An Inappropriate Memorial
It appears that several Marines may have, if news reports citing un-named sources are accurate, committed an atrocity of major proportions in Haditha.
And while the investigation has apparently dragged on for a lot longer than most would like to see, the military seems as if they are trying to prepare us for the unfortunate truth in the matter. Just last week the Marine Corps’ top officer, Gen. Michael Hagee, began a speaking tour in Iraq, warning soldiers not to become callous towards the taking of a human life.
Many do not know the facts behind the incident at Haditha. According to several American news agencies, including Time magazine and ABC News, the incident began with an IED explosion that was said to have “ripped [a Marine] in half.” That is said to have led to surviving Marines attacking an approaching taxi and then raiding several nearby houses that some Marines claimed they had taken fire from. By the end of the night, 24 Iraqis lay dead — many of them children, and if reports are correct, all of them unarmed.
The Marines in question have been suspended and an investigation is wrapping up. There appears to be due process. And that’s what makes Pennsylvania Representative John Murtha’s statements last Sunday on national television stick in the craw of many conservative commentators. This is right up their alley. Here you have a liberal, criticizing the troops, flinging out words like “cold blood.” It’s too much to pass up.
But last Monday was Memorial Day. For too many people, it’s just another holiday, another excuse to take a swim. I’m no innocent there — my column last week was about barbecuing. Perhaps realizing this, my wife and I stopped by the Rosedale Memorial Arch on Monday to observe the occasion.
The arch was built, as best I can tell, after WWII by the citizens of Rosedale. It’s a beautiful monument, perched on a hill, overlooking I-35 and Southwest Boulevard, a glorious view of the Kansas City skyline in the distance. On Monday, there was nobody there, save for a jogger and two people eating McDonald’s. The grass wasn’t even cut. That struck me. On Memorial Day, nobody remembered to at least cut the grass around the memorial.
But the day before, an American congressman was on national television, saying that our soldiers had killed people in cold blood before there were even any charges filed against them.
On Tuesday, ABC’s Charles Gibson pressed him further. What did Murtha know exactly, that would lead him to say these things before a trial, in the middle of an investigation?
“I can only tell you this, Charles,” he responded. “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.”
“The commandant told you that this was a case of murder?” Gibson asked.
“Charlie, don’t mince words here,” Murtha shouted back. “The commandant said it was a very serious incident. He was not going to tell me it was murder, but everything looked to him just like it looks to me. He didn’t say that in so many words, but he told me exactly what happened.”
John Murtha served this country during war time and he has had the temerity to speak his mind and fight for what he believes to be right when it comes to the war on terror. He has visited the hospitals. He has seen the suffering. He has endured the insults from those who haven’t served. He has walked the walk in that regard.
But for a congressman to say what he said, to do what he did to those serving in Iraq, fighting for our country, to put them all under the same umbrella the day before and after what used to be a sacred holiday in this country is shameful. Maybe as a soldier and perhaps as an individual, Murtha is a great man — I really don’t know. But as a United States congressman he is an absolute disgrace.
Memorial Day was set aside to be a day of mourning and gratitude for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. It was never supposed to be about appearing on morning news shows and grandstanding.
Hopefully the voters won’t forget either.