What really happened at Haditha? The only thing we know for certain is that we don't yet know for certain. But that doesn't stop the Left from declaring the Marines involved, and by extension the entire US military and the Bush administration, guilty of atrocities. The media has already tried, convicted, drawn and quartered a group of young Marines, before any but the barest details are known... before, in fact, an investigation has even finished.

The facts we do have tell that a carbomb hit a Marine convoy, a firefight ensued, and fifteen civilians were killed along with eight or nine terrorists (according to most reports). The Left has taken as fact the statements of four people (interviewed by an unnamed Iraqi) who say they were witnesses -- though even the NY Times had to admit that "The four survivors' accounts could not be independently corroborated, and it was unclear in some cases whether they actually saw the killings."

A videotape of bodies with bullet wounds in their chests and heads is supposed to be "evidence" that Marines went on a cold-blooded killing spree. Liberals must believe that noncombatants are rarely hurt during battles, no one could be shot in the chest or head except by deliberate murder, and that innocents are never shot or put in danger by terrorists, insurgents or "freedom fighters." But the US military, in the looking-glass world of Liberalism, is hell-bent on killing civilians for no reason.

The Marines are accused of "covering up" the "massacre." Their initial report is said to have stated that the civilians were killed by the explosive device. The bomb and firefight may have been reported as a single enemy attack, which might have been a mistake that led to the accusations of coverup. Afterwards, the military authorised payments to the families of the victims, a common practice in that part of the world. We can't know the truth about the incident until we see how the actual reports were worded. The Left, however, stands ready to jump on any chance of smearing the troops they pretend to support, no matter how slim.

Never one to lag behind when the US military is being slandered, Representative John Murtha (D-PA) was in the forefront of those making allegations against the US Marines. (To borrow a phrase, I'm ashamed that John Murtha is from Pennsylvania.) Murtha accused the Marines involved of having "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" during the November 2005 incident. While Time magazine portrayed the Marines as barging into houses, throwing grenades around and deliberately shooting anything that moved -- women, children, whatever -- Murtha told reporters, "It's much worse than was reported in Time magazine," and insisted that "There was no firefight." If there was no firefight, he must believe -- or want us to believe -- that this was a deliberate execution of civilians.

Murtha later told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "it looks like it's the policy of our troops to do something like this." Keep in mind that the incident is still under investigation, with statements and evidence still being collected... and that the military launched an investigation a month before the media got wind of the story. Yet Murtha seems pretty comfortable declaring that our military coldly executes civilians en masse as a matter of policy. Al-Qaeda In Iraq must be pretty satisfied with that November day's work right now. 

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, does this incident not seem like a tactic right out of al-Qaeda's playbook? Set off a bomb, take shots at the disoriented Marines from several nearby windows, and make sure as many civilians get caught in the crossfire as possible (or shoot them yourself, with American weapons -- if, in fact, they were shot with American weapons) while making your escape. Then make a few false statements to panting reporters eager for tales of American atrocities, painting the Marines as marauding killers exacting revenge on innocents. Yet another media manipulation mission accomplished.

After a thorough investigation, it may indeed turn out that Marines of Kilo company were involved in wrongdoing. If so, then they should be judged as harshly as the Uniform Code of Military Justice will allow. Deliberately killing innocent civilians is as wrong an act as anyone can perform -- it's why we are fighting this war on terror in the first place. But if any people ever deserved the benefit of the doubt, if anyone ever earned the right to be accounted "innocent until proven guilty," it's the military personnel of whom we ask so much in our defense.

3 June 06 UPDATE: Michelle Malkin exposes how the UK Times deliberately smeared the Marines by printing year-old pictures of Iraqis executed by terrorists in Haditha with the headline "Massacre Marines Blinded by Hate."