Posted on 06/13/2007 9:30:23 AM PDT by RedRover
Key witnesses and testimony
Day One / Wednesday, May 30
1st Lt. Alexander Martin
A platoon second lieutenant in Haditha in 2005.
Haditha residents were much more cooperative after the Nov. 19 incident, Martin testified.
"After Nov. 19, people would come up to me and tell me where the IEDs were," he said.
[Source: North County Times, New York Times]
Capt. James Haynie
Identified in the press as a bomb strike coordinator and a company commander.
Capt. Haynie also testified that Marines use a computer program to estimate how many civilians are likely to be killed when a bomb is dropped from the air. If more than 30 will die, that is considered a high number of civilian deaths but, "under no circumstances does collateral damage preclude you from delivering ordinance."
[Sources: Associated Press, North County Times]
1st Lt. Max Frank
A Kilo Company platoon commander, given immunity to testify. Lt. Frank arrived on the scene four hours after the insurgent ambush.
Quote: "From my perspective at the time, my assumption was my Marines were doing the right thing....I rationalized it to myself as they were taking fire. The Marines could have come in, yelled at them to come out, and when they didn't come out they cleared the room with a fragmentation grenade....I didn't have any reason to believe that what they had done was done on purpose," Frank said, later adding that he did not believe the deaths represented a violation of the rules of engagement or international laws of armed conflict. "I assumed they had taken fire and they had made a mistake."
[Sources: Associated Press, North County Times, Marine Corps Times]
Sgt. Maj. Edward Sax
The 3rd Battalion's sergeant major.
Testified that Chessani visited Haditha the same day as the ambush, but instead of going to the houses where the women and children died, he inspected another site where Marines had been injured in a separate engagement. The sergeant major advised Chessani not to go to the locations immediately following the killings because it was too dark and dangerous in the area.
Sgt. Maj. Sax, who worked closely with Chessani, called his former boss "by far the strongest moral leader I have ever served with in my life." When asked if Chessani would have investigated the deaths if he'd suspected the Marines had done something wrong, Sax replied: "Without batting an eye."
Sax also testified members of the Haditha town council gave Chessani a written allegation that some of those slain had been rounded up and shot by Marines.
[Source: Associated Press]
____________________________
Day Two / Thursday, May 31
Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury
The prosecutor presentation the government's version of what happened that day.
The prosecutor claimed...
[Source: Los Angeles Times]
W. Hays Park
Lawyer in the Department of Defense. Parks was identified as one of the key authors of the military's rules requiring commanders to report any "possible, alleged or suspected" crime by their troops. Parks said that such rules were adopted after the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, in which commanders made only cursory inquiries in the days after the mass killing.
Called by the government, Parks spent more than six hours on the stand, spending much of it explaining how he helped write a regulation that requires an investigation whenever a "possible, alleged or suspected" violation of the law of war occurs.
Parks testified that the idea behind the rules of investigation is "to encourage the commander to continue the battle but turn over incidents to competent investigators rather than doing it themselves."
He said that the deaths of at least five Iraqi women and children should have raised enough suspicion from Marine commanders for them to order an immediate investigation.
The prosecutor, Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury, described in graphic terms how some of the victims died. He said that the women and children found in a bedroom in one of four homes stormed by the Marines after the bombing appeared to have died from head wounds.
Given that detail, Parks said that even a cursory examination by commanders on the scene should have indicated that something was wrong.
Atterbury then looked at photos of some of the civilians killed in Haditha. He asked Parks whether the fatal shootings of men, women and children, some of them shot in the head, would amount to an incident that merited investigation.
"The substantial number of head shots suggests to me that you have a nonresisting force. ... (It) raises issues," Parks said.
After hearing several descriptions from Atterbury about what happened in Haditha, Parks said: "The fact is, a crime appears to have been committed. How could you not investigate that?"
He testified repeatedly that "when in doubt," commanders must report any potential offense to higher headquarters.
Parks testified that while Chessani had a obligation to report the Haditha deaths to his superiors, he was not responsible for investigating the incident. (Two of the three charges against Chessani involve his alleged failure to probe what happened in Haditha.)
