In my opinion, this deserves a siren. Not so much because it’s “breaking news”, but because it’s extremely important. CNN reports:

Flying over Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005, a small, unmanned spy plane called “Scan Eagle” recorded scenes of heavy fighting — bombings and strafings from the air, and ground work by U.S. Marines seeking insurgents who earlier in the day had set off a roadside bomb that killed one of their members.

Shortly after the bomb attack, Marines hunting the attackers killed 24 Iraqi civilians, leading to murder charges against four Marines a year later.

Charges against two of those Marines have been dropped — one in exchange for his testimony and the other because a hearing officer decided that he followed rules of engagement.

The Scan Eagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial bomb attack on the Marines and does not show the the civilians being killed.

It does show a house from which the military suspected insurgents triggered the bomb — and the wrecked vehicle it left 1,000 yards (about 900 meters) away.

CNN has learned that the Scan Eagle’s video — obtained exclusively by the network — will be introduced as evidence by lawyers for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who is facing 17 murder counts and charges of making a false official statement and trying to get another Marine to make a false statement.

The video appears to show that, throughout that day, Marines engaged in fierce firefights and called in air strikes to level buildings — often with no definitive idea of who was inside.

That could buttress defense arguments that Marines clearing buildings on the ground with guns and grenades were just following rules of engagement.

Emphasis mine. What say you, Congressman Murtha? Charges have already been dropped against 3 of 8 Marines charged. The fourth, the last relating to “murder”, is also expected to be dropped. The remaining deal with operating procedure - not killings. What was it you told Chris Matthews on Hard Ball last year, before you had any evidence? Oh, right:

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me ask you Mr. Murtha to give us some details about that. Draw us a picture of what happened at Haditha.

REP. JOHN “JACK” MURTHA: Well, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. One Marine was killed and the Marines just said we’re going to take care – we don’t know who the enemy is, the pressure was too much on them, so they went into houses and they actually killed civilians. And, and –

MATTHEWS:—was this My Lai? Was this a case of – when you say cold blood Congressman, a lot of people think you’re basically saying you got some civilians sitting in a room around a field and they’re executed.

MURTHA: That’s exactly it.

Tried and convicted by Congressman John Murtha (D-Penn), without any evidence. Actually, evidence to the contrary.

H/t William Amos at Hot Air.