Right wing radio host Michael Smerconish writing at Huffington Post, opines on the underlying cause of the Haditha incident.
Isn’t it conceivable that the Marines, under attack or believing they were under attack, shot up the area with their automatic weapons, mistakenly killing innocent civilians in the process? Then, fully understanding that the media would vilify them for their mistake, they compounded their error and lied, saying that the IED that killed their comrades, also killed the civilians. If so, I think the lie was a mistake, but an entirely understandable one.
Yes, that’s right, before they do anything, Marines regularly reflect on how it will play in the clearly anti-American media and act accordingly.
That a human being is stupid enough to think that, let alone to type it into a computer, is amazing.
Well, that, and his forgiving version of events is already a known fantasy previously offered up by the accused marines. We know this was a house to house sweep. That’s quite a bit removed from “shot up the area” by mistake because they believed they were under heavy fire. What’s more, I seriously doubt marines are trained to shoot up an area without a known target. Much more likely they are trained to find cover and assess the situation before acting, particularly if they are still under attack by an unknown number of assailants firing from unknown positions. I assume the “empty your clip into everything” response only happens when you come under heavy fire from a general area but without specific targets, which we also know didn’t happen.
“If so, I think the lie was a mistake, but an entirely understandable one.”
He’s not even saying anything here. People always feel they have solid reasons for doing anything they do. Whether these reasons comport with our moral and legal standards is a different argument altogether, and that’s the one we’re having. This piece is just another example of them changing the subject.
I love this guy. I’m going to use the “Isn’t it conceivable” argument for everything from now on.
“Did you realize that you were going 60 in a 45 zone, sir?”
“Officer, isn’t it conceivable that this is actually an 55 zone, and some punk kids with liberal parents who don’t teach them right from wrong vandalized the sign and changed it to 45? And isn’t it conceivable as well that your radar gun isn’t working? And isn’t it conceivable that I was simply obeying the speed limit in a purely Einsteinian fashion, relative to the distance that light was traveling from my headlights into the universe.”
“Er…I guess that is conceivable. Carry on.”
Just curious Ollie,
have you EVER spoken to a US Marine for more than 5 minutes?
Thought not.
Pedro,
Do you have a point?
Now apologize for lying about us finding Saddam’s WMD by citing a WaPo article which said the opposite.
Ollie is preaching that he has some knowledge of how a Marine thinks.
I don’t think Ollie has ever had a substanative conversation with a Marine, much less has any idea how they think…..
Don’t worry pedro, I don’t expect you to get it.
If your insight into the mind of a marine leads you to the conclusion that they would and should cover something up for those reasons, well, let’s just say I’m a little concerned. But I don’t believe that’s true, because everything you ever say is misleading or false.
he may or may not have. who cares? anything substantive to add?
he was saying by way of sarcasm that marines don’t worry about how their actions will be portrayed in the evil american press. You challenged that. Does that mean you believe they do alter their actions, even in confrontations like what happened, to placate the press leading them to lie and cover up? If you believe that, do you approve of that? Personally, I think that’s sick.
Sorry B, I was just enjoying watching you talk to yourself….
But yes, in general, Marines DO worry about how what they do is going to be portrayed in the press.
So what’s your point? This excuses their initial attack? This excuses their lying? So it’s ok for me to murder and lie about it because people think poorly of murderers? I see no issues with that reasoning.
I wonder what Dr. Pedro’s malpractice premiums are like….
prob’ly pretty high, considering he predicates his actions on how they might later be perceived.