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Murtha should have apologized
Sharratt was one of a group of Marines whom Murtha accused of having "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" in the Iraqi city of Haditha. The congressman's office later put out a news release that said the Marines had been charged with murder when in fact no charges had yet been brought at the time.
Murder charges were later brought against Sharratt but were withdrawn by the prosecutor seven months later. Sharratt has consistently maintained that he and his comrades followed military rules of engagement and that he shot and killed three Iraqis because two of them were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and he felt threatened.
Murtha's position is that he will refrain from commenting on the case because one of the other Marines has filed a defamation lawsuit against him. Not wishing to speak publicly about pending litigation is understandable, but the question remains why he didn't apologize to Sharratt last July when the charges were dropped. Better yet, Murtha should have shown more respect to begin with for the presumption of innocence in criminal cases. Remember that his claim of murder "in cold blood" came before any charges had even been filed.
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When his denunciation of Sharratt and the other Marines became an issue in his campaign for re-election, some of Murtha's supporters among our readership defended him on the grounds that he probably had access to inside information about the case. That struck us as highly speculative, and it begged the question why he would want to prejudice the case against the Marines by declaring them guilty before a nationwide audience.
As things stand now, the Sharratt family believes it's too late for an apology even if Murtha were inclined to offer one. But he should have been big enough to do so months ago without having to be asked.
