RE: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,164740,00.html

Going by what the initial investigating officer had stated (and the dropping of the initial charges)this trial will be nothing more then a witch hunt which will hinge more on politics then evidence. Now it's time for the jury and it's its obvious compliment of "honorable" officers to see if they will vote their concience or if they will receive the usual command pressure to vote guilty because they know if they don't their careers will somehow mysteriously grind to a halt. Military Justice or Sacrificial Lambs?

I believe this is a case brought on by over zealous media. Time magazines reporter gathered information from people living in that town, and printed it as truth. These people supported the terrorists who set the road side bomb, and then lied to cover them. These young men were attacked, and then fought back. Its unfortunate that children were killed, but the blame should be on the adults from that town.

This Lance criminal should be exhonerated! However, I agree with Jumpmaztr some how some way they will convict this young fire pisser of something maybe the "catch all" article 134. Hopefully, by the grace of God he will get reinstated with promotions and back pay. If not let this man leave how he came with Honor!

let sleeping dogs lay.....

It's incredible that in the last several hours there have only been 4 people that weighed in on this story. Yesterdays top story of an Admiral getting fired for an 18 year old affair has 15 pages of posting. The admiral will probably be forced to retire and have to some how squeeze by in life with a measley $8000 a month pension. Meanwhile the marine is on trial for his life and nobody gives a *****. Just goes to show you that even military men are caught up more in the Jerry Springer world then the real world. Ain't we phukked up?

The soldier was under fire and clearing the house he had no idea there was childern in the house,if I had to put myself in that position in the heat of the moment to me everyone in that house was combative plus remember most of these houses are dark inside. But this is war and even thow childern get killed insurgents use the inocent to hide bihind. I think the charge of murder should be droped, we could only imagin what went thru this soldiers mind knowing he killed a child.

Yup, rather than yak/kibble/talk/etc. endlessly about this horrible situation, I and some of my buds DONATED to these Marines defense fund.... Need I say more?

quote:

Originally posted by dkc1944:
Yup, rather than yak/kibble/talk/etc. endlessly about this horrible situation, I and some of my buds DONATED to these Marines defense fund.... Need I say more?

Is that the same one Rush suports???

quote:

Originally posted by phillystake:
The soldier was under fire and clearing the house he had no idea there was childern in the house,if I had to put myself in that position in the heat of the moment to me everyone in that house was combative plus remember most of these houses are dark inside. But this is war and even thow childern get killed insurgents use the inocent to hide bihind. I think the charge of murder should be droped, we could only imagin what went thru this soldiers mind knowing he killed a child.

In total agreement with you and the other posters here...

shoot the Time reporter instead...

This case never should have gone beyond an article 32 hearing in my mind. You can't start going after soldiers for situations such as these.

"But a subsequent investigation by Time magazine showed that most of the dead were killed as Marines swept through three houses near the site of the bombing, prompting a wide-ranging internal investigation.”

So now we are relying on Time magazine to investigate war crimes? Oh that really makes me feel warm and fuzzy. This poor kid was put in a horrible situation and those in authority over him are just making it worse by going forward with this trial. Is the trial trying to get to the bottom of what is believed to be an actual war crime(s) or is the trial attempting to placate the media in country? I believe it is the latter --and that includes a much bigger agenda then the Lance Corporal. If LTC Ware is to be believed (and I think he should be over Time magazine for sure) then I don't see how they can continue with the trial.

And why is this story being reported on by Agence France-Presse? Couldn't an American media outlet have covered the story or is it not news worthy enough for them anymore?

What a load of crap!
Some of these idiots who want to prosecute brave young fighting men need to walk a mile in their shoes first. They need to be under fire, clearing a room or house and make those split second decisions.
My experience with clearing a building has only been in training, but even training situations get you pumped up, your heart racing and a extreme case of tunnel vision.
Maybe a day or two in a training facility would give them a little bit of a heads up!

quote:

Originally posted by E5LargeFather:
This Lance criminal should be exhonerated! However, I agree with Jumpmaztr some how some way they will convict this young fire pisser of something maybe the "catch all" article 134. Hopefully, by the grace of God he will get reinstated with promotions and back pay. If not let this man leave how he came with Honor!

