The same network newscasts that hyped the 2005 "alleged massacre" by U.S. soldiers in Haditha are so far ignoring the acquittal on all charges of Lieutenant Andrew Grayson on Thursday. Grayson was accused of attempting to cover up details of the events surrounding a raid that lead to the death of 15 Iraqis. However, Grayson's acquittal was skipped by ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show. (CNN's "American Morning" covered the story only as a news brief.)
In contrast, the morning shows seemed much more interested in the subject back when dark allegations were made about the actions of U.S. solders in Haditha. On Memorial Day 2006, then-GMA host Charles Gibson intoned, "America honors its fallen war heroes, but troubling new information about Marine misconduct in Iraq. A new eyewitness on what could be a mass murder of civilians. Was there a cover-up?" On the March 20, 2006, "Nightly News," host Brian Williams touted the "disturbing new allegations" made by Congressman John Murtha about Haditha. (It should be noted that, so far, five of the eight originally charged with murder or cover-up have been acquitted.) On May 25, 2006, referencing the massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in 1968, "Nightline" host Terry Moran speculated, "Will Haditha be the My Lai of the Middle East?" On June 7 of that year, reporter Andrea Mitchell opined on "Today" that Haditha was a "black eye for American policy."
A 2006 MRC study of how CNN, MSNBC and Fox News covered Iraq found that CNN and MSNBC were much more likely to focus on the negative, such as incidents like Haditha:
CNN and MSNBC’s coverage took on the characteristics of a feeding frenzy, with the U.S. troops presumed guilty. CNN anchor Tony Harris echoed Murtha’s inflammatory charges during a May 30 report: "Men, women and children, gunned down in cold blood. That’s the allegation....U.S. Marines are suspected of killing two dozen unarmed civilians, accusations of a cover-up also a part of the mix. Democratic Congressman John Murtha has been briefed on what happened....Murtha calls the alleged atrocity as bad as the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, if not worse."
Three days later, CNN’s John Vause extended the indictment to all U.S. troops, not just the few being investigated regarding Haditha: "There is a perception that U.S. forces are brutal and are, at times, trigger happy."
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.
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NB has been on this from
June 5, 2008 - 16:55 ET by motherbeltNB has been on this from the beginning
Here is Murtha, the loudest accuser, running away from his statement:
I wonder what he has to say now?
I have the same question
June 5, 2008 - 16:58 ET by ChiefE9When will Murtha apologize? He had them guilty before the trial.
Being a holier-than-thou
June 5, 2008 - 18:37 ET by Chris NormanBeing a holier-than-thou liberal means never having to say you're sorry. Besides, it was just a US Marine, it wasn't like Murtha was accusing a foreign terrorist of murder...
Isn't Murtha a
June 5, 2008 - 18:45 ET by red_dragon311Isn't Murtha a Marine, I use "isn't" because you never stop being a Marine.
Jack "Lard-Ass" Murtha , Douche
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Gerald Ford
You know, red...If he was
June 5, 2008 - 19:48 ET by motherbeltYou know, red...If he was (and I say was) I think with that slander of his, he tore up his Marine card. I think they would happily cut him loose and disown him.
The facts don't even register with him...he looks completely lost. Jason keeps saying the charges are being dropped and Murtha says 3 different times that "the trial is still going on."
Update:
This is from Michelle Malkin's posting on this subject:
Gary Gross, who has followed the case from day one, writes:
It’s disgusting that these Marines were wrongly accused. It’s obvious that this was a corrupt prosecution that wouldn’t have happened if not for Murtha’s unfounded accusations. He’s one of the most vile, despicable exuses for a human being I’ve ever seen, ranking only a few paces ahead of Judas Iscariot of thirty pieces of silver fame.
Once Sgt. Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Cjhessani are acquitted, I will demand a full apology from Rep. Murtha. This blog’s followers know that I called Murtha’s DC office to get his statement after the charges against Justin Sharratt were dropped in july, 2007. Here’s what Brit Hume said about my call on that day’s Political Grapevine:
Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha refused to comment today when asked by Gary Gross of the Let Freedom Ring blog for a reaction to Colonel Ware’s recommendation. You’ll recall that Murtha has said the Marines “overreacted” and “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” But today his office said he would not comment because the investigation is ongoing.
Rep. Murtha won’t be able to hide behind that excuse much longer. When Col. Chessani and SSgt. Wuterich are acquitted, I’ll place that call again. When I call again, I will demand that they fully apologize for Rep. Murtha’s despicable accusations.
That day is coming soon.
I hope so. Murtha deserves to be publicly humiliated after publicly humiliating those Marines and their families unjustly.
And to paraphrase Natalie Main: A lot of us are ashamed that Murtha is from Pennsylvania.
agenda
June 5, 2008 - 17:03 ET by Jerry MackThis is not news or worthy of coverage by the msm because it does not fit their agenda of support for the Dimocrat party.
Does anyone know if the FOX
June 5, 2008 - 18:54 ET by the curatorDoes anyone know if the FOX morning show covered the story?
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building."
-George W. Bush, October 11, 2000
This is one subject I have
June 5, 2008 - 17:03 ET by bigtimerThis is one subject I have been infuriated by for a very long time...posted as such too here over time.
The msm tells us all we need to know about being the enemy within during a time of war....
Murtha is past sickening...and where oh where is Kerry's apology too...along with tons of others who stood on the floor and on different talking head shows putting down our military before knowing or caring what they were talking about, as long as it fits their agenda that is all that matters.
