Posted on 04/03/2007 7:47:39 AM PDT by RedRover
ANN ARBOR, MI – Six officers and one senior enlisted Marine gave sworn videotaped testimony last week that nothing they saw or heard concerning the so called “Haditha Massacre” of November 19, 2005 caused them to suspect that any Marine had purposely killed any Iraqi civilian or that any officer was involved in a cover-up of the incident.
The Thomas More Law Center is representing Marine Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, who is charged with failure to investigate and brief higher command of the incident. The defense team also includes Marine Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Jon Shelburne—a law professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, and Marine Captain Jeff King. The sworn videotape testimony for use at the proposed May 2007 Article 32 hearing was taken because the witnesses were being deployed out of the country and would not be personally present at the hearing.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan is defending Chessani at no cost. Law Center attorneys assigned to handle the case, Robert Muise and Brian Rooney, are both former Marine officers. Rooney served seven months in Iraq and Muise served in the first Persian Gulf War.
Brian Rooney, the Law Center spokesperson, commented, “The more evidence that is brought to light from key witnesses the better. There is so much misreporting and outright propaganda from the enemy presented as fact by news organizations like Time magazine that we have started in on the process of debunking false reports through the truth with these depositions.”
One key witness was the intelligence officer for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines while the unit was deployed to Iraq. During his closed testimony, the officer testified for nearly eight hours, providing classified evidence of the enemy situation and their tactics, including their tactic of using civilians as cover for their attacks. Through this witness, the defense team presented over one hundred classified exhibits, including video. Muise, the Law Center attorney who questioned the officer, commented, “The intelligence officer is a crucial witness in this case. During his testimony, he effectively described the enemy situation prior to, during, and after the November 19 terrorist attack, providing the necessary context for the decisions that were made as a result. His testimony shows the complexity of the attack this day, the callousness of the terrorists toward the local civilians, whom they use to their advantage, and the error of viewing this incident in a vacuum.”
The officer also showed how the insurgents used allegations of wrongdoing by Marines as propaganda to support their cause. In fact, another witness, who was the assistant intelligence officer during the attack and is now the current intelligence officer for the battalion, testified that since the Haditha incident received so much negative attention, terrorist propaganda alleging law of war violations against American servicemen in Iraq has “ballooned.”
Richard Thompson, the President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, expressed concern about this trend, “The government’s politicized quest to find wrongdoing in this case will ultimately harm the war effort, and it has already resulted in an incredible expenditure of time, money, and scarce resources, which could be better used fighting the terrorists.”
Another officer who personally witnessed the scene of the attack shortly after the fighting and assisted with removing the civilian bodies from the insurgent-occupied homes, confirmed that there was no evidence of “executions” and that he saw no evidence of misconduct. This officer was testifying under a grant of immunity by the government, adding further credibility to his testimony.
Lieutenant Colonel Shelburne, the military defense counsel who questioned this officer, noted, “This officer’s testimony is significant. He was on the scene shortly after the attack. He saw the location of the bodies. He personally observed the damage caused by the attack. And yet, he saw nothing that caused him to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of the Marines. Moreover, this officer was given immunity by the government, so the only way he can get in trouble is if he testifies untruthfully.”
Another key point shown by witness testimony was that there was absolutely no evidence of a “cover up.” The Marines promptly reported the attack, including the fact that civilians had been killed, up the chain of command. In fact, a briefing was given to a high-ranking general officer just days after the terrorist attack, informing the general of the civilian deaths. And the witnesses uniformly recounted being instructed by senior officers in the battalion, including Lieutenant Colonel Chessani, to tell the truth when questioned about the incident—the battalion had nothing to hide. As one witness told the attorneys, the notion that there was any sort of a cover up is “ridiculous.”
Said Thompson, “Our job is to allow the facts of November 19, 2005 and beyond to be presented to the investigating officer rather than the scurrilous and unfounded accusations from anti-war politicians and media who rely on insurgent sources for their stories about our decent and hard fighting men in uniform.” The maximum punishment at a General Court-Martial that Lieutenant Colonel Chessani could face is dismissal (an officer’s equivalent of a dishonorable discharge), loss of retirement, and imprisonment of up to 3 years.
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org.
