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“So is this justice? Not really. Having promised a full and open inquiry, the Corps held many hearings in secret session, held the findings secret, and released its decision on the disposition of the case on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day, the perfect time to bury such news in a long holiday weekend. The Corps wanted this to just go away because of the embarrassment it caused and the doubts it cast on the fledgling Marine Corps Special Operations Command. Now, there are also lingering doubts over whether justice was indeed done, and worse, open questions about the credibility,...

Professionals that cannot change themselves from within, cannot respond to the needs of their constituencies while also inspiring the admiration and loyalty of their own members are in trouble.--"Tarnished Brass: Is the US Military Profession in Decline?" by Richard H. Kohn, World Affairs, Spring 2009 When General Conway took over as the Marine Corps Commandant, he went on the speech circuit talking about the “long war”. One speech was made at the Marines’ Memorial Association and World Affairs Council, in San Francisco, California on July 10, 2007. In that speech, General Conway stated, “we have a couple of incidents in...

Last night on Freedom Radio, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Weimann talked about his open letter to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren. Within it, 'Capt Roger Hill Case: Mister Secretary, it's time to end the double standard,' LTC Weimann demonstrates that political considerations have endangered the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and resulted in more than a few unjust prosecutions of our troops. Battlefield evidentiary requirements will be addressed within a revamp of the Military Commission Act (that was nearly hidden within Friday's White House announcement). With due respect to President Obama, those few select Members of Congress with...

I missed two award ceremonies this past week and these two ceremonies make interesting contrasts regarding Marines. I must admit that I was not invited to the first ceremony nor is there any earthly reason why I should have been. I read about it in a Bing West article, "Distinguished Disservice: In honoring Murtha, the Navy insults its own". Mr. West, a Marine veteran, is the noted author of several books. His latest is an excellent work about the Iraq War entitled, The Strongest Tribe. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Donald C. Winter, awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award...

Sgt Ryan Weemer, accused of killing an unarmed man during the battle of Fallujah. Acquitted by a jury of eight officers who had been in combat. Good thing Jack Murtha wasn't on the jury; he would have likely voted for conviction before the first witness was sworn. Tell me again how he keeps winning elections. And then fix it, please.

CAMP PENDLETON -- A military jury this morning acquitted Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi insurgent during the battle for the city of Fallujah in 2004. The 26-year-old Illinois native hugged his attorney, who broke into tears on hearing the not-guilty verdict. Weemer's wife, sister and high school English teacher, who attended each day of the trial that started March 30, also cried as the decision was read. Weemer was charged last year with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty. Prosecutors alleged that as a corporal, he killed one of four captive insurgents the government...

During a March 22, 2009, Freedom Radio interview, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Weimann discussed the improper command influence that occured throughout much of the Haditha investigation. The 'Sins of the Generals' were many and began even before Tim McGirk's insurgent talking-points driven Time magazine article. The top brass violated both the spirit and intent of the 1986 'Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reform Act'. The combat commander was the convening authority yet politicians, those outside the chain-of-command, and others improperly interjected themselves, let media buzz and enemy propaganda into their decision cycles, and forced further investigation even after Army Colonel...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Monday start of a trial for the second of three men accused of killing four unarmed captives during a 2004 battle in Iraq has been delayed. Sgt. Jermaine Nelson was scheduled to go on trial in a base courtroom on a charge of unpremeditated murder for allegedly shooting one of the captives. No bodies were ever found in a case built almost exclusively on an admission from one of the defendants. Nelson also is charged with three counts of dereliction of duty for failing to follow the rules of engagement, the laws of war and the...

On this, the third Christmas that we've been following the Haditha travesty, I wanted to give a seasonal shout-out to all the pals I've made over these past three years. Many are known to me, and to each other, only by screen names on Free Republic. Still, you're all like my extended family, and so here's a list of my Christmas wishes for you... For Girlene, a millionaire Boyene or a pony (your choice). For ticked, a blog that has more readers than the New York Times (God knows you deserve it). For lilycicero, a million smiles all your own...

A Houston defense attorney on Thursday exhorted peers in Oklahoma County to embrace their "special responsibility.” Jack Zimmerman said it is vital for attorneys to be willing to stand between the government and those overmatched individuals it tries to put in prison. "When you’re dealing with liberty, and not money, you have a special responsibility,” he said. Zimmerman on Thursday discussed one of his recent cases — involving a former Edmond Marine accused of murdering civilians in Iraq — at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association at the Cox Convention Center. He detailed his defense...

Initially, when the Haditha story broke, a number of things did not make sense to me and sent my mental warning flags flying. One of the concerns was that so many of the Pentagon generals seem to be involved while the investigations were still being conducted. In addition, the Washington generals were not relying on the combat commanders in Iraq to establish the facts of Haditha but were responding to the Washington political pressure and media. Another flag was the censure and relief of the Marine Corps combat chain of command. Again, the censures and relief occurred before the investigations...

Watch the interview at the source: Fox News (while it's up). Or see it now in Windows Media or as a Flash file (these are large files: they will take a couple-few minutes to load). Interview transcript:MEGYN KELLY: It has been one of the most talked about stories of the Iraq War: the so-called Haditha Massacre. Two dozen Iraqis killed by US Marines. After the news first broke, Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha, a former Marine himself, was quick to condemn the accused Marines, saying they quote “murdered these Iraqis in cold blood”. Take a look at this exchange from MSNBC......

