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First, the left will use every tool at their disposal to ensure that the Haditha incident becomes synonymous with the entire Iraq war. Abu Ghraib proved a propaganda bonanza for the terrorists and nations such as Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia that want us to withdraw from Iraq in defeat. Haditha – regardless of what the facts may turn out to be – will be used ceaselessly and purposefully to eliminate American support for the Iraq war and to demonize anyone who still supports it. Haditha will become the Orwellian centerpiece of the Democrats’ claim that they support the troops. “They’ve been there too long,” Murtha and his ilk will cry. “We have to bring them home before they kill more babies.” And then the Dems, feigning concern for our soldiers, will offer them psychological counseling when they return. The political fallout will be enormous, and it will damage both the ongoing war efforts and our troops’ morale.

New material here.

Can final victory in the war on terror be far off?

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Thanks for your kind words.

Thanks for the reply and I agree our media here has been consistently silent on any good news pertaining to Iraq or Afghanistan and for that matter anything that would bolster this administration and its’ policies.

Having been the child of a soldier who fought in both Korea and Vietnam I would hope the media could grasp how they hurt not only the soldiers through all of their negativity but also their families.

This is why I am so delighted that for those who wish to put some realism and civility to discussion we now have individuals who give much of their time to help us seek the truth.

Enjoy your insight Crosspatch both here and at other blogs which I frequent.

That does not justify any criminal acts, but it might give an indication as to why they were ready to blow.

As for the other thing from Drudge, this was a case I heard about before. There have been a few of them but now all of a sudden we are getting the siren treatment.

139,000 troops, the odds are someone will do something they should not.

Let us remember the addage about innocent until proven guilty.

The Iraqi man was killed west of Baghdad on April 26. His death was unrelated to the shootings of as many as two dozen civilians in the western Iraqi city of Haditha. The Pentagon is investigating troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in that case.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/01/D8HVNSE00.html

Seems one of the early sources on the story was someone that had been in US detention before. I also found a comment in this Fox News article interesting:

Kimber said he first learned about the shootings in February when he heard that a Time magazine reporter was asking questions about civilian deaths.

Kimber said he heard nothing about a civilian massacre during city council meetings and talks with local leaders.

“It would have been huge, there would have been no question it would have filtered down to us,” he said. “We reported no significant atmospheric change as a result of that day.”

A defense attorney says military prosecutors plan to charge seven Marines and a sailor with murder and other charges in the death of an Iraqi civilian in April.

Why would the defense know what the prosecutors are going to do at this early stage, last I heard the investigations were still on going.
Also, it says nothing about a “Military” defense attorney so this just may be hype or it may be something.

Crosspatch, do you think “turning” Ramadi would be a severe blow to the hearts and minds of our MSM here at home?

That is a more complex question than it appears to be on the surface. If things start going well in Iraq, the MSM will simply go silent on it. They won’t report good news but will be ready with criticism for any setbacks even after things start to go well. In other words, you are going to hear nothing but bad news, only less of it.

Iraq is just another issue in a long laundry list of issues that those who share a particular world view use to influence the perceptions of the polled public. The thing is that right now they have a lot to talk about around the Iraq issue but that can change and as I said, when it does they will simply go silent.