Updated: Washington Post adds mention about Murtha's Haditha comments, thanks me for me pointing out omission (see bottom of post).
Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) passed away earlier today, and the Washington Post has already published a 26-paragraph obituary.
Post staffers Martin Weil and Carol Leonnig don't gloss over some of Murtha's political controversies, such as his penchant as a pork barrel appropriator and his role in the Abscam scandal.
Yet oddly enough, Murtha's most profoundly jarring political scandal -- his insulting and untrue smear of U.S. Marines at Haditha as cold-blooded killers -- went unmentioned.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press, for its part, noted the controversy...:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Murtha's criticism of the Iraq war intensified in 2006, when he accused Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" at Haditha, after one Marine died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb.
Critics said Murtha unfairly held the Marines responsible before an investigation was concluded and fueled enemy retaliation. He said that the war couldn't be won militarily and that such incidents dimmed the prospect for a political solution.
...although it failed to mention that the Marine officers charged with a coverup of the supposed massacre have been acquitted.
Update (19:15 EST): The Post tweeted the following from their @PostPolitics account about two hours ago thanking me for noting the omission:
Good point, Ken; thanks for the heads-up. Obit is updated to include mention of "in cold blood" remark. http://ow.ly/15e7M
Below is the paragraph the Post added:
In 2006, he accused Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" at Haditha, after one Marine died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb. Critics said he unfairly held the Marines responsible before an investigation was finished. Eight Marines were originally charged with murder or failing to properly report or investigate the killings. Charges against six were dropped, and one was acquitted. A court martial for sole remaining defendant has not yet scheduled.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters. You can follow him on Twitter here
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What Murtha said about Marines in Iraq...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:50 ET by pantryman...is essentially what he said about 'Nam....the war could not be won militarily....and he was wrong there too.
Murtha was supposed to be a Marine himself, but he surely didn't mind dishing on his brother Marines as 'cold-blooded killers'.
Aahhh, its a pity this POS is dead *wiping away a tear*....
Perhaps he might even come face to face with some of the 1.5 million SE Asians who were butchered after we withdrew - thanks in large measure to this bastard's efforts...oh, and let's not forget the other lying POS bastard -john kerry - who helped also.
Remember in November...this year !
I didn't celebrate when
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:40 ET by Mike SargentI didn't celebrate when Teddy Kennedy died. I was very self-controlled, as you may remember. I didn't celebrate when Michael Jackson died, because I honestly didn't care.
I'm finding it very, very difficult to not break out the Oreos and milk over this one. I know I shouldn't. But dear lord, I hated that man.
I won't actually celebrate, of course. After all, he had to have some people who are mourning him -- and I don't want to be the guy who shows up at the funeral wearing a goofy sombrero.
But oh, how I want to.
CREEPING DEATH...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 19:25 ET by danybhoyI am not going to run around cheering Murtha's death, but I shed no tears for a man who was as corrupt as any politician on Capital Hill. The man was a crook, & he trashed our fighting men & women in Iraq, & for that, he can go to hell.
I will make fun of some of the dead...
As of tomorrow, 2/9/2010, Ted Kennedy will sober for 6 months.
Starting today, John Murtha can longer extort the American people for his own political power. He also NEVER apologized to the Marines he slandered in Haditha, & I don't believe that would have happened if he lived to be 100.
...neither one will be missed, politically speaking.
But I have a question, do they now rename the airport that he got built in Johnstown that was'nt needed to Murtha Mermorial Airport? Just asking...
"Please awake & see the truth, he can only be if you believe what he tells you...Remember who you are, what you stand for...There will always be way"- WITHIN TEMPTATION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fir0Cffv1ng&featured=related
Rename it 'US Marines Memorial Airport'.
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 19:28 ET by TailgunnerCANDIDATE Obama: 'Yes, we CAN'.
PRESIDENT Obama: 'BECAUSE we CAN'.
RE...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 19:44 ET by danybhoyI would just settle for War Memorial or something like that, but you know those who elected this clown to Washington 19 times would put a bronze statue of Murtha someplace at the airport, probably in the terminal, which might be what gets named after him. That would be my guess.
"Please awake & see the truth, he can only be if you believe what he tells you...Remember who you are, what you stand for...There will always be way"- WITHIN TEMPTATION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fir0Cffv1ng&featured=related
Your gracious respect for
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:18 ET by JerYour gracious respect for the dead is indeed commendable.
Jer
JER...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:44 ET by danybhoyActually Jer, Murtha's death politically is what I'm happy about. If that had come in the form of election defeat, fine. If he were ever held to account for his corrupt ways that go way back to the ABSCAM case, & had been put on trial & had to go to prison, thus ending his career, that would have been better. Remember, he was an unindicted coconspirator in that case, & there was more then a bit of a stink because of that.
