The media outlet, known for faux photography, crossed the line again this week with false and biased reporting of the testimony in the Article 32 Hearing for one of the Marines charged in the Haditha incident. Marty Graham is covering Capt Randy Stone's hearing for Reuters. Graham filed two separate stories with Reuters with patently false claims about the testimony of Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz.
In both articles, Graham claimed Sgt. Dela Cruz testified that the 5 Iraqi men, who jumped out of a white car immediately after the IED explosion, were standing with their hands tied behind their backs when they were shot by Sgt. Wuterich. Here's Graham's exact words...
Dela Cruz also said he watched squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot five men whose hands were tied up near a car.
Graham repeated the claim in an article the following day...
In testimony on Wednesday, another Marine said he saw Wuterich shoot and kill five Iraqis whose hands were tied.
Today Reuters issued a correction to Graham's article...
Corrects 5th paragraph to delete word "tied" to make clear hands were held up in the air.
While Reuters deserves credit for issuing the correction, it cannot take back what has already been put into the minds of the public. With their history for bias in their reporting about the Haditha incident, the reporting of the testimony should have been thoroughly vetted. There is no excuse for shoddy journalism or for exaggerating claims against our Marines. It is a tragedy that our soldiers must fight an enemy armed with guns and one armed with words.
