocent life, but not an instance of a unit running amok and committing “cold blooded” murder.

Even Human Rights Watch seems to be shuffling towards the exit:

John Sifton, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said there is no doubt that civilians were killed in Haditha and that the real question is whether the shootings were accidental or intentional. He said Kallop's account notably does not describe the civilian deaths.

He’s right in all regards. There is no doubt that civilians were killed at Haditha because the Marines paid compensation to the families of civilians who were determined to be caught in the crossfire while they denied compensation to the families of those they deemed to be enemy combatants. Yes, the question was and is the degree to which the killings were accidental or intentional. That is the question we’ve asked here on RedState from the beginning, but a question that apparently has never occurred to Murtha and his acolytes. And yes, unsurprisingly, Kallop does not talk about the civilians because what we have is not his “account” but rather a recommendation for a decoration for Staff Sergeant Wuterich for bravery under fire. It is Wuterich’s actions which are described it is not an after action report on the battle.

Finally, I’d like to draw attention to my recent story on the coming attack on the military justice system and this statement by the toad from Human Rights Watch:

"The issue is not solely Haditha; it's whether the military has the ability to police itself."

One can only suppose this question is based on the inability of the military to scapegoat enough soldiers and marines to satisfy him.