But I guess not, if it gets in the way of liberal talking points.

After all, why else would the New York Times make so much of this criticism of the chief investigator of the so-called "war crimes" at Haditha -- which now appear to not have been crimes at all.

“When you have an investigating officer like Ware, who says ‘don’t go there if you can’t prove,’” your case, Mr. Solis said, “we’re left with what appear to be very reduced charges.” He added: “He’s aggressive, and he seems to make his judgments without regard for anything but the law. He must know that people — civilians, primarily — are going to howl about this, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern.”

I'm curious why this criticism would be made in the first place by Georgetown Law professor and former marine judge Gary D. Solis. After all, shouldn't the decision to bring or dismiss charges -- as well as the outcome of the case more generally -- be based upon the law and nothing but the law?

Is Mr. Solis suggesting that these trials should move forward anyway, despite the fact that it is obvious that the charges cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt? Does he really believe that we should put these American fighting men through a political show trial to please those who would use that trial to discredit the war? Such a position is disgraceful, and should result in the immediate reexamination of every case that Solis was involved with during his military service to determine whether or not justice was truly done.

And Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware, the investigator, gets it exactly right when he rejects holding such sham proceedings.

In an unusual departure from the analysis of the facts in Lance Corporal Sharratt’s case, Colonel Ware warned that putting marines on trial for murder without having the evidence to prove it could “erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq.”

More than that, it would legitimately call into question the military justice system -- and, for that matter, the entire criminal justice system in the United States. If we are going to begin to hold trials knowing there is insufficient evidence in order to satisfy the political agenda of a screaming mob, then we no longer have a criminal justice system.

Solis should be ashamed of himself -- but he won't be, because he has been pushing a rush to judgment since the Haditha charges were first made -- as should the New York Times, which included his comments in an article intended to sway readers to believe that respecting the due process rights of our servicemen is illegitimate.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:26 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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