RADIO TIDBITS

BACKGROUND:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A decorated Marine colonel turned anti-war congressman has said Marines killed at least 30 innocent Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" in Haditha in November, suggesting the death toll may be twice as high as originally reported.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, told reporters Wednesday that he got his information from U.S. commanders, who said the investigation will show that the Marines deliberately killed the civilians.

"There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," Murtha said.

At first, the Marines said the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. Later, they suggested the victims may have been caught in a firefight.

I first read about the Haditha murders from a Time Magazine article and read several subsequent reports from other sources (ABC, Knight-Ridder, AP). Tonight I was listening to a delayed broadcast of the Tammy Bruce Show and once again, Rep. Murtha was the villain. I was glad to hear that one caller defended Murtha's good name but Tammy didn't let that conversation last very long. Later, I listened to FAUX's Brian and the Judge show and Napolitano went so far as to question Murtha's sanity. Cap'n Ed and RedState dutifully follow suit, so the Noise Machine has been busy.

UPDATE: Steve Malzberg, subbing for Slots Bennett, also joined the choir.

UPDATE 2: The NewsHounds report that Shammity was bleeding from his ears about this on his TV show. As I type, his radio show is just beginning and he compared what Murtha said to what John Kerry said AFTER (Kerry testified before Congress in 1971) the Vietnam War.