In A Word: Perjure – The swift-boaters are back with more lies- elections must be close.
Gerald Eisman
August 10, 2006
Perjure: To render (oneself) guilty of perjury by deliberately testifying falsely under oath. (Bulls—t) To attempt to mislead or deceive by talking nonsense.
On March 27, Time magazine raised the possibility that an incident in the Iraqi village of Haditha may have involved intentional killing of civilians. The article stated that on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb struck a humvee carrying Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, on a road near Haditha, a town in western Iraq. Killed in the blast was Lance Corporal Miguel (T.J.) Terrazas, 20, from El Paso, Texas.
The next day a Marine communiqué from Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi reported that Terrazas and 15 Iraqi civilians had been killed by the blast. It went on to say gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire," prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding one other. The Marines from Kilo Company held a memorial service for Terrazas at their camp in Haditha. And the war moved on.
But the details of what actually happened that morning in Haditha are more disturbing, disputed and horrific than initially reported. According to eyewitnesses and local officials interviewed since, the civilians who died in Haditha on Nov. 19 were killed not by a roadside bomb but by the Marines themselves, who went on a rampage in the village after the attack. They killed 15 unarmed Iraqis in their homes, including seven women and three children.
If the ensuing investigations prove factual, the original communiqué issued by the corps qualifies as pure bulls—t, and those issuing it guilty of perjuring themselves. That, then, brings us to swift boat founder and others playing a role in the drama of smear and besmirch. On May 17, John Murtha stated it's much worse (the Haditha incident) than reported in the Time article. There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. (What really happened was) our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.
Murtha went on to say the investigation shows that, in fact, there was no firefight, no explosion that killed the civilians in a bus. There was no bus. There was no shrapnel. There were only bullet holes inside the house the marines entered. His (Murtha's) press conference has since caused the co-founder of the organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to begin attacking him personally and attempt to belittle his military background calling his medals (two purple hearts) into question. This is much the same as the group did to John Kerry during his run for the presidency.
As Yogi Berra would say, "it's like Deja Vu all over again."
Thanks to some secret NSA spying on American citizens, another group was able to uncover a memo that went out to the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (or rather, their highly partisan version of it). And in their never-ending quest to prove how low they can stoop, the Swifties' next mission is to Stop John Murtha. This time, however, another group, MoveOn.Org. is entering the fray, and in Murtha's defense.
Administration supporters are hoping that by muddying the waters of Murtha's military record they can neuter another of their most passionate and sincere critics. It's an all-too-familiar pattern. Initially, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan described Murtha's stance on the war as "endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party." Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt quickly followed in lockstep by saying on the floor of the House of Representatives, "Cowards cut and run, Marines never do."
John Kerry and John Murtha both love their country and proved their patriotism in the crucible of war as well as on the battlefield of public service. Far more is at stake once again than simply the reputations of two Heros. They live with and bask in the honor of the performance of their duty, as do the hundreds of thousands of American servicemen in harm's way today.
The health of our democracy, however, and the integrity of our debate, the voice of our free press and the true meaning of patriotism will come under assault if a new generation of Swift Boat smears are allowed into the public domain unchallenged.
For the country's sake, I hope all Americans of good conscience will speak up and make it clear, we will not tolerate such smears today, just as we shouldn't have tolerated them in 2004.
It is time for the public to send those "Truth Seekers" packing. They stand as a disgrace to the very name American and their brand of perjury should not go unpunished.
On March 27, Time magazine raised the possibility that an incident in the Iraqi village of Haditha may have involved intentional killing of civilians. The article stated that on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb struck a humvee carrying Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, on a road near Haditha, a town in western Iraq. Killed in the blast was Lance Corporal Miguel (T.J.) Terrazas, 20, from El Paso, Texas.
The next day a Marine communiqué from Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi reported that Terrazas and 15 Iraqi civilians had been killed by the blast. It went on to say gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire," prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding one other. The Marines from Kilo Company held a memorial service for Terrazas at their camp in Haditha. And the war moved on.
But the details of what actually happened that morning in Haditha are more disturbing, disputed and horrific than initially reported. According to eyewitnesses and local officials interviewed since, the civilians who died in Haditha on Nov. 19 were killed not by a roadside bomb but by the Marines themselves, who went on a rampage in the village after the attack. They killed 15 unarmed Iraqis in their homes, including seven women and three children.
If the ensuing investigations prove factual, the original communiqué issued by the corps qualifies as pure bulls—t, and those issuing it guilty of perjuring themselves. That, then, brings us to swift boat founder and others playing a role in the drama of smear and besmirch. On May 17, John Murtha stated it's much worse (the Haditha incident) than reported in the Time article. There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. (What really happened was) our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.
Murtha went on to say the investigation shows that, in fact, there was no firefight, no explosion that killed the civilians in a bus. There was no bus. There was no shrapnel. There were only bullet holes inside the house the marines entered. His (Murtha's) press conference has since caused the co-founder of the organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to begin attacking him personally and attempt to belittle his military background calling his medals (two purple hearts) into question. This is much the same as the group did to John Kerry during his run for the presidency.
As Yogi Berra would say, "it's like Deja Vu all over again."
Thanks to some secret NSA spying on American citizens, another group was able to uncover a memo that went out to the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (or rather, their highly partisan version of it). And in their never-ending quest to prove how low they can stoop, the Swifties' next mission is to Stop John Murtha. This time, however, another group, MoveOn.Org. is entering the fray, and in Murtha's defense.
Administration supporters are hoping that by muddying the waters of Murtha's military record they can neuter another of their most passionate and sincere critics. It's an all-too-familiar pattern. Initially, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan described Murtha's stance on the war as "endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party." Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt quickly followed in lockstep by saying on the floor of the House of Representatives, "Cowards cut and run, Marines never do."
John Kerry and John Murtha both love their country and proved their patriotism in the crucible of war as well as on the battlefield of public service. Far more is at stake once again than simply the reputations of two Heros. They live with and bask in the honor of the performance of their duty, as do the hundreds of thousands of American servicemen in harm's way today.
The health of our democracy, however, and the integrity of our debate, the voice of our free press and the true meaning of patriotism will come under assault if a new generation of Swift Boat smears are allowed into the public domain unchallenged.
For the country's sake, I hope all Americans of good conscience will speak up and make it clear, we will not tolerate such smears today, just as we shouldn't have tolerated them in 2004.
It is time for the public to send those "Truth Seekers" packing. They stand as a disgrace to the very name American and their brand of perjury should not go unpunished.
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