Quote: "You can't use Fallouja-style room-clearing in a place like Haditha," Parks testified.
[Sources: Los Angeles Times, North County Times, San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times]
____________________________
Day Three / Friday, June 1
Maj. Gen. Richard Huck
Former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, who at the time of the incident, was in charge of troops in Haditha. The general testified via video hookup from the Pentagon.
The general’s testimony in the Lt. Col. Chessani hearing changed considerably from his testimony in the Capt. Randy Stone hearing.
According to the Associated Press…
[Investigating Officer] Conlin and prosecutors asked Huck about a Haditha town council meeting Chessani attended eight days after the killings. At that session, prosecutor Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury said local residents gave Chessani written allegations that women and children were targeted inside their homes and that a group of men were "essentially executed" as they stood beside a car with their hands in the air.
Huck said that he should have been made aware of the document but was not, and that he learned that the town council meeting had occurred only when he testified at a hearing last month for another officer charged in the case.
(It should be noted that Col. R. Gary Sokoloski, the general's aide, has refused to testify.)
In the courtroom, Maj. Gen. Huck testified he relied on his lower level commanders for full and accurate reporting of events.
One of the first reports Huck saw indicated that Chessani had gone to the site of the bombing, a factor he said gave him a sense that the battalion commander was getting all the facts. According to other testimony, Chessani did not inspect the site of the ambush.
The general also said that a complaint by the Haditha town council on Nov. 27 that three entire families ---- including several women and children ---- had been killed in one of four homes stormed by the Marines following the bombing should have been brought to his attention. Chessani attended a meeting in which that complaint was issued in writing along with a request by the Iraqis for a formal investigation.
Regarding this report from the Haditha town council, Huck testified: "If that document was presented, this needs to be reported and that commander should be thinking 'Perhaps I should get an investigation started."
According to the Los Angeles Times…
Chessani's report, filed that night, indicated that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb and a firefight that followed between Marines and insurgents barricaded in the homes.
Evidence in Chessani's Article 32 preliminary hearing at Camp Pendleton showed that no weapons or insurgent shell casings were found in the homes and that the homes were more than 100 yards from where a bomb had killed a Marine and wounded two.
Defense attorneys say Chessani let his superior officers know that there had been civilian casualties, including women and children.
Prosecutors respond that the report was misleading in suggesting that the Marines were responding to gunfire and that some of the casualties had been caused by the roadside bomb.
According to the North County Times…
Late in the day of the killings, Chessani sent a report to regimental headquarters stating that 15 civilians and eight insurgents had died....
When asked by prosecutor Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury whether he had ever been made aware that three entire families were killed, including several women and children, Huck said he did not learn about the families until after an investigation was ordered in February 2006.
"I would have expected any new facts or discoveries to be reported," he said.
Atterbury asked Huck whether he had ever learned that Haditha officials alleged within days that the men in the car were students who had been, in the prosecutor's words, "essentially executed by the Marines."
"That should have been reported," Huck said.
Quote: "I think the question is did he report everything that he knew, and I have some questions about that," Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, testifying via video from the Pentagon.
[Sources: North County Times, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times]
Brig. Gen. John Toolan
According to the North County Times….
Brig. Gen. John Toolan also testified via video hookup from Washington, saying he has known Chessani for 18 years and considers him a man of strong values who always gave commanders a straight answer.
Toolan, who oversees Southeast Asia issues for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said he doubted Chessani would sit on bad news.
"I don't have any question that he would ever try to hide it or cover up," Toolan said.
[Source: North County Times]
Lt. Col Christopher Starling
Operations officer, 2nd Marine Regiment, at the time of the ambush. He read Lt. Col. Chessani's daily reports.
Quote: "If there was no sign of the enemy and we killed civilians, that's something that needs to be reported up," Starling, who is deployed at sea, testified via telephone. "Part of our job is protecting the civilian populace. If it's unwarranted, that's something you'd want to look into."
[Source: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times]
____________________________
Day Four / Saturday, June 2
Maj. Samuel Carrasco
Operations officer, 3rd Battalion.
