HADITHA!!!!

And then there was one:

Folsom's decision means that, out of eight Marines originally charged in December 2006, six have won dismissals of their charges and one has been cleared at court martial.

The accused ringleader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, still faces court martial. The proceedings against him, however, have been put on hold pending the appeal of a pretrial ruling.

Next time anyone says anything to you about US military justice, spit on the ground in front of them and say "Haditha."

Soldiers are nothing but taxpayer-funded murderers. Here's further proof, as if it was needed.

UPDATE: Here's a scathing April 2007 report from a US Army Major General.

Here's a lengthy Vanity Fair article on the Haditha massacre.

Here's a comparison with My Lai.

Here's Chris Floyd's take: the fish has rotted from the head.

Here's what I said at the time:

After Haditha, How Can You Believe The US Military Or The Pentagon? After Haditha, How Can You Blame Iraqis For Supporting The "Insurgency"? And if you cannot blame Iraqis for supporting the removal of these brutal, uncaring foreign soldiers, how can you possibly support the ongoing occupation of their country? If the resistance is justified, then the occupation is not.

Here's how Newsweek brushed the massacre off.

Predictably, Bush's media stooges are today salivating with joy at this latest news about the "so-called Haditha massacre". Michelle Malkin, for example:

Haditha prosecution goes 0-7. But you won't see that headline in the same Armageddon-sized font The New York Times used repeatedly when the story first broke.

The Times, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa, and the rest of the anti-war drum-pounders who fueled the smear campaign against the troops two years ago should hang their hands in shame. They won't, of course. Perpetuating the "cold-blooded Marines" narrative means never having to say you're sorry...

Relatives of the Haditha Marines have called for Congress to censure Murtha, who cuts and runs to the nearest elevator when questioned about the Haditha dismissals.

He and the Haditha smear merchants have skated while the men and their families suffered global whippings on the airwaves and eternal demonization in print.

Whose "culture of impunity"?

But here's what Malkin conveniently fails to mention:

The charges against Mr Chessani were thrown out after the judge ruled that a four-star general who oversaw the investigation was improperly influenced by an investigator who later became his adviser. The judge has indicated that prosecutors can refile the case, but they did not immediately announce an intention to do so.

In other words, this particular case collapsed and was dismissed "without prejudice". Now, that is probably just another clever trick the US Army is using to ensure the cover-up continues. But it would be nice to imagine we might one day see a US media "without prejudice".

That day, like justice for the victims of Haditha, still seems a very long way off.