Anybody know if these press releases are being picked up by any major media sources? I like their approach, taking it to the public, but is it getting there?
Hey, Red, they must have read your article. ... “His (intelligene officer) testimony shows the complexity of the attack this day, the callousness of the terrorists toward the local civilians, whom they use to their advantage, and the error of viewing this incident in a vacuum.”....
Sounds like they’re accusing Murtha and Times of helping the enemy, ...”since the Haditha incident”... “terrorist propaganda alleging law of war violations against American servicemen in Iraq has “ballooned.” I’m SHOCKED, I tell ya!
But Murtha said they were guilty. That is proof enough for the MSM, so who cares now?
Yup, that’s the MSM attitude in a nutshell. The interesting thing about Thomas More’s involvement is that they have a pipeline to the conservative Christian media. Hope we get some coverage there.
I believe, hope and pray that these Marines are innocent - and will be found so.
Hundreds of thousands have served nobly and honorably; they receive no public recognition. A single incident of alleged misconduct - albeit egregious if true - gets breathlessly reported over and over.
The Thomas More Law Center has a large following and a large e-mail list. Beyond that, I don’t know what response there has been from Christian print/electronic media at this point.
I haven’t heard anything from the drive bys since they convicted the Marines in the media. I sure would like to see someone pick this up.
On CNN, on May 21 '06, Murtha was asked by Wolf Blitzer, "How do you know [the massacre] happened?"
Murtha answered, "Because Time has pictures."
Pictures may show a tragic result of an engagement, but not whether ROE had been followed and not what the combat action was like.
Later, Murtha appeared on ABC's This Week and claimed that the incident in Haditha will be worse for the American war effort than Abu Ghraib.
Making things "worse" for the American war effort was Murtha's aim. And it looks like he succeeded.
We'll see what, if any, media interest revives for the first Article 32 on the 17th.
I wonder if it comes with a bidet?
I've only seen a couple of the whiskered drama queen's episodes, one of which was a smack down by our amazingly eloquent second lady, who demanded to know where CNN got their video of terrorists shooting at our troops. Woofie wouldn't resond, but the answer hung in the air...."From the Terrorists, of course!"
God bless Lynn Cheney, she just started yet another day off on a positive note for me! Gotta love her.
NORTH COUNTY ---- The highest-ranking Marine accused of helping cover up two dozen civilian killings in Iraq in 2005 did nothing wrong in the eyes of several officers and a senior enlisted man called as witnesses in the case, the accused officer's attorneys are contending.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani properly reported his knowledge of what happened when a squad from Camp Pendleton killed 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha after the squad's convoy was attacked on Nov. 19, 2005, according to Brian Rooney, one of Chessani's attorneys.
"He went out into the field that night and the next morning to look at the battle sites in Haditha and he reported up the chain of command exactly what he knew," Rooney said Monday during a telephone interview.
Rooney and Robert Muise, two former Marine Corps officers, are representing Chessani free of charge through the auspices of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. The nonprofit center works on anti-abortion causes and defends conservative Christians accused of wrongdoing.
In sworn statements of seven Marine Corps officers and a senior enlisted man taken by the attorneys at Camp Pendleton last week, none indicated that Chessani failed to carry out his responsibilities in reporting the incident, Rooney said. The statements were videotaped because the men are deploying to Iraq soon, he said.
"What Col. Chessani told the chain of command, and what these other officers reported right up through their regiment and to division headquarters, were the facts," Rooney said. "There was an engagement and the Marines responded."
Chessani was relieved from his post as 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment commander when the unit returned from Iraq in the spring of 2006. He remains on duty at the base pending the outcome of his case.
Chessani and three other officers from the regiment were charged on Dec. 21 with what the Marine Corps contends was failing to report a violation of the law of armed conflict, specifically the alleged unwarranted killing of civilians.
Four enlisted men under Chessani's command, including squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, were charged with murder and negligent homicide. They remain on limited duty.
The incident began when the roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee and killed Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. The Marines responded by killing five men who emerged from a taxi that happened upon the scene. They then killed 19 others, including several women and children, while assaulting three nearby homes.