Testified that the last terrorist they found that day went into a house and grabbed a child in order to pretend he was a civilian family member. The only reason the terrorist’s ruse was discovered was that blood was coming from his ears
Recommended that Lt. Col Chessani not visit the site of the ambush. “I was of the opinion that day and still believe that Lt. Col. Chessani could best serve the battalion by staying in the (Command Operations Center),” Carrasco said.
Quote: [In a meeting after the incident] "We said, 'Hey, sir, this is going to get bad very fast if we don't do something,' " Carrasco testified. "He raised his voice, which is something he rarely did, and said, 'My men are not murderers.' We adjourned the room."
[Source: Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union]
____________________________
Day Five / Monday, June 4
1st Lt. Adam Mathes
Kilo Co. executive officer.
Testified that he overheard Chessani and Capt. Lucas M. McConnell talking about how to “spin” the deaths in Haditha. Defense attorney Robert J. Muise accused Mathes of not correctly remembering the conversation.
Testified that he did not believe the killings constituted a violation of the laws of armed conflict.
[Source: North County Times]
Lt. William Kallop
Platoon CO, the only officer on the scene during most of the incident. The lieutenant (granted immunity) testified just prior to the 3/1's third deployment to Iraq.
Testified, as in the Capt. Randy Stone hearing, that he did not believe the slayings represented a violation of the laws of armed conflict.
[Source: North County Times]
____________________________
Day Six / Tuesday, June 5
First Lt. Mark E. Towers
A battalion legal adviser in Iraq in 2005.
Testified to Lt. Col. Chessani's character as "a godly man".
Colonel Conlin asked Lieutenant Towers, who was , if a report by Colonel Chessani’s staff to the regiment stating that the colonel had examined the scene of the civilian casualties “implied that he went there.”
Lieutenant Towers answered firmly, “Yes, sir.”
[Source: New York Times, Los Angeles Times]
Capt. Oliver B. Dreger
Testified that one of the explanations for the deaths in Haditha – that 15 of the Iraqis were killed by a roadside bomb – as “ridiculous on its face.” Also testified that neither he nor other officers felt obliged to correct the accounts about what happened that day in Haditha. That's because the civilians' deaths were linked to combat between Marines and insurgents, he testified.
The errant information was apparently sent to higher military headquarters.
[Source: San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times]
Maj. Carroll Connelley
One of the 1st Marine Regiment's command staff attorneys at the time of the incident.
“I would've asked for an investigation” if reports had documented how no weapons or insurgents were found among the dead civilians, Connelley testified.
He said that in light of the misinformation, especially the premise that civilians got caught up in bona-fide combat, Chessani was not required to investigate the incident further.
"My understanding, at least at the time, was that they were out in the open," Connelly said of the first report, which said 15 civilians had been killed as a result of the bombing and small-arms fire. "(The report) says they were out moving past the vehicles."
If the initial report had in any way indicated that the civilians were killed inside their homes where no insurgents nor weapons were found, Connelly said he would have raised questions.
He also testified that a formal demand for an investigation from the Haditha town council eight days after the killings was never brought to his attention. He said he also did not know until much later that the dead included several women and children found lying in supplicant positions inside a bedroom.
"It was something different than what I had always pictured," Connelly said.
[Sources: San Diego Union Tribune, North County Times]
____________________________
Day Seven / Wednesday, June 6
Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore
Intelligence officer, 3rd Battalion.
Testified that Marine officers decided the deaths were combat-related and thus no investigation was warranted.
According to the Los Angeles Times, in a sometimes bitter exchange with prosecutors, he denounced the Marine Corps for charging Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani with dereliction of duty.
"Politically, the Marine Corps made a decision to hang Col. Chessani out to dry," said Dinsmore, who has served for 20 years and is now deployed to Iraq. He added that he feels the investigation is hurting the corps.
Dinsmore, in testimony that was videotaped earlier this year, said Marines had developed intelligence prompting them to prepare for a complex attack involving roadside bombs and small-arms fire, with insurgents hiding among civilians in their homes.
The events seemed to fit that pattern, he said: A bomb exploding under a Humvee and a nearby firefight that erupted after Marines stormed three houses and killed 19 civilians inside.
