Now I have made my views clear on what should happen to those responsible for the incident at Haditha, if media reports are accurate. But I agree very much with the approach advocated by General Peter Pace, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the need for the investigation so be completed and truials to be conducted.

The chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday "it would be premature for me to judge" the outcome of a Pentagon investigation into the killing of as many as a dozen Iraqi civilians by Marines.

But at the same time, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said he believes its critically important to make the point that if certain service members are responsible for an atrocity there, they "have not performed their duty the way that 99.9 percent of their fellow Marines have."

Interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show" as the nation observed Memorial Day honoring men and women lost in war, Pace pledged that "we'll get to the bottom of the investigation and take the appropriate action."

On the other hand, John Murtha is crying crocodile tears about the incident undermining the war effort.

Murtha, a former Marine and a prominent critic of Bush administration policies in Iraq, repeated his view that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily and needs political solutions, which he said were damaged by such incidents involving the U.S.

"This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people," he said. "And we're set back every time something like this happens. This is worse than Abu Ghraib."

Good grief! He sounds like an old whore decrying the loose sexual morality of today's women. He has been undermining the war effort for months, and did so again yesterday -- but he expresses concern that the incident could hurt our nation's work in Iraq!

And, of course, he indicts the very folks who are investigating the incident for covering it up -- I guess he wanted summary court martials without investigations or the opportunity for the accused to defend themselves. In other words, he favors less due process for our troops than he does for those who fight against them. Just standard political talking-points for the anti-American Left.

Let the process work, Congressman -- we can have any necessary firing squads after a thorough investigation and full and fair trials for those accused. In the mean time, shut up -- because right now you are doing as much to undermine our troops and their mission this Memorial Day as anything that happened in Haditha.

UPDATE: How about if we let a Marine who has served on the front lines in Iraq and faced false charges speak to this issue.

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.

But then again, when has the Left ever let little matters like guilt, innocence, or trials get in the way of their propaganda points?

OPEN TRACKBACKING TO: Conservative Cat, Sed Vitae, Mark My Words, Stop the ACLU, Stuck on Stupid, Basil's Blog, Committe of Correspondence, NIF, Right Wing Nation

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