But lets be honest, the only way Murtha wanted to leave Congress was in a body bag. The saying, "...from my cold dead hands", comes to mind. He's assumed room temp, & now we can move on.
"Please awake & see the truth, he can only be if you believe what he tells you...Remember who you are, what you stand for...There will always be way"- WITHIN TEMPTATION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fir0Cffv1ng&featured=related
Understood.
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:53 ET by JerUnderstood.
If they have earned opprobrium in life---
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 04:43 ET by matthewdeananyone who would venerate them in death is duplicitous.
MD
"Venerating in death" is
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 18:19 ET by Jer"Venerating in death" is not the issue, Matthew...it's more of a "not speaking ill of the dead" thing--a practice that was at one time the basis of much NB self-congratulatory back patting. Apparently another quaint and archaic notion you reject.
Jer
The left has forever lost credibility on this issue. Ask Rush.
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 21:38 ET by TailgunnerRush goes to the hospital with chest pains and the DU and Kos lunatics pray for the 'mother-f****r' to die in agony and burn in hell.
I don't ever again want to hear anyone on the left chastise anyone on respect, restraint, civility or just basic common decency regarding any public, private or political figure.
CANDIDATE Obama: 'Yes, we CAN'.
PRESIDENT Obama: 'BECAUSE we CAN'.
Tailgunner...
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 22:17 ET by JerI understand your point of view. I don't even visit DU, and rarely Kos of late, but checking out some of the comments at the latter site after Rush's hospitalization did reveal a regrettabe number of hateful remarks. However, there were some sympathetic ones--probably a higher per centage of same than posted here after Kennedy's death. And you'll likewise note that HuffPo was omitted from any criticism by NB bloggers due to the fact that the reaction there was largely respectful of Rush. [It appears to me there has been a formal crackdown at HuffPo regarding incivil and hostile comments. Recently, I've noticed scores of conservatives posting there and being generally treated very well.]
In any event, during my first couple of years here, I would frequently encounter observations touting NB's tastefulness and civility in contrast to the vile smears prevalent at lib sites. Is it now the policy to sink to the same levels occupied by the latter? If so, I'm not really objecting to that policy because I understand the motivations for it. I just think it should be acknowledged and all pretense to the contrary be avoided.
Jer
Fair enough. But don't try to claim moral equivalency here.
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 22:40 ET by TailgunnerThe most virulent, obscene, baseless and disgusting pure hatred remains the domain of the extreme, unhinged, lunatic left which all too often finds its way into the mainstream left.
Remember the MSM's deliberate regurgitation of untrue and long-ago disproven remarks never made by Rush which cost him his chance to own a football team?
For the most personal of motives, to deny a private citizen his own version of the 'pursuit of happiness', the media engaged in a gratuitous, false, disingenuous and spiteful campaign to paint Rush as a racist who wanted his own 'plantation'.
Very few political and media figures on the left today can claim innocence.
CANDIDATE Obama: 'Yes, we CAN'.
PRESIDENT Obama: 'BECAUSE we CAN'.
All I'm saying is this: If
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 14:05 ET by Mike SargentAll I'm saying is this: If ever there were a guy who earned the title "Former Marine," it was Murtha.
You Marines know what I'm saying.
Give me the sombrero, Mike---
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:56 ET by matthewdeanI'll go.
Won't fandango for more than, say, twenty minutes.
MD
I know how you feel about Murtha
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 01:26 ET by nkviking75I understand the emotion because I had to slap down that same emotion in myself. Would that the voters in his Pennsylvania district had been the ones to remove him at the ballot box.
It should be remembered that Murtha was a decorated Vietnam war vet and thus deserves some respect, though he did much to erode that respect.
“Always love your country — but never trust your government!" -- Bob Novak (1931-2009)
→ No respect here
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 01:43 ET by Cool ArrowHe went on record to denigrate the names of fellow Marines as murderers.
Obama did the same with the Cambridge police as "acted stupidly".
He's now, like Ted Kennedy, just another "win one for the porker", Democrat Saint.
I'm sure Murtha's got enough thieves and liars to mourn him without me saying a kind word.
Barack Ѡbama - O corpse man, My corpse man
Murtha...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:40 ET by unkeeafMurtha brought a great deal of shame to our soldiers and himself with those comments. To not have included that in the obit seems a purposeful attempt to put a Democrat in a positive light. Granted he just died and you don't want to pile on, but that was a very big part of his record.
------------------------------------------
If You're Tired Of Liberals Shooting Their Mouths Off, You Will Love This:
http://bit.ly/9ZYfDa
He
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:48 ET by UpNorthwon't be missed, except by those that have benefitted from his porky ways. This is the same "military expert" who said that the military could rapidly deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan from Okinawa, if needed. He was the darling of Code Pink and the majority of the anti-military crowd, and he tried very hard to ruin the careers and lives of some good men.
