— On Dec. 18, Tribune-Democrat Editor Chip Minemyer called for someone in our military to step forward and acknowledge that “Murtha got it right” on Haditha.

He cites a New York Times report that classified documents found on an abandoned base in Iraq “support assertions by the late congressman that Marines – stressed to the breaking point by the nature of that conflict  – killed 24 people, including women and children, on Nov. 19, 2005.”

Mr. Minemyer is dead wrong. The only fact in his assertion that the documents confirm is that 24 people, including women and children, were killed in a combat engagement on that day.

A review of the documents on the Times website reveals there is absolutely nothing to support the late congressman’s repeated and breathless assertions that Marines “murdered innocent civilians in cold blood” – long before the investigation was completed. 

But the interviews with members of the chain-of-command – which the Times did publish – do confirm what I asserted throughout my campaigns against John Murtha:

That there was a continuing and concerted effort on the part of the Islamic insurgents to create a My Lai-type incident as part of their information operations (called “IO” by Marines interviewed) at the height of the war in Iraq. 

The interviews also document the Marines’ frustration with the number of civilian casualties and confirm the efforts of the enemy to put civilians in harm’s way, in order to have civilian casualties that could be photographed and displayed in both the United States and the Middle East to discredit the American war effort. 

The true effects of Murtha’s comments were characterized in my interview on Fox News’ “Happening Now” on April 8, 2008 (posted on YouTube):

“… when he threw the Haditha Marines under the bus, he put the United States Congress’ ‘stamp of approval’ on enemy propaganda. And certainly John Murtha, of all people, should understand this. 

“Having served as an intelligence officer in Vietnam, he should understand enemy propaganda; as a savvy politician, he should understand propaganda … and when he takes the enemy’s story, puts it out as the gospel truth, accuses our Marines of ‘cold-blooded murder,’ he has reinforced their message on the Arab street and undermined the support for the troops at home.”

This interview put the lock on Murtha’s political cage; it  was created by the candidacy of an Iraq War veteran for his seat. He remained silent in the public debate on the Iraq War issue – until his last interview with The Tribune-Democrat the week before his death in February 2010.

The incidents at Haditha occurred at a time and place where the insurgents were pursuing a strategy that included the tactic of using human shields in the cross-fire between themselves and U.S. forces. 

It remains a terrible tragedy that approximately half of the Iraqis who were killed in that firefight were innocents who were inserted into the cross fire by the insurgents. 

Whether they died as a result of insurgent gunfire or U.S. gunfire is irrelevant. The innocents died because the insurgents had a tactic of using human shields while trying to kill Americans, in order to cause civilian deaths and produce the kind of propaganda Murtha endorsed. 

The fact also remains that seven of the eight Haditha Marines were not only found “not guilty,” but they have been fully exonerated.

In the case of Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt (one of Murtha’s own constituents), he was found to have conducted himself to the highest standards of the Corps for a Marine in combat. 

The eighth Haditha Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is still awaiting trial. The politically appointed leadership at the Department of Defense will not dismiss the charges against Sgt. Wuterich because of the political liability to the current administration. 

Highly ironic, given that even John Hugya, Murtha’s former chief of staff, has acknowledged that Murtha got it wrong by calling for Wuterich to be exonerated last October.

Also ironic, is the Obama administration stating that one of the major issues preventing the United States from maintaining a presence in Iraq was the Iraqi refusal to allow American forces to maintain immunity from Iraqi law.

The major issue raised by the Iraqis: Haditha.

After all, how could they trust America’s military court system when it acquitted seven Marines whom a senior U.S. congressman and military veteran had already    pronounced as guilty of murder? 

The strategic military and economic vulnerabilities created by our abrupt and poorly planned withdrawal from Iraq all have a direct cause that can be attributed to Murtha. 

In spite of the evidence that he was wrong while he was alive, Murtha never apologized to the Marines he falsely accused, and went to his grave defiant and unapologetic. 

This is, and should remain, his legacy.

Minemyer’s suggestion to rehabilitate Murtha’s reputation by having the Department of Defense say “Murtha was right about Haditha” would only smear, denigrate and insult the brave sacrifices of the men and women who gave their lives and limbs in their service to this nation in Iraq. 


William T. Russell is a former Republican candidate for the 12th Congressional District seat formerly held by John Murtha. He is an internationally published columnist and has been a featured guest on a number of national television and radio news shows. He is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and veteran of Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the Balkans. He and his wife, Kasia, were both in the Pentagon on 9/11.