When a Congressman makes the extraordinary claim that U.S. troops killed innocent civilians "in cold blood," Washington takes notice. And when he's a former Marine and decorated Vietnam vet, the assertion carries special weight. Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, who backed going to war in 2002 but has become a vocal critic of the Bush Administration's handling of Iraq, last week said U.S. Marines were guilty of murdering civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November--an event that was uncovered by TIME in March.
Murtha made his claims after being briefed on an ongoing U.S. military investigation sparked by TIME's story,...