I have to say that the comments made on national television by retired Marine Colonel Murtha stunned me right down to my toes.

I never thought I would live to see the day that a Marine, a former officer would so cavalierly throw his fellow Marines under the bus. The fact that Mr. Murtha is doing this for political gain makes me feel like throwing up.

It is patently obvious to me that Mr. Murtha is seizing this alleged tragedy as a way to discredit President Bush, but he is sullying his beloved corps in the process, and sending a clear signal which is more important to him. Its politics over the Marine Corps and for this, Mr. Murtha should hide his head in shame!

It seems to me that, rather than yelling from the rooftops that there was a cover up, rather than acting as the judge and jury of these Marines, he should be advising caution. He should be protecting the constitutional rights of his brother Marines. Instead, Mr. Murtha has already tried and convicted these Marines in the court of public opinion and embarked on a disgraceful, partisan campaign to push responsibility for this alleged incident as far up the chain of command that he can. For political gain.

Where is the sympathy for a squad of overworked grunts who could well have been on their second or third deployment in the GWOT? These Marines had allegedly just witnessed their squad leader get blown to pieces. An emotional reaction is completely understandable, and while the commission of this alleged crime is not out of the question, the fact is that we simply do not know all the facts yet. This should be Mr. Murtha's guiding principle in this matter. But it seems that he feels he must strike while the iron is hot, and facts be damned.

I find Mr. Murtha's conduct to be disgraceful, most un-Marine like and repugnant. Mr. Murtha's membership as a Marine should be revoked post haste.