EDITORIAL: Marines deserve the benefit of the doubt

The news that several U.S. Marines are under investigation for a November 2005 incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left 24 civilians dead is not good. But a bad situation has been made worse by some people who have been all too willing to jump to conclusions about their guilt.

One of those jumpers is U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was quick to compare the deaths to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

"Was this My Lai?" Murtha was asked on a recent cable TV talk show. The host then added, "When you say cold blood, congressman, a lot of people think you’re basically saying you’ve got some civilians sitting in a room or out in a field and they’re executed on purpose."

Murtha’s response: "That’s exactly what happened." Read more.