60 Minutes, Scott Pelley, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, and Haditha

On Nov. 19, 2005, United States Marines killed 24 Iraqis in a town called Haditha. That's how I describe what happened there; however, it's not how CBS or 60 Minutes describes it. They prefer to look at what happened in Haditha as a massacre in which American Marines slaughtered 24 "apparently" innocent Iraqi civilians.

Scott Pelley did the interview with Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich for an episode of 60 Minutes that aired on March 18, 2007. Scott Pelley made me want to hurl something directly at his face. Something very large and very heavy. Something that would wipe that phony look of concerned interest right off his face. Something that would obliterate that disgust he could barely conceal while Wuterich struggled to answer Pelley's questions in the best way he could. Something that would make Pelley understand just what it was he was interviewing Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich about.

Because it is my view that Scott Pelley had no clue what he was doing as he questioned Wuterich, verbally probing him for the facts of what took place on November 19, 2005 in Haditha. It appeared to me that what Pelley was trying to get from Wuterich was not the truth of the incident at Haditha. Scott Pelley wanted Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich to own up to murdering innocent women and children, he wanted Wuterich to be sorry for what he did, and then, as the icing on the cake, he wanted Wuterich to say that given the opportunity he wouldn't do the same thing again.

Staff Sgt Wuterich blew it. Not only didn't he confess to massacre and unhinged slaughter, he also said that given the circumstances, he'd do the same thing again. To which Pelley replied, "... you can't mean that." Which made it obvious that Pelley was hoping for the chance to rehabilitate Wuterich of his murderous ways on camera. It was enough to make me reach for the barf bags.

What I want to know is what on earth gives Scott Pelley the right to judge what any US Marine does or did in Iraq while performing his duties and following orders? The incident as Wuterich described it took place in a very short amout of time -- a truck in his convoy was blown up, a Marine was killed by the bomb's impact, and Wuterich and his men immediately searched the area for snipers/insurgents. The Marines responded rapidly, and they followed the training they'd received for combat duty. To do otherwise could very well have cost them their lives, and that's a fact one member of Wuterich's unit knows very well because he previously had been involved in a similar incident in which American soldiers lost their lives in searching a residence for insurgents. Wuterich mentioned that the time from when the bomb exploded until he and his men searched for the bombers was about 2 minutes. Wow! A whole two minutes in which to decide how to proceed so no one else gets killed. Wuterich reacted as his training taught him to react, or to put it another way, he did his job while keeping the welfare of the rest of the men his unit in mind.

And for his trouble he has been charged with 18 murders. Further, CBS has characterized Wuterich's interview with Pelley as his wanting to tell the truth about the day he "decided who would live and who would die in Haditha."

That's not at all what I got from watching Staff Sgt Wuterich and listening to his words. I think it is disgraceful that CBS chose to characterize Wuterich's thought process that way. And if I never EVER see Scott Pelley interview anyone again it will be way too soon. He can take his liberal bias and stick it up his self-righteous ass while he walks through a road full of buried mines in Iraq.

The fact of the matter is that US soldiers are fighting a war in Iraq; one that is unfathomably dangerous and from which more soldiers will not return. The very idea that against the Iraqi insurgents we have to observe rules and regulations about our military conduct is ludicrous. I'm not going to do one of those we-have-to-support-the-troops rants because by now everyone knows (or should now and perhaps let Scott Pelley know) that supporting them is the right thing to do no matter what a person's convictions about war might be. I just want to say that it is wrong and vile and absolutely heinous to undermine the decisions our military has to make in the span of a few seconds or a few minutes when all that faces them is unknown.

It was obvious to me that Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich did not get up the morning of November 19, 2005, scratch his butt, and swear an oath to go out and kill him some of the enemy. Further, when a military unit has to search a residence, they really can't do one of those "Yoooo Hooooo, anybody home?" shoutouts to make sure the women and kiddies are off premises before the grenades get tossed inside. Scott Pelley needs to grow the fuck up because that's what he seemed to think was in order. And maybe that works at the grand old 60 Minutes family picnic, but in a war zone? Not hardly.

I've decided that I don't want to watch another second of coverage about anything on 60 Minutes, but particularly not about the Iraqi war. Further, if I get any indication that Scott Pelley is going to show up on my tv screen, I'll turn the tube off before I'll watch his smarmy, condescending, unctuous, smug face again. Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich has been in my thoughts ever since I saw his interview last night. What a terrible ordeal he has had to suffer through first in Haditha, and now being charged with murder. He was simply doing his job, and for that, I admire his and his unbelievable courage.