Haditha Marine Cleared
Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum is the third Haditha Marine cleared so far.
“What occurred in house 1 and house 2 are tragedies,†Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware wrote. “The photographs of the victims are heart wrenching, and the desire to explain this tragedy as criminal act and not the result of training and fighting an enemy that hides among innocents is great. However, in the end, my opinion is that there is insufficient evidence for trial. LCpl Tatum shot and killed people in houses 1 and 2, but the reason he did so was because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder.â€
Curt at Flopping Aces has the report, and a flashback.
Speaking of flashback, here’s our interview with Darryl Sharratt, the father of exonerated Haditha Marine Justin Sharratt. He talked about the impact this has had on his family and the conduct of John Murtha, who is the Sharratt’s congressman. It took fifty-three attempts before Murtha returned his call.
Murtha recently crawled out from underneath his rock to blog at the Huffington Post saying the American people will not accept victory, or something.
The media is, what’s the word…IGNORING these exonerations with the same vigor and energy they trumpeted Murtha’s “massacre” charges. In fact, some in the media continue to refer to this episode as the “Haditha massacre”. This is something that infuriates Darryl Sharratt and who could blame him. Words have meaning and a massacre it was not.