Period.
Treasonous as far as I am concerned, always has been.
They should all be on their knees thanking our military for keeping their freedom of speech to spew their leftist BS daily to Americans with the obvious intentions of turning people against this WOT and Pres. Bush...
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
I'll say it again...
June 5, 2008 - 17:09 ET by mattmThey need to be sued.
"NEVER APOLOGIZE, NEVER EXPLAIN"
June 5, 2008 - 18:36 ET by w0tmBritish P.M. Benjamin Disraeli: "NEVER APOLOGIZE, NEVER EXPLAIN" is one of the points of the true platform of all liberals. To that, you might add "NEVER FORGET, NEVER FORGIVE, ALWAYS ATTACK".
#2 on the permanent liberal platform is from Joseph Lenin, "A LIE TOLD OFTEN ENOUGH BECOMES THE TRUTH".
IF Armageddon does strike in November be ready for these and dozens of other mindless but deadly propaganda chants to become open and mainstream. The mantras of 1984 came out of hiding and became tyrannical rule as soon as the "Dark Side" attained "Ultimate Power". Why have the power if you don't use it?
Expect a "FIRST 90 DAYS" that will completely take our liberties and freedoms and permanently enslave us. There will be nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide. There will be countless millions who will protest saying "I don't want THIS, THIS is not what THEY promised". Too little, too late.
It's not the upcoming success of the tyrants and demagogues that so surprises me. They exist in every society always ready to take ultimate power. It's the vast number of mindless lemmings among us that leaves me speechless.
Timothy Leary was right when he commanded the anarchists at the 1968 DNC convention when he said "we don't have to win everything to attain total power; we only need to take over the schools, the judiciary and the media. Return to school and become teachers, judges and journalists. In 40 years you will attain the power you cannot attain with violence alone."
Little noticed at the time, I saved the quote believing he correctly saw the future. He did.
It should have said
June 5, 2008 - 19:11 ET by wizardjrBack at the start of this mess, if the MSM was by, of, and for Americans the story line from the news mumblers would have gone like this:
"Good evening. Today, known liars and truth benders in Iraq have made outrageous allegations concerning the deaths of a number of Iraqis at Haditha. Our military commanders tell us that a number of Iraqis were killed when a terrorist set off an IED and then some more were righteously killed when they fired upon our wonderful US Marines. The Pentagon says it will, as usual, fully investigate the incident and report the results up the chain of command. <pause> Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear a round of applause for our Marines for killing off some more of the human garbage in Iraq."
If you want a
June 5, 2008 - 19:25 ET by the curatorIf you want a state-controlled media, North Korea or China would be glad to have you.
If you want a free and unabaited press which can explore issues vital to the public (including political and unfortunatley sometimes military corruption) then be proud that you're an American. I am.
That said, people being exonerated from the Haditha incident deserve to have their names cleared publicly.
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building."
-George W. Bush, October 11, 2000
A Trolling We Will Go
June 5, 2008 - 21:18 ET by acumen"If you want a free and unabaited press which can explore issues vital to the public (including political and unfortunatley sometimes military corruption) then be proud that you're an American. I am."
How about a press that simply reports the news without the bias as admitted here, here, here, here, here, etc, etc? Would that not make you an even prouder American?
If you are content with a biased press then Russia would be glad to have you.
BTW - - "What does unabaited" mean? When someone forgets to put bait on their fishing hook? -- Clem, you ain't gotten' a bite all day. Ya' think your line is unabaited?
In an attempt to be compassionate I understand how someone that appears to engage in trolling might instinctively type 'bait' instead of 'bate'.
it is state controlled
June 6, 2008 - 18:39 ET by wizardjrOur media is controlled by a state of insanity. They refuse to be confused by facts unless the 'facts' are presented by America haters and known liars.
Story after story after story turns out to be untrue, badly misrepresented, or stolen (plagarized) from someone else. There was minimal to zero fact checking on this, particularly when Murtha jumped in and convicted these guys in the press. This was going to be the Iraq war's Mai Lai Massacre. I'll bet several jounalists actually wet their pants when this story started breaking.
I'll settle for fact checked news reporters. Journalists are the scum of the earth. They push a story line whether or not it is the real story. Shame, shame, shame.
Islamic extremists picked this battlefield
June 6, 2008 - 02:20 ET by JWFIslamic extremists set off an ied, a bomb, under a vehicle in a U.S. convoy, in the middle of a civilian housing subdivision. They then used the cover of civilian housing to fire on other vehicles in the convoy. In the ensuing firefight, some civilians were killed by our guys while clearing out the houses.
These were young marines doing thier job, they did not pick this battlefield, the extremists did. Now the thanks they get is a multiyear investigation, with many of them facing serious charges that involve lengthy jail sentences.
They are not paid very well, so they can't afford much in the way of lawyers. The charges against them came with the full weight of the United States government backed loudly by U.S. congressmen. This is as heavy as it gets.
And now, one by one, they are being exonerated. We owe these men something, their lives have been destroyed. PTSD would be a welcome thing for them at this point.
A very public, very woeful apology from a certain U.S Representative would be a start.
Haditha
June 7, 2008 - 06:43 ET by claspurJohn Landeker is on WLSam Chicago right now(5-8amc.s.t.)....flood his lines to get this out over Chicago anyway.
I don't understand. They
June 7, 2008 - 08:08 ET by Jack BauerI don't understand. They support the troops, right?
Oh I get it...