With an increasing tone of incredulity, Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, the lead prosecutor in the Article 32 inquiry for Chessani, repeatedly asked Dinsmore whether he had requested a report on the deaths of 24 civilians in the Haditha incident.
"No, sir," Dinsmore answered.
According to the Associated Press, Chessani's defense team called Dinsmore as a witness to describe what was happening around Haditha in the months leading up to the killings. He said insurgents regularly used hospitals and mosques to launch attacks. Men pretending to be asleep in a house shot and killed a Marine when he entered.
"They would exploit any hesitation in order to gain an advantage," Dinsmore said.
After he learned of the roadside bomb blast, Dinsmore said he sent an unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle into the skies above Haditha, where it circled for much of the rest of the day.
The bomb that killed Terrazas was only the first of a citywide series of attacks that left several other Marines injured and insurgents dead, Dinsmore said. He recalled Nov. 19 as being the busiest day of combat in the battalion's tour.
Grainy, black-and-white images captured by the aerial drone were briefly displayed in the courtroom. The photographs showed views of Haditha and what Dinsmore described as insurgents meeting in a palm grove and a house in which they subsequently hid.
Marines went on to raid that house, but several were injured when insurgents threw grenades at them. The Marines then ordered a missile strike that destroyed the house and killed its occupants.
Dinsmore said the feeling among the Marine battalion at the end of the day was that they did well. The commanding general in charge of Marines in Haditha at the time, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, was briefed about the day's combat actions three days later, including details about women and children dying in their homes.
Huck was "congratulatory" about the battalion's actions, Dinsmore testified.
Dinsmore and other Marines initially said eight of the 24 Iraqis killed were insurgents, a claim that was repeated up and down the chain of command and in a press release the day after the attack. But under cross examination from Sullivan, Dinsmore conceded he had no solid evidence to support the claim and said it was possible that all 24 of the Iraqi dead were innocent civilians.
[Source: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press]
____________________________
Day Eight / Thursday, June 7
Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner
Granted immunity to testify.
Testified that 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson "pressured" him to erase photographs of the dead in Haditha from his computer. The reason was that they would not be part of a statement being prepared for top-ranking officers and a Time magazine reporter. Laughner said he felt the order amounted to obstruction of justice but that he complied and later lied when asked whether any pictures had been taken.
Laughner said he didn't know if Lt. Col. Chessani ever saw the photographs.
The sergeant testified that he arrived several hours after the roadside bomb. He said Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who led the troops involved in the shootings, told him the men in the car had "engaged" the Marines with weapons, which Marines encountered an insurgent firing at them in one house and that weapons were found in the houses.
Laughner testified that when he went to the houses to look for evidence of insurgents, he instead found a wounded girl screaming hysterically. Through an interpreter, "she said the Marines came into her house and killed her family," Laughner said.
Lt. Grayson's attorney said he did not attend Thursday's hearing and could not comment on Laughner's testimony.
[Sources: San Diego Union Tribune, Associated Press]
Major Dana Hyatt, the Civil Affairs officer for the battalion, also testified that he knew that women and children had been killed on November 19th, but that this was an unfortunate by-product of war. Major Hyatt testified that he spoke with some of the Marines involved in the clearing of houses from which the terrorists attacked. Major Hyatt stated that one Marine said he heard AK-47s racking.
Maj. Hyatt's testimony was not covered in the media.
____________________________
Day Nine / Friday, June 8
Major Thomas F. Osterhoudt, the 2nd Marine Division Comptroller, testified to his role in paying compensation to the civilians that were killed.
Maj. Osterhoudt's testimony was not covered in the media.
Others testified to Lt. Col. Chessani's character and their testimony was not covered either.
____________________________
Day Ten / Saturday, June 9
Lt. Col. Chessani
The accused gave unsworn testimony in his defense.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani told the investigating officer at his preliminary hearing Saturday that he did not believe he had done anything criminally wrong in the aftermath of a Marine shooting in the town of Haditha that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead.
"I would say to you, I do not believe my decisions and actions were criminal, sir," Chessani told Col. Christopher Conlin.
