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If you can survive when the most powerful people on the earth are against you, you must have something powerful on your side.

Justin Sharratt was one of eight Marines originally accused of war crimes over an incident in Haditha in November 2005. He was a lowly lance corporal, making little more than minimum wage in the service of his country.

The Iraqi government wanted to try and convict him, regardless of evidence. The Bush Administration and Pentagon brass wanted to hang him themselves.

The media, supposed champion of the powerless, routinely called him a murderer and never added "allegedly". As a kind of bad cosmic joke, Sharratt's congressman was none other than Representative John Murtha--who told the world that Haditha was cold-blooded murder, exactly like the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The only thing Sharratt had on his side was innocence. At the end of an exhaustive investigation, General James Mattis dismissed charges and left no doubt about it:

With the dismissal of these charges LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat. And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law – and in my eyes – innocent.

Sharratt had been charged with killing four men in Haditha. Four armed men. War is a business of kill or be killed, and he and his squad leader, SSgt Frank Wuterich, shot them before they could kill the Marines.

Of the original eight accused, two remain as defendants in the case. LtCol Jeffrey Chessani and SSgt Wuterich have been in legal limbo for many months, awaiting their chance for justice.

Meanwhile, Sharratt is pursuing justice by suing Congressman Murtha for slander. Murtha continues to ignore the results of the judicial process and has never apologized to Sharratt or his family.

Justin Sharratt never could have survived the legal and media war against him without being an innocent man or a courageous man. He deserves no less than complete exoneration in the court of public opinion. 

Related links:

U.S. Marine sues Rep. Murtha for slander (pdf) UPI, September 26, 2008.

Remaining Haditha cases mired in courts (pdf), Mark Walker, North County Times, September 13, 2008.

Statements from Gen. Mattis on the Capt. Stone and LCpl. Sharratt decisions, August 9, 2007.

Fox News coverage of investigating officer's recommendation, July 11 and 13, 2007.

Investigator urges dismissal of charges against Marine, New York Times, July 12, 2007.

Investigator: Drop Haditha charges against Sharratt, San Diego Union-Tribune, July 11, 2007.

Haditha suspect may be cleared, Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2007.

Officer advises against trial for Marine, Associated Press, July 11, 2007.

Major news! You read it here first! Hearing officer recommends that murder charges against LCpl. Sharratt be dropped!, David Allender, Defend Our Marines, July 11, 2007.

Haditha files:

The evidence room (includes statements to investigators, the Watt and Bargewell reports, the ScanEagle surveillance video, and diagrams of the scenes of the alleged crimes, Iraqi statements, and other documents)

The hearings (summaries and documents in the six Article 32 hearings as well as unsworn statements at the hearings)

Haditha Marine media interviews (also see "Rules of Engagement", the Haditha film on PBS' Frontline)

Families speak out

Murtha slander suit

Legal documents