THE TENSION: Charges Dropped Against Marines In Haditha Deaths

News in Balance:

While news of Marine Cpl. Marshall Magincalda's conspiracy to commit murder, larceny and housebreaking conviction is one of the most viewed stories on the Internet Friday, another story about the dropping of murder charges against two other Marines has been all but buried

The Associated Press reports all charges have been dismissed against two Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was charged with murdering three brothers. Capt. Randy Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was charged with failing to adequately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, combat action in which women and children were among the dead.

In his decision to dismiss charges, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general with jurisdiction in the case, said he was sympathetic to the challenges Marines on the ground face in Iraq.

"Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield," Mattis wrote in his letter to Sharratt.