Chessani, 43, faces a possible court-martial for not calling for a war-crimes investigation after Marines in his battalion killed 24 Iraqis on Nov. 19, 2005....
In a six-minute statement, Chessani said that even if he were to be court-martialed, his feelings for the Marine Corps would not be affected. "I still respect the Marine Corps and I have no hard feelings and I won't, regardless of how this comes out," Chessani said in a clear, almost emotionless voice.
Chessani addressed a key issue of the court hearing: why he didn't visit the three houses where his Marines killed 19 of the civilians, including three women and seven children. Conlin, a former infantry battalion commander, has quizzed several witnesses on the matter.
Chessani said that the day of the shootings was one of "nonstop action," with roadside bombings and firefights throughout Haditha and nearby communities.
He said that when he left his command center, he visited the site of the most significant battle of the day, a firefight in which up to 11 Marines were injured. It ended only when he called in an airstrike to demolish a building where insurgents were hiding, Chessani said.
Testimony by other witnesses indicated that Chessani never visited the three houses where the civilians were killed. The lieutenant who gave the order to "clear" the houses testified that Marines thought insurgent gunfire had come from the direction of the homes.
In his statement, Chessani did not say why he hadn't questioned his Marines about the killings.
Nor did he mention why he allowed a report to be filed that day with his superiors indicating erroneously that he had visited the site of the civilian killings.
Chessani, a Marine for 19 years, is the highest-ranking Marine officer to face charges from Iraq or Afghanistan. He was on his third tour in Iraq.
Several character witnesses praised Chessani for coolness under fire and truthfulness.
"He's a Christian, an upright man," Col. Brennan Byrne testified Saturday in a telephone call from Saudi Arabia. "As a Marine officer, he has shown impeccable integrity. I would trust him with my life."
Quote: "I understand that I am accountable for my decisions and actions, but I do not believe that my actions and my decisions were criminal."
[Source: Los Angeles Times]
____________________________
Day Eleven / Saturday, June 11
And in closing...
From Reuters
U.S. commanders' belief in their Marines blinded them to the reality of events that led to the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005, military prosecutors said on Monday.
"This is a classic case of things gone wrong. You want to believe in your Marine, but sometimes things go wrong," Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, the lead prosecutor, told a military hearing. "There was was an absolute failure of the obligation to investigate the death of these civilians."
Prosecutors made the argument at the end of a 2-week-long evidentiary hearing against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, one of four officers and three enlisted men charged in the killings that sparked international anger.
Chessani, 43, is charged with two counts of dereliction of duty and a count of making a false report. Prosecutors argued that battalion commander Chessani should have immediately investigated the killings.
"There was a mind-set that was established at the Kilo Company base that this is partly the Iraqis' fault," Sullivan told the military proceedings. "No one said, 'Let's ask the hard questions, let's find the answers, let's quietly take a look at what happened out there and learn the hard lessons.'"....
Chessani passed on a letter from the Haditha town council asking for a probe of the killings but did not begin an investigation.
Defense attorney Brian Rooney argued the charges amounted to second-guessing Chessani -- and making a past decision criminal.
"It's entirely possible that the Marines who did the shooting will be cleared for their part, but Colonel Chessani will not only lose his career but could spend time in the brig for having faith in his men," Rooney told reporters.
From the North County Times:
"This case does not warrant criminal charges," said Robert Muise, a civilian attorney representing Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, in court. "The actions he took were in good faith."
Chessani is charged with dereliction of duty for what military prosecutors maintain was his failure to fully investigate the deaths, which followed a deadly roadside bomb explosion on a chaotic day of battle on Nov. 19, 2005.
Chessani was commander of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at the time. His attorneys contend Chessani reported everything he knew about the incident immediately after it happened.
Aside from Chessani, three other officers face dereliction charges for not ordering a probe of the deaths. Three enlisted men from the battalion face murder charges.
Military prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan argued that a deeper probe of the deaths -- which included the killings of two women and five children in homes near the bomb site -- should have been an obvious step.
"I think it was a conscious, willful decision not to investigate," Sullivan said. "That event screamed out for investigation."...