This is Dave not speaking ill of the dead
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:53 ET by R D HelmAnd it's taking every ounce of self-control I can muster, too.
-Dave
Thanks, Obama.
Dave, you're a nice guy.
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:14 ET by ohiochiliI try not to take pleasure at any death, but I also believe that death does not change anybody's character. Murtha was a self-important jack ass.... the fact he no longer breathes does not make him any sweeter.
Just try not to injure your tongue as you bite it or give yourself an ulcer with all that magnificent self-control. Yes, Dave, you are a nicer person than me.
Murtha was not a good man
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:55 ET by ArchConservativeI really do not care if people are going to criticize me for what I am about to write. Sen. Murtha was NO friend to those of us who served. He was an advocate of the enemy we fought (and are still fighting), he made their job much easier to paint us Americans as the bad guys. He was ass-deep in AbScam and was able to weasel his way out of it. He stabbed his fellow Marines in the back and never once apologized and, in Obama-terms, "doubled-down" on his accusations. Him and his (d)emocrat friends did everything they could to destroy the hearts and minds of those here and those in the field. He was reckless, anti-American, and I hope that the people of Pennsylvania give the "Murtha seat" to someone who will actually be respectful to our Armed Forces. We can't afford to elect another one like Murtha who pissed on them every chance he got.
Out.
You support the troops by supporting the mission! If you don't support the mission, have the guts to say you don't support the troops.
Obama: Not my President. Ever.
Facts are facts. Murtha gave aid and comfort to our enemies.
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 18:30 ET by TailgunnerHis politically calculated reckless and irresponsible character assassination of US Marines, on the unproven allegations of Iraqi insurgents, greatly aided al-Qaeda's propaganda campaign.
Murtha's slanders heartened Islamic terrorists and inspired them to commit more acts of murder in the belief they were closer to winning in Iraq.
This is Jack Murtha's eulogy, his epitaph and his legacy.
CANDIDATE Obama: 'Yes, we CAN'.
PRESIDENT Obama: 'BECAUSE we CAN'.
HIS PRIVATE AIRPORT IS NO LONGER NEEDED
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 18:36 ET by ROSSMANMillions of taxpayer $s can now be saved because this Jerk no longer can spend our money. God does wonders for all of us who care. SORRY BUT TRUE!!
Am very, very grateful
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 18:47 ET by BO STINKSthat God decides where one's eternal soul will reside.
If it were up to me... well, let's just say Murtha would be knee-deep in flaming coals and trying to avoid a pitchfork.
"The moment you concede some small point to liberals, they go to work building an enormous elaborate edifice on top of the first lie." ~Ann Coulter
Hope and Change!
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 20:05 ET by PJManHope= that all his deeds will be addressed, hope that he will meet his fellow soldiers that he disgraced in purgatory, before his final judgment, and just from me, I wished that SOB would have died in prison, for treason, bribes, and theft of our tax monies and Constitution. Change= a new Congressman, and hopefully not a sympathy vote for a lib, he was losing all by himself at this point.
I think when Murtha bought
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:03 ET by marpelI think when Murtha bought the ranch, he immediately saw a big red guy with hooved feet and a pitchfork.
How's that workin' out for ya, John?
→ MDW
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:50 ET by Cool ArrowDisgusting old man didn't even rate a NewsBuster sympatico.
At least Teddy had KDW.
Barack Ѡbama - Nero on the Potomac
→ Thanks Jer
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 23:53 ET by Cool ArrowYour gracious respect for the dead is indeed commendable.
I was thinking the same thing.
Barack Ѡbama - Nero on the Potomac
→ They happen in threes
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 00:07 ET by Cool ArrowOK, First Teddy, then Murtha, and I know who the logical 3rd is, but I'll miss neither of these two.
Barack Ѡbama - Nero on the Potomac
PLACE YOUR BETS...
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 07:19 ET by danybhoyKennedy, Murtha, & a 3rd, huh? Robert Byrd, he's about 90, he's in the hospital every 3-4 months, & his past is disgusting. So he's a perfect choice. Besides, I run a Deadpool game with a bunch of friends, & he was my 2nd round pick. (it is like a fantasy football draft)So I already have put my money where my mouth is.
"Please awake & see the truth, he can only be if you believe what he tells you...Remember who you are, what you stand for...There will always be way"- WITHIN TEMPTATION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fir0Cffv1ng&featured=related
Condolences to the Murtha
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 04:02 ET by toneyukiCondolences to the Murtha family.
I left the Republican party because the Republic party went to the LEFT of me.
NEVER!!
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 09:25 ET by jrandallAs a former Marine....you NEVER NEVER bismirch, or criticize or denigrade the service and sacrifice of Marines currently serving in harms way!!! Period!!!
Tw
Tue, 02/09/2010 - 10:50 ET by jessieHTwo down- who's next? Don't know too much about Murtha, just another career polititian.