The Magazine  The My Lai Lie  Behind the coverage of Haditha.
Jul 3, 2006, Vol. 11, No. 40 • By FRED BARNES, FOR THE EDITORS
Widget tooltip Single Page Print Larger Text Smaller Text Alerts
THE MEDIA COVERAGE of the killing of 24 Iraqis at Haditha has
given rich new definition to the phrase "rush to judgment." The
coverage, plus the reaction of antiwar politicians like
Democratic representative John Murtha, amounts to a public
verdict of guilty, rendered against a handful of Marines, before
an investigation of the bloody incident is completed or a trial
(if there is one) held.  An egregious example was MSNBC host
Chris Matthews's interview with Murtha on May 17. Asked to "draw
us a picture of what happened in Haditha," the congressman said
he'd tell "exactly" what occurred. "One Marine was killed and
the Marines just said we're going to take care. They don't know
who the enemy is. The pressure was too much on them, so they
went into houses and they actually killed civilians."  "Was this
My Lai?" Matthews in