Prosecutors have argued that Chessani's faith in the Marines under his command led him to reject the idea that the fatalities were anything but casualties of war.
"You want to believe in your Marines," Sullivan said, "but that doesn't negate your duty to investigate."
Sullivan also pointed to a letter that the mayor and members of Haditha's city council supplied in English to Chessani in the days after the shootings, asking for an investigation.
"The one man that should have been asking the hard questions was the battalion commander," Sullivan said.
Muise, Chessani's attorney, said the letter from Haditha leaders was a propaganda tool, and that some of them had ties to the insurgency.
He also argued that many high ranking military officers saw the dead as collateral damage in an attempt to ferret out insurgents who may have been hiding in the homes, and that the incident raised no red flags for Chessani's superior officers. None of them called for an investigation either, Muise said.
For the summary of the previous hearing for Capt. Randy W. Stone, click at the link.
For the main thread for the current hearing for LCpl. Justin Sharratt, see here.
Wow! Red, you do great work pulling all the info together in one place. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Thank for staying on top of this !!!!!.....
Excelent summary on the hearing for LtCol Chessani, Red. Thanks for posting.
You da’ man! That was an awesome summary of facts. Can you teach the media outlets how to do that?
Wow! Thank you so much for that compilation of media reports! Excellent work!
Marine Officers Strategized Their Haditha Responses
NPR / Morning Edition, June 12, 2007
A document entered into evidence in hearings related to the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November of 2005 reveals that Marine officers in charge of the squad in question met to discuss how they would handle a reporter's questions about the episode.
After a Marine was killed in Haditha by a roadside bomb, 24 Iraqi civilians were slain in three houses being cleared by a Marine squad. Staff Sgt. Frank Wutterich, who led the squad that day, has been charged with unpremeditated murder.
Hearings on the case against Wutterich and others are under way at California's Camp Pendleton.
Neither Wutterich's battalion commander nor anyone else in the Marine chain of command saw any reason to investigate the civilian deaths, even though several women and children were killed in their homes.
In January of 2006, Time magazine reporter Tim McGirk sent a series of questions to the military asking what had happened in Haditha on the day of the killings, Nov. 19, 2005.
Officers of the battalion in charge of the platoon and squad involved met to discuss their response to McGirk's questions. The notes that emerged from their meeting show how the Marines hoped to shape the story — and to prepare the officers to answer McGirk's questions.
It is unclear which one of the officers wrote a synopsis of their meeting, which was provided to NPR.
McGirk never went out to Haditha to interview those directly involved. He has said that his editors thought it to be too dangerous. Some of the Marines involved in the incident feel that it was unfair for him to file his story without talking to them.
Sgt. Wutterich told CBS's 60 Minutes that he made a logical guess that fire was coming from the houses they cleared. No one in the Marines' chain of command has testified that they saw any reason to suspect that a law-of-war violation had occurred.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the battalion commander, was charged with dereliction of duty for failing to properly report and investigate the incident.
Camp Pendleton is also now hearing pretrial motions on a case prompted by the alleged execution of a 52-year-old Iraqi man by a Marine squad in Hamdania.
Yes, I agree.
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Marine Combat Commanders Give Dramatic Testimony In Support of Lt. Colonel Chessani During Haditha Hearing
ANN ARBOR, MI – Perhaps the most dramatic point in the Article 32 Hearing of Lieutenant Colonel Chessani ─ overlooked by the media ─ was the testimony of LtCol David Furness who declared that if the Marine Corps is going to second-guess its combat leaders by sending them to criminal trials, then this is not an organization he wants to be a part of.
Furness, who had four combat tours in Iraq, two as a battalion commander and two as a senior staff officer, testified that under the circumstances as they existed in Iraq in 2005, the decisions that LtCol Chessani made were appropriate. LtCol Furness provided a refreshing dose of reality to the proceedings, putting LtCol ChessaniÂ’s actions and decisions in the appropriate context of combat. He warned the Investigating Officer that this case could have a long-lasting detrimental effect on future battalion commanders.
In addition to LtCol Furness, LtCol Jeff Kenney, one of the most respected combat veterans in the Marine Corps gave powerful testimony in favor of Chessani as did Major General Johnson in command of the Multi-National Forces West.
