Murtha: Marines killed civilians

Salon by Michael Scherer, Mark Benjamin | May. 18, 2006 (News Report)

A senior House Democrat with close ties to the military claimed Wednesday that U.S. Marines wantonly killed innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, in an early morning raid last November, buttressing a March report by Time.

"Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," said Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam and is among ... Full Story »

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by Douglas Sherman - Oct. 1, 2008

An important story, but so sketchily told. Sources comprise Rep. Murtha's remarks at his press conference, a "no-comment" from the military, a recap of part of a Time story, and a generalization from a Vietnam vet. There's also an unsourced statement that three officers were relieved of command. And I should mention the wanton use of the word "wantonly," as another reviewer noted. Apparently, the writers want us to see this incident as a Vietnam-style atrocity of major significance, and perhaps it is, but I'd like to see more evidence.