[smoothsailing]

I remember that insurgent weapons went missing after the the ambush. I can’t remember for sure if it involved the white car.

At the time and for a while afterward, the incidents surrounding the IED blast and ambush weren’t considered out of the ordinary, so “evidence” wasn’t a thought.

Here’s a link to some of the Chessani testimony where the existence and then absence of weapons is explained...

http://warchronicle.com/DefendOurMarinesExclusive/ChessaniSpeaks-28July10.htm

Red will have more insight into this...

[jazusamo]

Thanks, Smooth. That must be what I vaguely remembered.

[xzins]

Thank you all for tracking down articles mentioning the missing weapons.

Something in my memory links those weapons and the white car. It could be old age creeping up. :>)

In any case, thanks for your insights.

[Girlene]

THanks for that link, smooth. I had forgotten about this:

..........According to Chessani and Muise, a Marine Corps criminal investigator detailed to aid the defense detected a “cut out” in the front of the vehicle similar to other cars the insurgents used to videotape suicide bombers and IED events for propaganda exploitation. The cutout was an inconspicuous hole in the front of the vehicle that provided a space a hidden video camera to see out of. A few weeks before the Haditha incident a different white car was captured by Marines at a check point after videotaping a vehicle borne IED explosion in 3/1’s Area of Operations. It was equipped with a similar device.

Of course that photo is not available for us to look at.

xzins, there was some reporting (whether it was in a deposition, scuttlebut, whatever) that 1 or 2 AK-47's had been leaning against the white car at some point during that day. Now, whether these were the AK's that were picked up from House 4 and just leaned there before being take back to the base or something else....who knows.

[jazusamo]

Sounds like Lt. Kallop's testimony helped the defense.

MILITARY: Former lieutenant defends Marines in Haditha killings