Kenney, a combat veteran with 32 years of service in the Marine Corps—twelve as an enlisted Marine and twenty as an officer—testified about his experience in Iraq. In 2005-2006, he was assigned as an advisor to the Iraqi forces that were supporting U.S. troops in the region, including those that supported LtCol Chessani’s battalion. As part of his duties, LtCol Kenney often toured Haditha, providing him an opportunity to observe LtCol Chessani first hand.
Based on his observations, he testified that LtCol Chessani was a focused commander who led his Marines from the front, often placing himself in personal peril by doing so. He testified that LtCol Chessani and his Marines were respected by the local civilians and that they were having tremendous operational success in a very difficult area of operations. LtCol Kenney also provided unique insight with regard to insurgent tactics, specifically including the insurgentsÂ’ use of IEDÂ’s (roadside bombs) to initiate complex attacks from residential areas.
LtCol Kenney spoke from personal experience—his tour in Iraq ended abruptly when his vehicle was hit by an IED containing three 155mm artillery shells and other explosives. LtCol Kenney received near fatal wounds and was awarded the Purple Heart. It was a miracle that he survived the tremendous blast; his companions were not so fortunate.
The sworn testimony of Major General Johnson was introduced to show that he was most concerned about the coordinated attack the enemy was able to perpetrate.
Said Johnson, “I guess maybe if I was sitting here at Quantico and heard that 15 civilians were killed, I would have been surprised and shocked and gone—done more to look into it. But at that point in time, I felt that that was—had been, for whatever reason, part of that engagement and felt that it was just a cost of doing business on that particular engagement.”
Major General Johnson went on to say, “I think that the way this is laid out is that the impression that we were dealing with is that these folks were hit as a result of this coordinated attack that occurred there in Haditha, in that particular incident. That it was reported and that while it is regrettable, I think it was probably considered that at that time an element of the circumstances; and that our thought process would have been that, hey, if the enemy hadn’t done it, those people wouldn’t have got killed.”
Several other witnesses testified that LtCol Chessani was not derelict in his duties and appropriately reported the events of November 19, 2005 regarding the Battle of Haditha to his chain of command. There were also a great many witnesses that testified as to LtCol ChessaniÂ’s good military character and honesty.
The most universal tribute to LtCol Chessani from these character witnesses was that he is a godly, Christian man, with great moral and physical courage.
Thomas More Law Center attorney Rob Muise delivered a powerful and impassioned closing argument on behalf of LtCol Chessani. Afterwards, Muise explained, “I wanted to focus the Investigating officer’s attention on the context of November 19, 2005. Decisions are not made in a vacuum. LtCol Chessani’s battalion had intelligence that told them they were going to be attacked by foreign fighters a couple days before they were actually attacked on November 19th. When they were attacked on November 19th, LtCol Chessani was not surprised. He had to marshal his forces to repulse a brutal enemy that uses women and children as cover and concealment in order to attack and kill Marines.”
Muise also focused on the fact that there were in fact many terrorists in the town that were observed by unmanned aircraft above. There were several engagements that day that were initiated by an IED that killed a Marine and wounded two others. Throughout the day, LtCol Chessani coordinated counterattacks and evacuation of wounded—friend and foe a like. Follow-on intelligence confirmed that the November 19, 2005 attack was the complex attack that LtCol Chessani expected.
Brian Rooney, a Thomas More Law Center attorney also involved in the Hearing, observed, “Rob demonstrated that every level of LtCol Chessani’s chain of command was kept informed of what happened that day and how it happened—including the tragic deaths of civilians that the terrorist used as human shields. That same day, Regimental commanding officer Colonel Stephen Davis, Division commanding General Richard Huck, and even General Casey knew that women and children had been killed as a result of terrorist activities in Haditha.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center who observed several days of the Hearing commented, “Rob and Brian did an outstanding job defending LtCol Chessani. They spent over two weeks at the Camp Pendleton Hearing and were able to shed much needed light and clarity on this misguided prosecution.”
