"No question about it"

That's what John Murtha said when he claimed that there was a coverup of the Haditha incident. The LA Times reports the Murtha was wrong:

Nothing in the report points to a "knowing cover-up" of the facts by the officers supervising the Marines involved in the November incident, the official said. Rather, he said, officers from the company level through the staff of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in Baghdad failed to demand "a thorough explanation" of what happened in Haditha.

I will add the cautionary disclaimer that this is based on a leak from "an official close to the investigation". Accordingly, I'll hold my thoughts until it's official release.

In other news, Reuters reports another incident where three troops are being charged with murder. The details being released reflect badly on those charged:

The three soldiers are accused of deliberately allowing three men detained during a raid on a former chemical factory to flee so they would have an excuse to shoot them, said a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Regardless, these men are entitled to a fair trial without the disgusting and celebratory prejudgement afforded the Marines in the Haditha incident. The military justice system works far better than Murtha or the press will lead you to believe.