Politics Cantwell Calls For Haditha Investigation
In a nod to some of the anti-war protesters who have taken her to task for trusting Bush & the DOD for her info on Iraq, Sen. Cantwell called for a congressional investigation into Haditha this morning.
David Postman reports on his blog:
During debate this morning on an emergency supplemental bill with money for Iraq and Afghanistan, Sen. Maria Cantwell called for a congressional investigation of the killings in Haditha:“The United State must make sure it does not ever condone indiscriminate, deliberate, killings of civilians.”
She said soldiers accused of wrongdoing should be subject to the military justice system:“But I think we should also play our oversight role here in Congress and make sure that Congress is not leaving the investigation of this issue simply up to the Department of Defense. We need to make sure that Congress is also investigating this issue and giving the accountability and oversight that everyone deserves.”
Here’s a little snippet of the Q&A session (as they recounted to me, anyway) that several anti-war protesters had w the junior senator on May 6—after first staging a sit-in at her Seattle office a week earlier.
Q: How many U.S. soldiers have had to endure a second deployment? Third? Fourth? Fifth?A: I don’t know.
Lietta Ruger, a member of Military Families Speak Out, informed Cantwell that two Fort Lewis soldiers were recently killed on their sixth deployment.
A: [Cantwell was speechless.]
Q: When it comes to gathering information on Iraq, what is your main source of information?
A: The Department of Defense.
It’ll be interesting to see how Cantwell’s move plays w her antsy base & w the McGavick campaign.
Maria needs to stand up for our overstretched armed forces, and ask hard questions and demand answers.
Period.