Wuterich faces 13 counts of murder, two counts of soliciting another to commit an offense and making a false official statement. He appeared on the CBS program "60 Minutes" last month and defended his actions. The Marine Corps contends he committed murder by killing or directing the killing of people he was not certain were enemy combatants.
Rooney and Chessani's other attorneys have been much more vocal than any of the other accused officers' attorneys. They argue in a fresh round of publicly distributed releases from the Thomas More Law Center that the native Coloradan is a "political scapegoat" of anti-war efforts led by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., and Time magazine, which was the first to report the Haditha incident.
"The allegations from Murtha and a one-sided Time report that a massacre had occurred led to pressure and resulted in the notion that there may have been a cover-up when there was nothing of the sort," Rooney said.
The depositions, he said, help "debunk the false reports."
Marine prosecutors will not comment on the Chessani prosecution or any other pending cases.
From their interviews and review of two voluminous reports on what happened at Haditha, Rooney said it appears to him that what the enlisted men did that day was not a violation of the rules of engagement but simply a response to being attacked.
Rooney said there were two other insurgent attacks in Haditha that day leading to 11 Marines being injured. The attacks were all part of what he said was a coordinated effort.
Chessani's initial court hearing is set for mid-May but could be put off until the end of that month because of scheduling issues.
"We plan a very robust Article 32 hearing because we are not afraid of the facts and the more facts that come out the better," Rooney said.
A father of five who has been in the Marine Corps for 19 years, the 42-year-old Chessani was on his third assignment to Iraq when the killings occurred. The other officers accused of similar offenses are Capts. Lucas McConnell and Randy Stone and 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson.
I'd just like to point out that this is exactly what we've saying, based on a close reading of the facts. Hope this witness will be available in the earlier trials as well.
Awesome that North County Times is picking this up!
I still find the charges against Chessan really odd. He is charged with a violation of a lawful order to accurately report and thoroughly investigate a possible, suspected, or alleged violation of the law of war by Marines under his command.
His defense is trying to show he did investigate, he visited the site, he did report to higher ups, he did use due diligence in making sure what his men did was within the ROE. Now that a case has been brought against 4 Marines in combat, he should have known this was going to happen? What else was he supposed to do? Collect ballistics, do some blood pooling analysis in his back room, call NCIS up on speed dial and ask them to purty please investigate my men further, ‘cause I’m sure they’re lying. Come on. The prosecution is second guessing Chessani and the command after NCIS got involved with a new agenda.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
18 U.S.C. § 2381
Always a good one!
http://www.altoonamirror.com/Business/articles.asp?articleID=10569
JOHNSTOWN — A contract to build cables for the U.S. Army’s ‘‘Sidecar’’ project will create 35 to 40 jobs at DRS Laurel Technologies, the company’s general manager said Monday.
It’s an 18-month contract that could be extended far beyond that, he added.
~~~~~~~~~~
‘‘DRS has established themselves as one of the community’s leaders in creating and sustaining local jobs,’’ said 12th District U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, who made the announcement outside the company’s Richland Township facility. ‘‘This high-tech manufacturing company continues to attract talented leaders and employees, and it strengthens Johnstown’s manufacturing economy.”
My ping must have been on the slow boat and no I am not.:)
I’ve been reading We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines who Took Fallujah by Patrick O’Donnell.
This description of training at Camp Pendleton jumped out at me:
Clearing is more an art than a science, but normally a ten- or eleven-man squad or fire team “stacks”—or line ups—on the side of the house. Each Marine in the stack has a sector to cover: high, low, rear, and the most dangerous area, “the fatal front” or “fatal funnel of fire”, where most of the room’s defenders aim their fire. The crucial players piercing the fatal front are known as the Number One and Number Two man. They create a “breach”, typically through a door, either by kicking it open or blowing it open with explosives. Before entering a room, the Marines usually slam in a hand grenade, to stun or disorient, or—ideally—kill any enemy combatants occupying the room. Next, the Number One man charges through the entrance, followed by the Number Two man. As they enter the room, they spray their weapons into the fatal funnel, and then hit the corners….The key is momentum and keeping the enemy off balance.