Maybe it's time for recalibration on my sarcasm meter, but if you feel he should be exhonerated, why the "Lance criminal" handle?

How does a marine or soldier respond to a given situation depends on how aggressive that situation is.if the individual is a battle hardend veteran.maybe he will hesitate long enough to see what he is engaging and maybe get his self shot ( thats called positive identification)if a person that is not a battle hardened vet. hesitates to identify what is in a (probable a very dark room ) he will defiantly get his self shot. granted it is a horrible thought that two little children were killed.and some one will pay for the mistake made. only lance corporal tatum and god knows whether he did it on purpose. the rest of us will have to judge him on the facts as we see them. just remember this war is h.e.l.l.and we don't always know if we will be comming home walking wounded or in a body bag. I remember thinking about self preservation at various times in my trips to the wild side because you never see the one that gets you.its the people that are not there that think how terrible,how unfeeling,how could you commit something so grogesque. but put them in the same situation see how fast they back water and say I didn't know or couldn't see because it was dark, or I'm sorry I didn't know they were children. if some thing moves you shoot and ask questions later.I found that is the best way to stay alive. I think that if we put a few of those media people out there with a gun in their hands and say cover my back you will find them hiding just like those marines would liked to have done. but no they have to clear the area and secure a preimeter.so that no one else is killed.

What a load of CRAP! We're sending in our fine young marines (trained to kill/not be killed); then telling them that they must wait and verify that they are civilians (who can tell the difference between civilians and terrorists)! Kinda sounds like VN, eh?
THIS IS WAR! It happens! The marine is an honorable man, therefore, exonerate him!

Remember Senator Jack Murtha (former Marine) who got on TV right after the story came out. He said that they were murderers who could not function correctly because of all the pressure they were under. Giant load of crap! These guys are patriotic soldiers who should be reinstated with missed promotions and back pay and whatever else they are due.

quote:

Originally posted by txnationalguard:
Remember Senator Jack Murtha (former Marine) who got on TV right after the story came out. He said that they were murderers who could not function correctly because of all the pressure they were under. Giant load of crap! These guys are patriotic soldiers who should be reinstated with missed promotions and back pay and whatever else they are due.

I'm still waiting for Murtha to appologize as asked...

quote:

Originally posted by TheTinker:

quote:

Originally posted by txnationalguard:
Remember Senator Jack Murtha (former Marine) who got on TV right after the story came out. He said that they were murderers who could not function correctly because of all the pressure they were under. Giant load of crap! These guys are patriotic soldiers who should be reinstated with missed promotions and back pay and whatever else they are due.

I'm still waiting for Murtha to appologize as asked...

I wouldent hold my breath.

I was in Al Anbar province in 2006 serving an Infantry Company. The same situation, like Haditha, happenned to our platoon only no civilians were killed though they could have very easily been shot in the chaos that followed. Don't judge these men till you have been under fire in an area full of civilians or you hit that door after your buddy(s) are dead. Where are the comments from the war hating, liberals vets on this site?
Answer; Just one word; cowards!

Hopefully the real truth will come out whether for the good or the bad. I tend to take what wonderful sources such as "Slime" Magazine and the "USSR" Today say, flip the facts 180 degrees and then have most of the truth, so these guys could be the victims of the media wanting a story about the barbarians that we send to war. I truly hope that is the case. I really hate to see children perish, 10 fold now that I'm a parent (times 3), but the harsh reality of war and life in general outside of the West is that death too often comes early, and I hate to see it sped up by our actions whether in good faith or malicious intent. In summary, I hope for a fair trial that ends in a fair verdict.

I dare say that, if the children had been American citizens, there would be no question about holding the perpetrators responsible in a court of law.

A lot of progress has been made in holding police officers responsible. There is no reason that military personnel should not be held to the same standrards of professionalism.