True North

Another Haditha Marine was acquitted Wednesday when a 7 member panel cleared 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson. This is indeed a great day for justice. Here’s what Foxnews.com is reporting:

A military jury acquitted a Marine intelligence officer Wednesday of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis.

Cheers erupted as the seven-officer panel cleared 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who was the first of three Marines to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths linked to the war. The verdict came just five hours after deliberations began. The judge, Maj. Brian E. Kasprzyk, admonished the noisy courtroom, saying: “There will be no more of that.”

Grayson, who has always maintained he did nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.

In May, 2006, John Murtha declared on national TV that eight Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” He said that they’d cracked because they’d been deployed too long. Now that another Haditha Marine has been acquitted or had all charges dropped, it’s safe to say that Rep. Murtha lied for political gain. He said it in his quest to become House Majority Leader.

Congratulations to 1st. Lt. Grayson. I can only imagine the emotion he felt when the verdict was announced. the fact that it only took 5 hours of deliberations speaks for itself as to how straightforward this case was. This case didn’t need deliberations. This case should’ve been dropped after Grayson’s Article 32 hearing.

It’s time that the House to officially reprimand Rep. Murtha for his reprehensible behavior. That won’t happen because Speaker Pelosi will protect ethically-challenged Democrats. She railed about the Republican culture of corruption but it’s batantly obvious that she won’t do anything when it comes to the corrupt members of her caucus.

Yesterday, Democracy Project had this to say about the Grayson case:

In brief, Lt. Grayson is alleged to have wrongfully ordered the destruction of photos of the Iraqi casualties at Haditha, lied to an investigating officer and obstructed the investigation, and improperly been separated from the
service.
The charges were raised at his Article 32 hearing, and from the evidence presented most were surprised that Lt. Grayson was recommended to court martial at all. During the conclusion of the public Article 32 hearing last November, the inspecting officer said:

he has serious doubts over the validity of criminal charges filed against a Marine lieutenant in the aftermath of the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians two
years ago.
The hearing officer, Col. Robert Stahlman, said that if 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was guilty of dereliction of duty for not ordering an investigation into the slayings, numerous other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment command staff should have been similarly charged.

It speaks volumes that the hearing officer was surprised that a court-martial was even ordered for Lt. Grayson. The verdict indicates that Col. Stahlman’s first impression was right.

It’s disgusting that these Marines were wrongly accused. It’s obvious that this was a corrupt prosecution that wouldn’t have happened if not for Murtha’s unfounded accusations. He’s one of the most vile, despicable exuses for a human being I’ve ever seen, ranking only a few paces ahead of Judas Iscariot of thirty pieces of silver fame.

Once Sgt. Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Cjhessani are acquitted, I will demand a full apology from Rep. Murtha. This blog’s followers know that I called Murtha’s DC office to get his statement after the charges against Justin Sharratt were dropped in july, 2007. Here’s what Brit Hume said about my call on that day’s Political Grapevine:

Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha refused to comment today when asked by Gary Gross of the Let Freedom Ring blog for a reaction to Colonel Ware’s recommendation. You’ll recall that Murtha has said the Marines “overreacted” and “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” But today his office said he would not comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Rep. Murtha won’t be able to hide behind that excuse much longer. When Col. Chessani and SSgt. Wuterich are acquitted, I’ll place that call again. When I call again, I will demand that they fully apologize for Rep. Murtha’s despicable accusations.

That day is coming soon.

UPDATE: Kevin at PRR is all over this acquittal, as are Captain Ed at Hot Air and Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.

Kevin’s post is full of podcasts from interviewing people like Justin and Darryl Sharratt, including Justin’s first radio interview of the matter and the podcast of Darryl talking about how it took FIFTY CALLS to Murtha’s office to get any sort of response. Remember that Rep. Murtha is the Sharratt’s representative in the US House of Representatives.

Jim is right in calling for Sen. Obama to apologize to the haditha Marines, especially since he rendered his opinion based solely on trusting John Murtha.

Ed is right in saying that “the JAGs did not have the evidence necessary to support these charges against the majority of the Marines in question.” Exactly right, Ed. Exactly right.

PS- Welcome PRR and Hot Air readers. Check back later today when I put together a comprehensive timeline on all of this. Yes, a more comprehensive timeline than even this one.

UPDATE II: Welcome Michelle Malkin readers.

Let me just say emphatically that it’s astonishing that corruption and uneithical behavior just isn’t a priority with Ms. Pelosi now that it’s people in her party that are acting reprehensively.

UPDATE III: The AP’s Chelsea Carter is reporting on the case, too. Here’s what Ms. Carter is reporting:

A Marine intelligence officer accused of trying to cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis appeared stunned at first when a jury acquitted him of the charges.

For more than two years, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson had been under suspicion, accused of ordering the destruction of evidence in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths to come out of the war.

“I didn’t really believe it was going to end until they said not guilty,” Grayson said in his first public comments following the verdict. “The case was so volatile, you didn’t know which way it was going to go.”

It’s understandable that Lt. Grayson felt that way considering he shouldn’t have been charged in the first place.

Acquittals for SSgt. Wuterich and Col. Jeffrey Chessani are all that’s necessary to end the Haditha Marines’ surreal experience within the military’s justice system. Yes, I use the term military justice system loosely.

Rep. Murtha should be put back into active duty so he can be tried for exerting undue command influence on the investigation.

Here’s the most noteworthy thing Ms. Carter reported:

Grayson’s attorney, Joseph Casas, said he believed the verdict would influence pending prosecutions.

“I think it sets the tone for the overall whirlwind Haditha has been. It’s been a botched investigation from the get-go,” he said. “I believe in the end all of the so-called Haditha Marines who still have to face trial will be exonerated.”

Prosecutors said Grayson, whose job was to analyze intelligence, ordered the photos deleted in an effort to protect the Marines.

But outside the courtroom, Grayson said the charges appear to be the result of a misunderstanding. He has always maintained he was following Marine Corps policy that prohibits the keeping of pictures on personal computers of Iraqi bodies.

I agree with Mr. Casas that this verdict would impact SSgt. Wuterich’s and Col. Chessani’s courts-martial.

It’s also significant that Grayson said that he “was following Marine Corps policy that prohibits the keeping of pictures on personal computers of Iraqi bodies.” Why didn’t the prosecutors take that into account?