The Investigating Officer will have at least two weeks to write his report to Lieutenant General James Mattis recommending what action should be taken. General Mattis is not bound by this recommendation, but it would be highly unusual if he did not follow it. LtCol Chessani could face a general courts-martial as a result of this Article 32. A general court-martial carries with it the possibility of 3 years in jail and a dishonorable discharge.
Thanks for this release, Red.
It is pathetic that the MSM cannot be bothered with taking the time and making the effort to report at least some of the testimony from experienced combat officers who testified in defense of LTC Chessani. These are men who have actually walked the walk and know under what conditions our military has to operate.
This is only one reason many refer to the MSM as the enemedia. They manipulate the news by omission, embellish the points that support their agenda and out and out lie which in turn rallies the masses to inappropriately believe that which is not true.
Thankfully that pathetic reporting will not affect the decisions of the IO’s in these cases, at least it hasn’t as yet.
Daily Dispatch of LtCol Chessani - Awaiting a Decision
As many of you know from reading our "Daily Dispatches" from the LtCol Chessani Article 32 Hearing, we concluded the hearing on June 11, 2007. One of the strange nuances of an Article 32 Hearing is that the Investigating Officer - in this case Col Conlin - is allowed up to two weeks or more (for good cause) to submit his recommendation to Lt Gen Mattis.
Another nuance is that both the defense and government have an opportunity to submit further written matters on objections that came up during the Article 32. We have received the government's submission and we are in the process of submitting ours, which is due by the close of business today.
Col Conlin will have all matters submitted to him for review today. After today, Col Conlin will write his report. Col Conlin has intimated that he will have his report done by the end of next week.
By rule, Col Conlin must give a copy of his report to both the government and defense counsel at the same time he gives it to General Mattis. General Mattis then can decide either to follow the recommendation of Col Conlin or not. It would be highly unusual for General Mattis not to follow the recommendation of Col Conlin, but the rule does allow for this different course of action.
The recommnedation could be for any number of things to include the following: not bring any criminal charges against LtCol Chessani, take LtCol Chessani to general courts-martial, or deal with these charges administratively - not criminally (there are a number of administrative things that could occur; for example, a Board of Inquiry, punitive letter of caution, etc).
We at the Thomas more Law Center have asked Col Conlin and are hopeful that he will recommend dismissal of all criminal charges. In one of the companion cases involving LtCol Chessani's battalion judge advocate, Captain Randy Stone, the Investigating Officer recommneded dismissal of all criminal charges because the government did not meet a probable cause showing. Captain Stone was charged with the exact same charges LtCol Chessani is charged with.
In another companion case involving one of the actual shooters, LCpl Justin Sharrat, the Investigating Officer - in an unusual move - said to the government, during closing arguments, that their theory of the case did not match the evidence. He further stated that he was inclined to believe LCpl Sharrat acted properly and that he would be recommending dismissal of the charges - to include the murder charge.
We have come a long way from the scandolous remarks of Congressman John Murtha and the yellow journalism of Tim McGirk and Time Magazine. The truth of November 19, 2005 is finally coming out. The support of people like yourselves has in no small way allowed this to occur. We at the Thomas More Law Center have been able to put forward such a robust case because of prayers and contributions you have given to us for LtCol Chessani.
The fight is not over. We still may have to press forward at a general courts-martial. The politics surrounding this case are great. It is truly a "David versus Goliath" battle, but we are confident in the end we will win.
As soon as Col Conlin issues his report, the Thomas More law Center will inform you. Thank you and God Bless you for your contniued support and prayers.
Excellent. Thank you for passing that along.
The waiting has to be just awful for LtCol Chessani and his family. God bless them all.
Lord, let this be over soon.
Thanks, Red. I appreciate the TMLC being open and informative as they have been throughout this process.
This, the common theme to all the individual cases would have been obvious from the start, especially to a pile of "journalists" who had the entire 10,000 page case to cherry pick from.
Murtha/WAPO/Time KNEW the 3/1 was ambushed, and hid the facts while they ambushed them again.
Coordinated/complex attack indeed.
BTW, I've been meaning to ask; didn't the suitcase filled with passports the NCIS "lost" also used to be filled with cash?
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