In the real world, things rarely work out like the textbooks. According to one senior Marine NCO, “The training is just a baseline. There are so many things that can throw you off, such as what if a couch catches on fire from a grenade or the room is filled with dust and debris after the grenade went off and you can’t see in the room (a common occurrence in the stone houses in Iraq). Plus, you didn’t want to set a pattern so the enemy could anticipate how we clear rooms. We taught our guys to improvise and modify things based on the variables they encountered.”
And the Haditha Marines are on trial because...?
“And the Haditha Marines are on trial because...?”
Because they followed their training at room-clearing. As Frank said, “That’s what we do, that’s our training.” They were told to take the house where small arms fire originated from’ they followed their training. Unfortunately, innocents were behind the fire. Unfortunately, stringers and home-grown media saw an advantage at either harming America or maybe a Pullitzer. Unfortunately, Murtha saw a way to promote his withdraw the troops plan. Unfortunately, some in the military brass were either weak or saw this as an avenue for their own purposes.
SMOKEY wrote on April 03, 2007 2:22 PM:
"This is pretty sad. Call me old fashion but I dont think our commander and cheif should send our Marines off to war and then be suprised when people end up dead. Thats what Marines do they kill and destroy. Thats their JOB. War is hell And I want our Marines to rain hell down on our enemys who are willing to die for their cause. we should al least be willing to kill for ours. Marines are not SWAT teams, They are not cops, they are trained killers. make no mistake about that SEMPER FI"
Concerned-1 wrote on April 03, 2007 3:28 PM:
"I'm glad someone is standing up to Murtha and the liberal jelly-backs that have trumped up these charges. If guys like this were around in WWII we'd all be speaking German and Japanese!"
Sounds Stupid Smokey: wrote on April 03, 2007 5:05 PM:
"So if a marine goes bezerk in Oceanside and kicks down a few doors and shoots up a neighborhood and kills a couple of families, are you prepared to shrug it off, and say, "thats what they do, they kill and destroy". "
Harry wrote on April 03, 2007 5:31 PM:
"To sounds stupid author. Where do you get off comparing apples to oranges. These men are in another country fighting our enemy.Yes,yours and mine. They are trained to respond under the rules of engagement and know there jobs very well. It is peace activists like you and MURTHA tat are the real problem. How would you react if someone was shooting at you. I mean without crawling under a car? Woe be the day you have to face a combative situation. Just let them kick sand in your face and whine home to Mama. An old combat Marine and damn proud of it."
I knew there had to be a reason! ;)
Hey, lily, that ping was a bullet in slo-mo.
You know, the longer this stuff with Haditha goes on and the more the UCMJ gets exposed to ordinary people, the more ordinary people realize how little the UCMJ mirrors what normal civilians expect under their constituion or state law.
I think Chessani is being charged under article 92, Failure to obey order or regulation. see link - http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm92.htm
The text for this article is so general and so vague, anybody in the military could probably be charged under this article for displeasing someone higher up. Remember the saying about a grand jury could endite a ham sandwich? This article could be used to charge a ham sandwich in the military.
I especially “like” this explanation under the violation of obeying a lawful order, “(d) Knowledge. Knowledge of a general order or regulation need not be alleged or proved, as knowledge is not an element of this offense and a lack of knowledge does not constitute a defense”.
So in other words, Chessani didn’t have to have “knowledge” that he would be second-guessed after the Times reporters started digging. He should have known there would be further investigations, that possibly his Marines would have been charged, that NCIS would take Iraqi witness testimonies as evidence of a possible crime....you get the drift. This charge says he “wrongfully failed” to know all of this. His investigations weren’t enough after the fact; now’s he’s facing charges.
Sure sounds like these Marines are going to walk free one of these days.
Hi, Uncle! May the day come soon.
I second that one Red.
By MIKE McKIBBIN The Daily Sentinel
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
RANGELY -- A former Rangely resident in charge of a Marine Corps squad that was accused of two dozen civilian killings in Iraq in 2005 followed proper procedures, according to one of his attorneys.
Brian Rooney of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., said Tuesday that depositions given by eight fellow Marines who served with Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani found he "did nothing wrong, he reported and investigated everything the way he was supposed to."
