Ghosts of Haditha
Mark Davis:
Dallas Morning news
War critics like Rep. John Murtha even use tragedy to bash our efforts
09:19 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Rep. John Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, spent part of his Memorial Day weekend saying that an alleged Iraq war atrocity may hurt America's war effort.
Well, what do you know? Maybe wishes do come true.
As you are about to discover, I have about had it with Mr. Murtha, who likes to flaunt his military record while abandoning the toughness such experience is supposed to bestow.
As President Bush calls on America to display the resolve and patience that have seen us through other wars, Mr. Murtha has led the pack of braying critics casting negative light on our fighting forces, their mission and their motivation.
He has led the drumbeat for a retreat before the mission is over. He has questioned the readiness and resolve of our armed forces. And now he has a gift-wrapped tragedy ready for exploitation by any other shameless opportunists willing to join him.
It will be awhile before we know whether Marines are guilty in a November slaughter of unarmed Iraqis in the town of Haditha. But this has not stopped Mr. Murtha from savoring every nugget of their possible atrocities.
For many days, he has made himself available to dwell with relish on the details of a horrible day on which it appears U.S. forces may have responded to an IED blast with a wanton, brutal overreaction – a house-to-house killing spree whose victims included women and children.
Anyone with a shred of human decency approaches this with the utmost gravity. Those of us who support the troops and the war they are fighting have a special responsibility not to sugarcoat, minimize or marginalize any wrongdoing by those troops.
But, conversely, those who are exercising their right to speak ill of the war and the Americans fighting it have a responsibility not to allow their anti-war venom to inflame their assessments of bad moments in the war's history.
That track record is forever blemished by the absurd overreaction to Abu Ghraib, a prison scandal that was bad enough if treated objectively. The wheels of justice turned, and prices are being paid for humiliating detainees outside the protocols of interrogation.
But the day Sen. Ted Kennedy equated American misdeeds at that prison with the unspeakable torture that had happened there under Saddam, the reputation of war criticism was deservedly damaged beyond easy repair.
And now we have Mr. Murtha, barely able to contain the spring in his step as he basks in the grisly particulars.
"This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people," he said this weekend. "And we're set back every time something like this happens."
He should know a thing or two about setbacks, having inflicted so many with his own derisive tongue.
Our troops will face PR hurdles when Iraqis ask how a force they are supposed to trust can have bad seeds that create dark chapters like Abu Ghraib and, perhaps, Haditha. But that pales compared to the sucker punch Mr. Murtha delivered to every man and woman in uniform when he said the mission they still believe in is a "flawed policy wrapped in an illusion."
And I think I'd rather explain to Iraqis how we are an army of human beings who may sometimes display tragic flaws than explain how a key congressman – and ex-Marine, remember – could say as he did a few months ago that he would not join today's military, empathizing with those who did not wish to serve.
Well, Semper Fi to you, too, sir.
Those of us who support the war feel real pain at the prospect of even a sliver of its warriors stooping so low. Part of that pain stems from a wish that every American serve nobly. The other part is from the prospect of our talented and committed military's reputation damaged by the acts of so few.
There is none of that sentiment in the finger-pointing of Mr. Murtha and his ilk – only the zealotry that looks for any angle, any story, any tragedy that can make our war effort look so bad that others might join their calls for retreat.
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