The main stream news media is all over the story, labeling Marines as murderers, a congressman and former Marine has pronounced the Haditha Marines guilty and would probably sentence them if he could. All of this without a trial and all of it with only one side of the story. Its trial by main stream news media and congressman Murtha.

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Whatever happened to the benefit of the doubt? Our brave men and women in the US Military are fighting for our freedom everyday in the war on terror, facing an enemy that does not wear a uniform. They are facing an enemy that has multiple faces, young, old, women and children used to kill US troops. Shouldnt the brave men and women who fight in the war on terror be given the benefit of the doubt until a trial can determine what really happened in Haditha?

Back here at home murders, rapists,child molesters and the like are innocent until proven guilty, with groups such as the ACLU and the like supporting those rights if there is even a hint of them being violated. Yet here we have men and women who put their lives on the line to fight the war on terror being tried by the media and some overzealous congressmen before a trial is even announced. Where are the groups screaming for the soldiers rights of innocent until proven guilty?

Certainly in time of war during battles things can get chaotic and confusing, we dont have the full picture of what happened at Haditha yet, and anyone claiming that they do who was not there and has only heard one side of the story, is speaking irresponsibly. These are people lives that we are talking about here and what is being portrayed by the media and Murtha as a massacre during this time will affect the soldiers and their families for the rest of their lives.

No matter what the outcome of the Haditha incident, these brave men and women have EARNED the right of innocence until proven guilty that we enjoy as the result of these brave men and women who fight for us in the war on terror today, and those who have fought in wars past.

It is time for the main stream news media and some US congressmen to stop the hyping and sensationalism of this situation for political purposes and let the Uniform Code of Military Justice do its job while at the same time affording these Marines their rights under the constitution that they certainly earned.