June 14, 2006 -- EDITOR'S NOTE: Ilario Pantano wrote the following letter to The Washington Post (which printed it), but we believe it's of interest to New York Post readers, too.
A year ago I was charged with two counts of premeditated murder and with other war crimes related to my service in Iraq. My wife and mother sat in a Camp Lejeune courtroom for five days while prosecutors painted me as a monster; then autopsy evidence blew their case out of the water, and the Marine Corps dropped all charges against me ["Marine Officer Cleared in Killing of Two Iraqis," Washington Post news story, May 27, 2005].
So I know something about rushing to judgment, which is why I am so disturbed by the remarks of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) regarding the Haditha incident ["Death Toll Rises in Haditha Attack, GOP Leader Says," news story, May 20]. Mr. Murtha said, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
In the United States, we have a civil and military court system that relies on an investigatory and judicial process to make determinations based on evidence. The system is not served by such grand pronouncements of horror and guilt without the accuser even having read the investigative report.
Mr. Murtha's position is particularly suspect when he is quoted by news services as saying that the strain of deployment "has caused them [the Marines] to crack in situations like this." Not only is he certain of the Marines' guilt but he claims to know the cause, which he conveniently attributes to a policy he opposes.
Members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq need more than Mr. Murtha's pseudo-sympathy. They need leaders to stand with them even in the hardest of times. Let the courts decide if these Marines are guilty. They haven't even been charged with a crime yet, so it is premature to presume their guilt - unless that presumption is tied to a political motive.
Ilario Pantano
Jacksonville, N.C.
Where are those superhero do-gooders, the ACLU when you need them. Im sure they just have a very busy case load to be able to defend American soldier's "civil liberties", you know, busy suing The Boy Scouts, removing The Ten Commandments from courthouses, and fighting for the right(s) (to communist party) of terrorists. Seriosly the frickin pinkos at the ACLU are more concerned with whether or not camel bangers in Gitmo are getting their proper reading materials and door mats, yet Marines (who are innocent until proven guilty) are in shackles. That shiite aint right.
Murtha, well, hes just a jackass blame America first surrender prone coward.
2 comments:
Under the UCMJ a charged soldier is GUILTY until proven innocent. As for the ACLU, I didnt see Rush complain when they came to his defence. Also, concerning Gitmo.. We have children incarcerated there. Kids...no charges, no evidence. Many of the people in Gitmo we're "sold" to CIA and "civilian contractors".
You forgot to mention that the ACLU is currently defending the pedophiles being excluded from playgrounds.... or did I miss that?
been MAD busy. Summer!!!!! YEAH!!!!
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