Patterico's Pontifications

6/4/2006

NYT Editors: Bush Complicit in Alleged Haditha Murders

Filed under: General,Terrorism,War — Patterico @ 10:26 am



The New York Times editorializes about Haditha:

Now that we have reached the one place we most wanted to avoid, it will not do to focus blame narrowly on the Marine unit suspected of carrying out these killings and ignore the administration officials, from President Bush on down, who made the chances of this sort of disaster so much greater by deliberately blurring the rules governing the conduct of American soldiers in the field.

There you have it: if Marines executed women and children, it’s President Bush’s fault.

The editorial also says something I agree with:

The inquiry also needs to critically examine the behavior . . . of midlevel officers who apparently covered up the Haditha incident for months until journalists’ inquiries forced a more honest review.

If midlevel officers covered up aspects of Haditha, we need to hold them accountable.

But accusing Bush of complicity in alleged deliberate and unjustified execution-style murders is nothing but a political cheap shot — something said by Times editors just to send a little frisson of self-righteous anger through their bodies. I hope it felt good.

14 Responses to “NYT Editors: Bush Complicit in Alleged Haditha Murders”

  1. It’s part of the Big Plan, Pat: Haditha is part of the war because of the war, Haditha-think will infect most of our soldiers and Marines, and thus the only solution is to bring all of our troops back to the United States.

    Dana (71415b)

  2. […] For more, see Patterico, the American Thinker, and Greyhawk, who turns the beat around. Meanwhile, submitted for your approval: […]

    Hot Air » Blog Archive » Haditha: If Bush isn’t responsible then the terrorists have already won (d4224a)

  3. This is my favorite part:

    “This is the nightmare that everyone worried about when the Iraq invasion took place.”

    As far as I can recall I never heard anybody fretting about the possibility of atrocities by US soldiers. Heard a lot of things but can’t recall hearing that predicted.

    Dwilkers (a1687a)

  4. From reading this blog and the comments, I sense strong consensus that there was an execution type slaying of civilians.

    When reading Saturday’s or Friday’s WAPO my sense is that the evidence is not all that strong.

    Any chance the soldiers perceived fire coming from this building and there was a firefight or has the evidence ruled that out.

    Guess the defense isn’t talking yet.

    kate (77149e)

  5. I always say “if.”

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  6. The NYTimes blames GW for Haditha (and can’t you just hear their excitement in anticipating it being true)

    well, why not?

    Reading WaPo this morning I discover GW is to blame for forcing a woman to have an abortion.

    GW is nothing if not a very busy bee.

    Darleen (81f712)

  7. “Haditha-think will infect most of our soldiers and Marines”

    Are you saying that most of our military will start executing people, just like the terrorists do? Tell me that isn’t what you think!

    BTW Dana, what do we do about the terrorists? Do we tell them to go home and stop executing people too?

    Bringing the troops home will not solve anything and will abandon the Iraqi’s to another Taliban in the middle east. I don’t think that’s a viable solution.

    Ray (be81f9)

  8. I wonder how long it will take before Kerry starts reminiscing about “free-fire zones?”

    I can hear him now: “Bush has turned Iraq into a free-fire zone, reminiscent of Christmas in Cambodia and the Vietnam War! How long will it be before American troops start cutting off ears, taping wires to genitals and turning up the power, raping, pillaging, and burning, similar to what I did in Vietnam. Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam! Did I tell you I was a war criminal in Vietnam?”

    Ray (be81f9)

  9. Hey Patterico, I just hope that you read the NY Times online and do not subscribe to the print edition. I had the Sunday edition delivered for probably 8 or 9 years, and I can’t tell you how much better I felt when I cancelled it. Reading it is bad enough, but knowing that your money is supporting their lefty elitist claptrap can drive you crazy.

    Now the trick will be to wean yourself from the online version.

    JVW (46dd84)

  10. isn’t the commander in chief responsible for anything that happens on his watch anymore?

    assistant devil's advocate (3747e3)

  11. The ADA asks:

    (I)sn’t the commander in chief responsible for anything that happens on his watch anymore?

    Yes, he is. But there is a difference between being responsible, as in the buck stops here, and being to blame for things he didn’t specifically do or order.

    Dana (3e4784)

  12. I’m just impressed that you managed to work “frisson” into a post

    CStudent (59bfb8)


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