My Take on Haditha

I have waited to say anything about Haditha until more information became available. Unlike those in the MSM and I'm sad to say, many of my left-leaning friends, I do believe in "inoocent before proven guilty" as well as substantive due process of law. I have to admit that I am biased. Understanding urban warfare as I do, I'm greatly inclined to side with the Marines in question. I don't do so blindly but out of experience.

I've been blown away at how eager some people seem to condemn these young men. It's not surprising given the one-sided treatment by the MSM. The numbers are staggering. According the Media Research Center, from 17 May to 7 June, 2006, the Big 3 aired 99 stories (3.5 hours of negative coverage) about the Marines and Haditha. Conversely from September 2001 to June 2006, the same media only aired 52 minutes of positive military coverage. And this seems par for the course.

I see two major reasons for this neither of which are treasonous. First, the MSM, overwhelming staffed by liberals and Democrats, hate President Bush so much that they will focus on anything to make him and the Republican party look bad. The Marines in this case are just a means to an ends. Sadly, I tend to believe in this analysis. The rule is generally, the farther away you get from the field, the more selfish interests tend to drive people. This is true of CENTCOM and any major command. When lives at stake aren't men that you know, it's easy to see you goals as more important.

But in my kinder moments (unfortunately brief), I think maybe the MSM just doesn't understand the pressure our Marines are under. Maybe they don't get that we are fighting an enemy who uses our very ROE against us and hopes to sap our national will. It has always been funny to me that the more educated a person is, the more likely he is to be manipulated by the cunning. But let's look at the matter directly. Anytime, a Marine enters a house, he is immediately placed in a shoot/no-shoot position. This is different than what cops to everyday because cops generally assume that they will not meet great violence. Otherwise, the call SWAT to the do the entry. Now, your average civilian can tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy in 0.7 seconds. For someone to function effectively in that environment, he has to discriminate and act in hundredths of a second increments. Most people (even Marines) can't do that. It's just not biologically possible. But they still have a job to do so they err on the side of their own safety as every one of us who would condemn these young men would do.

In this specific incident, an IED went off and the Marines took fire from a house. As per SOP, they went to clear the house which involves tossing a couple of frags and then making entry. We might never know if there was an insurgent hiding in that house who took a couple of shots and then bugged out before the Marines made entry, hoping to incite just such an incident. We might never know if any of the people killed were involved. After all a kid or a woman with an rifle can kill you just as dead. Whatever the circumstances, we can be pretty clear that this happened in the rush of combat and the level of violence was appropriate to the perceived threat. Folks have to remember that this is an environment where slow thinking and slow action by any leader often leads to letters that he has to write to parents. Any comparison made to My Lai is just plain poor analysis.

That being said, I think the Officers who tried to cover this incident up should see some major punishment. That's the crime here. In this day and age, our Officers should know that winning the hearts and minds is a major piece on the GWOT. A 19 year-old lance corporal may be forgiven for forgetting this but there's absolutely no excuse for the irresponsible behavior of the Officers. It may have been a momentary loss of judgment which I am loath to bemoan, but several Officers seemed to have agreed to this coverup. That a failure of the chain of command and most importantly, it's a failure to the young men and women who expect their Officers to make the right decision.