Pragmatic Speak

No charges have been filed, and no one has been proven guilty of anything, yet the media feeding frenzy is escalating and the US Marines, especially those in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, are the main course.

Accusations have been made and multiple investigations are underway – but no facts have been officially released. So tell me why the hell our Marines are being ASSUMED GUILTY and condemned in the press, and by the politicians. What happened to assumed innocent until proven guilty? Does that somehow NOT apply to our soldiers risking their lives in Iraq?

Bad things can sometimes happen under the stress of combat conditions. I’m not saying something bad did happen, or didn’t happen in Haditha, Iraq – I’m just saying I’m disgusted by the immediate assumption that it did and that our Marines are guilty. They, and every American soldier serving anywhere in the world, deserve to be treated better than that.

Look at the news coverage – do you see fair and balanced coverage of these allegations? And what’s with all these “leaks” of tantalizing pieces of speculation and suspicion? If this kind of crap happened here in the US during a criminal prosecution the Judge would be signing a “gag order” and the defense team complaining that all these leaks by the prosecutor’s office were biasing the case against their clients. The American Justice System wouldn’t allow the rights of the accused to be undermined in this manner.

What bothers me is that in monitoring all the news coverage about this I see some nice-nice words like “allowing the investigation to play-out before reaching any conclusions“, of “if these allegations are true it would mean…“, but they are BURIED among comment after comment that presumes GUILT. And it was nearly impossible to find someone expressing any “doubts” about the accusations that have been made.

Here’s one example of a politician basically saying the Marines are guilty. Lawyer: Pentagon Probe of Iraqi Civilian Deaths Not Focusing on Marine Officers (from Fox News). Check out the quote from Rep. John Murtha – now that’s a presumption of guilt if I’ve ever heard one.

The details of what happened in Haditha are still murky. What is known is that a bomb rocked a military convoy and left one Marine dead. Marines then shot and killed unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene and went into two homes and shot other people, according to Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated war veteran who has been briefed by military officials.

I think I’m actually more disturbed by the coverage this incident is receiving, and the presumed guilt of our soldiers and the harm that’s doing to the families of these soldiers, and to our reputation as a Country, than I am about the alleged incident in question. Don’t get me wrong, the deliberate killing of innocent civilians during war is wrong and something that cannot be allowed. If it happened and can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, those responsible should be punished. But until the accused get a fair and unbiased trial, I assume they are innocent – why don’t the press and our politicians?

I guess I’m taking a different approach to all this, and have a lot of questions that aren’t being answered:

• If the polls are right and so many Iraqis hate us, tell me again why the “allegations” made by these so-called witnesses aren’t being questioned?
• Why are no alternate scenarios being debated? Could it be that an insurgent fired on the Marines from inside or near one of those houses and the Marines returned fire in self-defense? Maybe that’s what started it and the civilians got caught in the cross-fire? That’s certainly a believable scenario in my mind – and at least a possibility worth considering.
• Why isn’t the Marine chain-of-command defending their soldiers more adamantly? Why aren’t THEY demanding that their soldiers be considered innocent until proven guilty?
• If the Iraqi victims did die from bullet wounds caused by American rounds, is it not possible this was staged to discredit the US? The news report last night indicated they have no forensic evidence either way actually – all the victims buried before evidence was collected, and the families aren’t allowing the bodies to be exhumed for examination. I’ve seen pictures of insurgents carrying M-16s, so it’s not like this couldn’t be staged.
• Why would these Marines, or any Marines, snap in this particular situation and go on a shooting spree such as the one described? The restraint our solidiers have been showing – avoiding firing until a threatening target is positively identified (while increasing the risk to their own lives in the process)- has been admirable. I want to know what’s different in this alleged incident.
• Who’s leaking all these biased pieces of information – and why aren’t they being pursued vigorously for violating the rights of the accused (our Marines?
• Why aren’t members of the press stepping forward to defend the soldiers they’ve SEEN in the field showing great restraint and risking their lives in the process? I’ve seen a grand total of ONE story that expressed this kind of sentiment. Surely there are more – what’s keeping them silent?
• Why isn’t anyone talking about the stresses of the combat conditions in Iraq as a possible mitigating factor in any incident that MIGHT have happened? Hell, in America there’s always someone trying to conjure up a “not-his-fault” scenario/explanation for crimes.
• Were the delays in “reporting this incident” – and the alleged “cover-up” simply a matter of a routine incident not getting anyone’s attention until an Iraqi lined up the right “stories” and made these allegations? That’s possible, right?

Anyway, I felt I had to write this article to point out how I think our Marines are being unfairly treated. This is America, and if any American deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and to be given the benefit of the doubt, it’s one of our soldiers putting his or her life on the line every day. These Marines are being tried and convicted before the investigations are even completed, and that’s just not right.

Maybe something did happen in Haditha, and/OR maybe the chain of command tried to cover it up because of their paranoia about the media (notice it’s an and/OR situation), or MAYBE something didn’t happen, or what happened WASN‘T as bad as we’ve been told. Lots of maybes here folks – but I choose to focus on the known facts – these are US Marines and they are INNOCENT until proven otherwise.

Update: I’m encouraged that I’m starting to see that I’m not alone in this kind of thinking.