Posted on 06/03/2008 9:50:23 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A four-star general testified Monday that a lower-ranking officer did not influence his decision to bring criminal charges against the battalion commander in charge of Marines tied to the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq.
Gen. James N. Mattis also testified there was no pressure from above ---- be it from the Pentagon, congressional contacts or the Marine Corps commandant ---- for him to criminally charge anyone in the Haditha killings.
"I make my own decisions," Mattis said.
(snip)
He also said the intense media spotlight on the killings "had no influence whatsoever" in his decision to bring charges.
"I was uninterested in the media's view," the general said.
Mattis ---- who testified that he does not own a television ---- has a reputation as a strong-willed and well-read leader, and has been dubbed the "warrior monk."
The general's testimony gave a rare peek into the internal workings of his handling of the war crimes cases.
Mattis said he personally pored over the cases and by the end of 2006 had read more than 9,000 pages of evidence and statements.
He said he did so because the troops were operating in the most "ethically bruising, morally bruising" environment he had ever seen, and he didn't want the information about the matter "filtered" through others.
Reading the evidence and investigation materials for himself, Mattis said, allowed him to "bluntly challenge" prosecutors.
(snip)
He said he also had a number of meetings about the cases and that the frequency and duration of the meetings ---- sometimes four times a week, and sometimes running five hours at a time ---- were unmatched by any other meetings he had, including meetings about intelligence, operations and logistics.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
(( ping ))
I apologize in advance if this story was already posted inside a related thread. I don’t remember seeing it and found it to be chock full of info regarding Mattis’s decision-making process.
Also, this writer, Teri Figueroa, does an excellent job in my opinion.
And that, Mattis said, "was enough to make me dismiss any input from him."
In the course of that investigation, Ewers took Chessani's official statement ---- a role that makes him a potential witness in Chessani's criminal case
I wonder if the prosecution is trying to keep UCI inquiries topped out at Mattis's level, or focused on Mattis himself, knowing that there are far more onerous issues scattered amongst the cast of this carnival.
For instance, it would handy to know who assigned Ewers to Mattis as lead legal advisor, apparently after Ewers was knee deep in the biggest criminal investigation in the Corps history, one in which Mattis personally read thousands of pages of documents, and which he could not consult with Ewers about???
IOW, was Ewers "forced" on Mattis, and by whom?
And who else has Ewers advised on Haditha? I believe the crux of the evidence currently available is that Ewers is responsible for a great deal of UCI. Mattis is obviously going to be tight lipped, whether to save his star from turning into a censure letter or a feeling that he did the best he could for his men and this was not his doing, I do not know.
Having the SECNAV publicly handing out 3 censure letters while dangling his 4th star in front of him could be compelling.
It'd sure be nice to have a list of everyone Ewers advised or was advised by on Haditha, ditto for Winter.
Good question.
Mattis said that before Ewers was assigned as his legal adviser....
As you noted, "Ewers was assigned"... by whom? Mattis clearly did not choose Ewers, so who would "assigned" Ewers to a three-star general, some lower-ranking officer, or a higher ranking officer? I don't know how that works, but whoever assigned Ewers knew, or should have known, that Ewers couldn't perform the function for which he was assigned - - legal advisor! - - because of the obvious conflict of interest. Yet there he was...
I don’t think this article was ever posted, and yes, it’s a little more informative than the no frills AP writeup on Mattis’ testimony.
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