The major print and TV media and John Murtha are billing the killings at Haditha as the next Abu Ghraib. Murtha timed his press conference announcing that the Marines killed Iraqi civilians “in cold blood” to coincide with six months since his call for withdrawal from Iraq.
Not so fast. John Murtha, much less the media, doesn’t yet know what happened. Charges have not been filed. The Marines are investigating. And the only military man the Washington Post could get on record tells Mary Katherine Ham that his quotes were wildly distorted.
The media will attempt to make Haditha the next Abu Ghraib. Look for their efforts to ramp up in the coming weeks. As they do, ask for hard evidence, and not Murtha’s gossip.
