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by Darryl Sharratt | July
28, 2008 | Join the discussion
here.
See the video on YouTube. Or download a
Windows Media file or
Flash file from Defend Our Marines.
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Hello, I’m Darryl Sharratt. I am the father of
former Marine lance corporal, Justin Sharratt, and a constituent of
the PA-12 Congressional District.
On May 17th 2006, US Congressman John Murtha, my
congressman, appeared on national television and called my son and his
Haditha Marine squadmates cold-blooded murderers for their actions in
a firefight in Haditha, Iraq.
In this television appearance, and subsequent
appearances on national television, Mr Murtha denied my son and his
Marine squad the presumption of innocence and due process—rights which
are inherent in our US Constitution—before the official investigation
on Haditha was ever completed.
For over two years, my families and the families of
these other brave Marines have had to endure this pronouncement of
cold-blooded murder by Congressman John Murtha.
After an extensive investigation, and Article 32
hearings, six of these Marines (including my son) have been found
innocent of all charges.
One Marines officer had the charges dismissed and
his case is in the appeals stage. And one enlisted Marine is awaiting
his day in court.
Cold-blooded murderers? No, Mr Murtha.
Last week in the US House of Representatives, an
amendment to an intelligence funding bill was brought up for a vote.
This amendment, called the Hoekstra amendment or House Resolution
5959, would prohibit all US intelligence agencies from white-washing
the behavior of the Islamic terrorists in their memos, reports, in all
their official correspondence.
Without the Hoekstra amendment, terms such as
“terrorist”, “insurgent”, “jihadist”, and “Islamic fundamentalist”
would have been banned in dealing with known enemies of our country.
Thankfully, righteous members of our House of
Representatives prevailed and the amendment passed 249-180.
In the roll call vote, Congressman John Murtha voted
against the amendment. In effect, banning the use of accurate language
to describe our enemies, those persons who would participate in the
destruction of the United States of America.
Mr Murtha, when will your hypocrisy end? You have
shown no remorse, you have shown no embarrassment for falsely
pronouncing United States Marines cold-blooded murderers.
On May 17th 2006, you denied these
Marines their protections under the United States Constitution. With
your for-the-ban vote last week, you tried to give our enemies rights
which you denied our Haditha Marines. Marines like my son.
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For more about the real story of Haditha, see the
evidence room,
and read the testimony in the LCpl Justin Sharratt Article 32 hearing
here. |