Rooney served seven months in Iraq and is representing Chessani at no charge. The nonprofit center works on anti-abortion causes and defends conservative Christians. Chessani, 42, and a 1982 Rangely High School graduate, was in charge of the 1,000-troop 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton, Calif., in the city of Haditha when a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee and killed a Marine corporal on Nov. 19, 2005.
Twenty-four Iraqis died in the shooting, including women and children. Rooney said 13 Marines were injured in Haditha that day.
Marine officials would not comment on Chessani's case. Four enlisted men under Chessani's command were charged with murder and negligent homicide. They remain on limited duty.
Chessani was reassigned to desk duty at Camp Pendleton after the incident. A father of five and 19-year Marine Corps veteran, Chessani was on his third assignment to Iraq when the incident occurred. He also served in the Gulf War and Panama invasion.
Bill Mitchem, a retired science teacher, was class sponsor for some of Chessani's high school years.
"I knew something else was going to happen with this," he said Tuesday. "There's probably no way anyone is going to know exactly what happened every step of the way. But just from knowing Jeff, I can't see him in any way responsible for this."
Rooney said recently declassified information about the Haditha incident led to the videotaped depositions of seven Marine Corps officers and a senior enlisted man at Camp Pendleton last week.
All have or will soon be returning to Iraq, Rooney said, and will be unavailable to testify when a Marine hearing occurs in the case on either May 14 or May 30.
"All these officers were on Lt. Col. Chessani's staff," Rooney said. "It was clear from the testimony up and down the chain of command that he had the right information, and it was unfortunate collateral damage that resulted in the killing of civilians."
"This case is different, too, because you have some in the news media like Time and (U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.) prejudging the case and callingthese Marines 'cold-blooded murderers,'" Rooney said. "We want Americans to know their soldiers are not murderers and did not try to cover anything up."
Other witness testimony said there was "absolutely no evidence of a cover-up," a news release from the center said. A high-ranking general officer was briefed just days after the incident to inform him of the civilian deaths.
Witnesses uniformly recounted being ordered by senior officers, including Chessani, to tell the truth when questioned about the incident, the release said.
The maximum punishment Chessani could face at a general court-martial is dismissal, an officer's equivalent of a dishonorable discharge, loss of retirement and up to three years in prison.
Lejeune-based Marines take aim at close-quarters combat training
Pfc. Daniel R. Todd
CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, Okinawa (Nov 9, 2006) — Artillery Marines assigned to 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, are typically tasked with providing long-range fire support. But as the Global War on Terrorism continues to be waged room-to-room, the Marines are preparing for anything.
The Marines, with F Battery, 2nd Bn., 10th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., are in the last month of their unit deployment here and used the facilities at Combat Town to conduct Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain training Oct. 30-31.
“Less artillery is being used (in operations overseas) now, so participating in this training helps to broaden the skill sets of our Marines and become a more flexible unit,” said Capt. Arnaldo Colon, the commanding officer of F Battery.
To develop these skill sets, the Marines practiced missions they may encounter in an urban environment including taking over an enemy stronghold, manning an entry control point and capturing a “high-value target” for interrogation.
The Marines also incorporated simulation rounds, similar to paint pellets, and mock improvised explosive devices to add to the realism of the training.
“Without the (simulated) rounds I don’t think that I would have realized how important this training really is,” said Lance Cpl. Andrew Osburn-Davis, a field artillery cannoneer with F Battery and native of Nashville, Tenn. “Just seeing how many casualties we would have taken during some of the scenarios made me realize that we really need to have this training to survive.”
The senior Marines in the unit acted as insurgents for many of the scenarios. After each event, they critiqued the junior Marines on what they could have done better. Many of the unit leaders were combat veterans and stressed that Marines of all ranks have to make crucial decisions on the battlefield.
This message appeared to resonate well as the artillerymen progressed through training. “At first the Marines were lost, suffered many casualties and were not able to complete their missions,” said Cpl. James McMahon, a field artillery fire controlman with F Battery. “But in the last few scenarios we ran, the Marines didn’t hesitate at all and did exactly what they needed to get the job done.”
The artillery Marines now have a basic understanding of how to operate as a squad in close-quarters combat and a little experience in making quick decisions, said Colon.
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/public%20affairs%20info/archive%20news%20pages/2006/061109-lejeune.html
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