Where are the hecklers now? I’d like to know. Because after coming here and objecting to my suspicions and outrage about the MSM’s reporting on Haditha and Murtha’ irresponsible reprehensible comments, now we’re starting to get another side of the story…the story that the media couldn’t wait for. Red Hot Cuppa Politics has been following it, and produces from the Washington Post, a Marine’s side of the story, who claims the ‘rules were followed’.

A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings, his attorney said.

But since leftists are so disconnected from reality and have removed themselves from any interaction with our military because they think of them as ‘baby killers’ and as Code Pink says, “mamas don’t let your boys grow up to be killers”…the msm, living up to their leftist hate america screeds, have done little to support our boys in uniform and have gone out of their way to regurgitate ‘haditha and my lai’ screeds.

I would bet you that very few leftists have any understanding of military procedures or that they even have ‘rules of engagement’.

So now we get to the delicious part meticulously dissected by Sweetness and Light about Time’s coverage of Haditha and the ‘facts’ they depended on in order publicize the story. Sweetness and Light’s comments are in italics.

Collateral Damage or Civilian Massacre in Haditha?

Last November, U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge? A Time exclusive

By TIM MCGIRK / BAGHDAD

Sunday, Mar. 19, 2006

In the original version of this story, TIME reported that “a day after the incident, a Haditha journalism student videotaped the scene at the local morgue and at the homes where the killings had occurred. The video was obtained by the Hammurabi Human Rights Group, which cooperates with the internationally respected Human Rights Watch, and has been shared with TIME.” In fact, Human Rights Watch has no ties or association with the Hammurabi Human Rights Group. TIME regrets the error.

Oh yeah, I bet they do.

One Morning in Haditha

U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes last November. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge?

By TIM MCGIRK/ BAGHDAD

Mar. 27, 2006

In the original version of this story, TIME reported that “a day after the incident, a Haditha journalism student videotaped the scene at the local morgue and at the homes where the killings had occurred. The video was obtained by the Hammurabi Human Rights Group, which cooperates with the internationally respected Human Rights Watch, and has been shared with TIME.” In fact, Human Rights Watch has no ties or association with the Hammurabi Human Rights Group. TIME regrets the error.

It wasn’t Human Rights watch who provided that tape, as Time had originally reported. They then conveniently retract that and claim it came from Hammurabi which works with Human Rights Watch.

And al-Haditha is not separate and apart from the Hammurabi Human Rights Group. Nor is he a man who wanted to remain anonymous because he feared for his safety.

Al-Haditha is 43 years old. He “created” Hammurabi 16 months ago. (Before that he worked directly under the head of Haditha’s hospital, Dr. Walid al-Obeidi, who pronounced that all the victims had been shot at close range.)

Here is another “correction” that is now buried at the bottom of another Time Haditha story from last month. It is by Matthew Cooper of Plame/Rove notoriety.

The Haditha Scandal’s Other Casualty
With the Pentagon completing its probe into whether U.S. forces massacred civilians one November morning in Western Iraq, the damage to America’s image abroad could take a further hit

By MATTHEW COOPER/WASHINGTON

Posted Friday, May. 26, 2006

In the original version of this story, TIME reported that “one of the most damning pieces of evidence investigators have in their possession, John Sifton of Human Rights Watch told Time’s Tim McGirk, is a photo, taken by a Marine with his cell phone that shows Iraqis kneeling — and thus posing no threat — before they were shot.” While Sifton did tell TIME that there was photographic evidence, taken by Marines, he had only heard about the specific content of the photos from reports done by NBC, and had no firsthand knowledge. TIME regrets the error.

Clearly Time thinks very highly of the Soros-funded (and viscerally anti-American) Human Rights Watch. They use every opportunity to cite HRW to bolster their claims, even if they have to make things up.

Time can always sneak in a retraction later when nobody is looking, once the story has “gotten legs.”