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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review June 23, 2008 / 20 Sivan 5768

Time mag and Murtha aren't the only miscreants in Haditha saga

By Jack Kelly

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | A lie can get half way around the world before the truth can lace up its combat boots. This is especially true when the lie is propagated by a major news magazine and a senior member of Congress.


On March 19, 2006, Time Magazine published an article in effect accusing a squad of Marines of having murdered civilians in Haditha, Iraq, and their superiors of covering it up.


"It's much worse than reported in Time Magazine," said Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa, at a press conference May 17, 2006. "There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."


Rep. Murtha, a former Marine, told the Philadelphia Inquirer he got his information from the Commandant of the Marine Corps. But the briefing Gen. Michael Hagee gave Rep. Murtha took place on May 24, a week after Mr. Murtha had accused the Marines of murder.


On December 21, 2006, four enlisted Marines were charged with multiple counts of murder. Later, four officers in their chain of command were charged with having covered up the murders. The news coverage of the indictments was enormous. On Tuesday, a military judge dismissed without prejudice charges against LtCol. Jeffrey Chessani. He was the seventh of the eight Marines either to have the charges against him dismissed, or be found not guilty. The only Marine still facing court martial is Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, and the charges against him have been downgraded from murder to manslaughter. News coverage of the acquittals has been sparse, relegated to the "news briefs" section in most newspapers.


The Time Magazine story was based chiefly on the testimony of three Iraqis, all of whom had ties to the insurgency. Mr. McGirk may himself have sympathized with the insurgents. He spent the first Thanksgiving after 9/11 with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This is what he wrote about it in Time:


"Our missing colleagues finally arrive, and I leave thinking this evening wasn't very different from the first Thanksgiving; people from two warring cultures sharing a meal together and realizing, briefly, that we're not so different after all."


Testimony at the various courts martial indicated at least eight of the 24 alleged victims were armed terrorists, and the physical evidence at the scene contradicted the accounts of Mr. McGirk's witnesses.


Writing in StrategyPage a year ago May, Harold Hutchison compared Haditha to claims made by the Palestinian Authority that Israeli soldiers had massacred civilians in the village of Jenin in Gaza in April, 2002. The accusations received much more attention from the news media than the subsequent reports of UN investigators that the accusations were false.


"If the testimony about Haditha bears out, then it will just be the latest example of media misreporting," Mr. Hutchison wrote. "At that point, though, the real cover up will begin. Very little, if any effort will be made to correct the record.


Politicians like John Murtha, who repeated the most inflammatory charges, will get a pass."


What Mr. Hutchison predicted has come to pass. Time Magazine and Rep. Murtha owe these Marines an apology, but it is unlikely to be forthcoming. Only people with integrity apologize when they've done harm to innocents.


But Time and Jack Murtha aren't the only miscreants in this sorry saga. The Marines were charged despite a report, issued the month before Mr. Murtha accused them of murder, which concluded "there is no evidence that the Marines intentionally set out to target, engage and kill non-combatants."


When they were first arrested, the enlisted Marines were treated far worse than terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. The Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) ignored exculpatory evidence. One prosecution witness changed his story five times. Another failed a polygraph test. That witness, a native of Venezuela, may have been threatened with deportation if he didn't testify against his comrades. The charges against LtCol. Chessani were dismissed because of unlawful command influence.


When I was a Marine, I was comforted by the thought that I'd never be left behind, even if I were dead. But it appears that some senior people in the Corps and NCIS tried to railroad the Haditha Eight to appease Rep. Murtha's false, politically motivated charges. It is they — not the Haditha Marines — who should be hanging their heads in shame.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. Comment by clicking here.

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