Haditha Marine to File Lawsuit Against Congressman Murtha

And who could blame him...

Thanks to the ladies at Code Red for this one.

Frank D. Wuterich, the Marine Corp staff sergeant in charge of the squad accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq will file a defamation lawsuit against Congressman Murtha today.

Attorneys for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's reputation by telling news organizations in May that the Marine unit cracked after a roadside bomb killed one of its members and that the troops "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha also said repeatedly that the incident was covered up. (source)

This was Congressman Murtha speaking to ABC'S Charlie Gibson back in May: "This is what the Marine Corps told me at the highest level. The Commandant of the Marine Corps was in my office just last week, so you know. I know there was a cover-up someplace. They knew about this a few days afterwards and there’s no question the chain of command tried to stifle the story. I can understand why, but that doesn’t excuse it. Something like this has to be brought out to the public, and the people have to be punished....There’s no question in my mind about what happened here. There was no gunfire. They killed four people in a taxi and then in addition to that, they went into the rooms and killed them. And I don’t know how many were involved in it, but it’s something that we cannot excuse. I can understand it, but it can’t be excused... The commandant said it was a very serious incident. He was not going to tell me it was murder, but everything looked to him just like it looks to me. He didn’t say that in so many words, but he told me exactly what happened."

In the court filing, obtained by The Washington Post, the lawyers say that Murtha made the comments after being briefed by Defense Department officials who "deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information." Neal A. Puckett and Mark S. Zaid, suing for libel and invasion of privacy, also wrote that Murtha made the comments outside of his official scope as a congressman.

Wuterich's attorney said this case is not about money but rather clearing the name of Wuterich and to"identify where these leaks are coming from...Congressman Murtha has created this atmosphere that has already concluded guilt. He's created this environment that really smells, and he's the only one who has done that."



Interesting. Do you think maybe this was a setup from the get-go? Could the Commandant of the Marine Corps given Murtha just a enough rope to hang himself and Murtha then jumped at the chance? Oh, if that's the case, that has to be the sweetest political maneuver in the history of man...