wyobo wrote on May 15, 2007 7:38 PM:What is going on here? We send those men to a terrible situation and then send them to a court martial for doing anything to protect themselves. I do not agree with killing for the fun of it, but those men were attacked while on patrol. Maybe they did make a mistake, I don't know but having been in a situation like that, if someone is running toward you during an attack, they better be well marked as a friend if they are one. How can we do this to our troops when we sent them there???????? reminds me of viet nam all over again. just sent the boys out to get them killed and punish them if they fight back. What turds are running this anyway?

blunt wrote on May 15, 2007 9:19 PM:the guys you voted for are running this

John1 wrote on May 15, 2007 9:53 PM:I didn't vote for Hillary or Nancy

blunt wrote on May 15, 2007 10:57 PM:not the ones who lied, or brought us over

Yellow Dog wrote on May 16, 2007 6:12 AM:I didn't vote for Bush or Cheney or Cunningham or Issa or Delay or Lieberman or McCain or any of the other political pygmies either.

Father of two vets: wrote on May 16, 2007 6:58 AM: Do you think that mothers hate to see their children go to war only because they are afraid they might be killed? They raised the kid and they taught them, and they watched them grow and make mistakes, and they know that there is a likely hood that they will make mistakes while in the service of their country. And they know that the Marine Corp and their country are not as forgiving as their mothers. There is a real question I hear from time to time; Are we abusing our young men for world political reasons, to show that we know how and will prosecute our men for war crimes? To this vet and citizen, the trials had better prove them very innocent or very guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No border line case allowed by the public. Happy recruiting.

Patriot 101 wrote on May 16, 2007 7:45 AM:I believe this whole trial is a sham. Our Marines are innocent. Stone was a hero from heroes family. Chessani was in for 19 years on his 3rd tour of duty in Iraq. Reads the Bible every day. Wuterich web page shows him playing Frisbee with Iraqi children. Grayson was up for Bronze medal. Do these sound like killers?

Alicia wrote on May 16, 2007 8:42 AM:I agree with wyobo

these marines wrote on May 16, 2007 9:33 AM:are prime examples of why every country despises the US. They should go to jail for a very long time. KIDS!!!

AEQUITAS ET VERITAS wrote on May 16, 2007 1:22 PM:Concentrating only on the case of Captain Stone, prosecuting him for dereliction is ridiculous in the extreme. He was new to the outfit and higher ranking officers up the chain of command said at the time that there was no violation of the rules of engagement, etc. General Mattis should find that there is no basis to go forward with the charges. Futhermore, Captain Stone is entitled to have that inserted in his personnel file to give him a totally clean bill. I would hope that he is given credit too for his service in Iraq, as should all military personnel serving there.

AW4cryinoutloud wrote on May 16, 2007 2:00 PM:In rebuttal to the post at 9:33AM; These Marines are NOT the prime example of why every country despises us! WHO says "every" country despises us? Our media? That's reassuring. If the majority of things you report about your country are negative and all you dwell on are scenes of small groups in other countries protesting, then I guess you could plant the idea that "every" country despises us. Heaven forbid the media focus on the positive anywhere in the world. It's as though the mainstream media has become the Enquirer of the 21st Century. OUR Marines have nothing to do with the 9:33AM accusation. It has to do with propaganda by the enemy that our media buys into. It has to do with our own politicians like, Gore, Pelosi, Murtha, Kerry, Clinton, Carter, etc., who suck up to other countries and complain about their own. Celebrities like Fonda (don't get me goin' on that one), Penn, Depp, Garafalo, Dixie ChirpN'Chick Maines, and the largest foul mouth of all; O'Donnell. Don't forget Sheehan. She's been a great help dissing our troops and this country. Don't forget Human Rights groups whose agenda is "admittedly" to protect those of Middle Eastern descent and those of color. Actually, they've done a great job of screwing all of our accused Marines. Anyone noticing any Human Rights Group standing up for these Marines or for the Marines "accused" in Hamdania? How can you forget Islamic Extremists, terrorists, insurgents (your basic everyday enemy) who preach hatred for US as infidels, and whose fantasy is to see all of us dead. And then what do we have for a military system of justice? Antiquated warriors who suck up to all of the above mentioned. It has nothing more to do with these Marines other than the FACT that they are being used as pawns in a dangerous game played by all of the above mentioned...who don't give a rat's tail how many innocent American reputations, careers, or lives are ruined in the process. AND...would Someone, for just once, dare to compare any "alleged" atrocity by the troops to the PROVEN atrocities of the insurgents, the IED planting, RPG launching, Barbaric, Torturing, Mutilating, Inhumane Cowards who hide behind women and children! Let's do a tally on THAT.

AW4cryinoutloud wrote on May 16, 2007 2:02 PM:To AEQUITAS ET VERITAS: WOW! Beautifully said.

AEQUITAS ET VERITAS wrote on May 16, 2007 4:13 PM:I really have come to believe that in many cases some of these preliminary hearings and courts-martial are cases of scapegoating. It is painful to note that no general officers or indeed, civilian authorities in the DOD, are being held accountable for their conduct in this war. Signals were given from Bush, Rumsfeld and others on down the line that anything goes, that whatever it takes to win is hunky dory. But just as soon as some poor grunt goes nuts from the heat of battle, the horrors of combat and drills a few insurgents, then HORRORS, HORRORS, and GOODNESS GRACIOUS, WHY WE CERTAINLY DON'T CONDONE SUCH BARBARIC BEHAVIOR. (OH AND BY THE WAY, NOW THAT WE'VE SAID THAT ~ DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR US NEXT ELECTION.) I'm thinking, who are these bozos that got us into this friggin mess in the first place?

point is good wrote on May 16, 2007 4:59 PM:AMEN to that!

Patriot 101 wrote on May 16, 2007 5:36 PM:To the 9:33 AM post The Marines could have been set up you know. That's what i believe. Why else would Al-Jazeera publish the names of the 23 + one Marine? = 24. I found it odd that the five in the TAXI killed were the same charges placed on Two Marines at the same time. How could both Marines kill the same person twice? Our Marines are innocent and i want to know something: February 26, 1991 President George HW Bush liberated KUWAIT from Saddam occupation. February 26, 1993 World tade center was attacked. So before you get on a band wagon against our Marines, you had better have ALL Facts, not those you hear from Jack Murtha or insurgents.

no wrong wrote on May 18, 2007 5:27 PM:They have lost their moral compass.