[Dean's World] Dave Price: Jumping the Gun in Haditha

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Jumping the Gun in Haditha
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1149258021.shtml


   Well, the press is in full troop-bashing mode, with 90% of Iraq
   coverage now [1]focused on Haditha. And almost to a word, they are
   written on the assumption U.S. Marines have committed an atrocity;
   this before any serious look has been taken at the evidence.
   But there are problems with the narrative. First off, the doctor who
   certified them as being shot is, shall we say, [2]not exactly
   objective. Secondly, the area is rather pro-insurgent, and witnesses
   may not be credible (remember the early reports of the Jenin
   "massacre?"). Third, given that the insurgents commit mass murders on
   a daily basis and understand propaganda, it's not unreasonable to
   think they might have committed the atrocity themselves, then staged
   the area to give the impression it was coalition troops.
   Meanwhile, defense lawyers for troops are requesting drone footage,
   saying it will exonerate them. That doesn't sound like something they
   would do if they thought the evidence would show them committing
   atrocities.
   Does this remind anyone else of the Duke lacrosse team rape case?
   Unreliable witness, exculpatory footage, a media that has already hung
   them...
   At the very least, our troops deserve the benefit of the doubt until
   tried.

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Iraq
   2. http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/haditha-doctor-was-arrested-hates-us-too/