Justin Sharratt and his attorney, Noah Geary, kicked off their media tour this morning on KDKA Radio. The two are publicizing the slander lawsuit against Congressman Murtha. (For more, see HERE.) The morning show on KDKA, with host Marty Griffin received an appalling number of calls from slander-lovers who stuck up for Murtha, the Slime Thing. Justin and Noah are scheduled to be on the Steve Malzberg show at 4:45 (though that can change with breaking news). Click HERE for more information Steve's show. Please consider calling the show at 1-800-321-8828 and let Justin and Noah know that real Americans...

Former Marine lance corporal, Justin Sharratt, files suit against Congressman John MurthaSecond defamation suit to be filed by a Marine who Murtha said "murdered innocent civilians in cold-blood". Sharratt is a constituent of Murtha in Pennsylvania's 12th District. Press conferences tomorrow. Developing. Story to follow.

Government Drops Contempt Charges Against Sergeants Weemer and NelsonThis is a developing story. For background on the contempt charges, see here.

The CBS television network battled it out with the Marine Corps Wednesday morning at the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. The fight is over outtakes from a 60 Minutes interview with a Marine sergeant accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Lawyers representing the three sides (the Marine Corps, CBS and SSgt Frank Wuterich) told the five-judge panel why, and why not, the Marine Corps should be entitled to video recordings the news program didn’t use. The interview was conducted by correspondent Scott Pelley for the 60 Minutes investigation, "The Killings in Haditha". It...

Defend Our Marines main page  Who’s Behind the Government’s Delay in Bringing the Haditha Case to a Close? Defend Our Marines | Rusty Howell and David Allender [pdf] September 11, 2008 -- It’s fitting that the last remaining defendant in the Haditha case is the squad leader, SSgt Frank Wuterich. Real leaders take responsibility, and SSgt Wuterich has taken full responsibility for the actions of his squad in Haditha. He has also expressed deep remorse for any civilians who were killed as a result of those actions. Over the past 18 months, Wuterich, still waiting to clear his name,...

Defend Our Marines | Nathaniel R. Helms | Thursday, September 4, 2008 [pdf]Riverside, California – A reporter quickly learns that nothing is ever as it seems. That was never more apparent than at the recent US District Court trial of a former Marine acquitted of war crimes that allegedly occured in Fallujah, Iraq almost four years ago. Former sergeant and infantry squad leader Jose L. Nazario was a Riverside Police Department probationary patrolman when he was arrested last year by federal agents and charged in US District Court with killing two enemy prisoners of war. “Was” is the operative word...

Developing story...

Riverside, California--A jury of 12 civilians began deliberations Wednesday afternoon in the case of a former Marine infantry squad leader accused of killing four unarmed insurgents in Fallujah Iraq almost four years ago. Former Sgt. Jose L. Nazario faces federal charges of voluntary manslaughter, abetting murder, assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully using his firearm. Assistant US Attorney Jerry Behnke took the first shots in closing arguments that began Wednesday morning. Before offering closing arguments, he offered the jury of nine women and three men a surreptitiously recorded telephone conversation between the former squad leader and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson,...

Riverside, California--After two years, countless thousands of dollars and the destruction of far too many reputations, the manslaughter trial of former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose L. Nazario is almost over. Tuesday afternoon at the close of business US District Judge Stephen Larson told the lawyers and spectators in the crowded court room in Riverside that the case against Nazario will go to the jury Thursday morning. From the sound of the things, the news didn’t reach the nine women and three men any too soon. They were already asking Larson when the trial would end, he said. Despite watching the...

Riverside, California--The first witness with personal knowledge of what allegedly happened at Fallujah, Iraq in 2004 is expected to testify today against his former squad leader in US District Court. Former Lance Corporal Corey Carlisle was a Mormon missionary working in Indiana last year when he told a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigator he heard and saw events that indicated several of his squad mates killed enemy prisoners in the opening hours of the battle. Carlisle told NCIS Special Agent Mark O Fox that his former squad leader Sgt. Jose L. Nazario, his fire team leader Cpl. Ryan Weemer, and...

Riverside, California--The heated atmosphere at the US District Court in Riverside grew even more contentious Friday morning when two Marine sergeants accused of murder by military authorities refused to testify in the manslaughter case of their former squad leader Jose Luis Nazario. The air was already charged with anticipation when sergeants Ryan Weemer and Jermaine Nelson, both 26, marched in ramrod straight to tell US District Judge Stephen Larson that they were refusing to obey his order to testify against their former squad leader. All three men are charged with participating in the execution of four enemy combatants their squad...

Riverside, California--There is a lot at stake in the utilitarian court room dominated by the Seal of the United States District Court for Central California at Riverside. This is where former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario, 28, is on trial for allegedly killing enemy combatants his squad captured in the opening hours of the battle for Fallujah, Iraq almost four years ago. Two other Marines in the squad he led are charged with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty by the Marine Corps. For the record, Nazario says it never happened. On trial with Nazario is almost 250 years...

Wednesday, August 20: Jury selection is complete in the Jose Nazario trial. Fifty-four jurors were pooled, twelve (and two alternates) were chosen. There are nine women and three men on the jury, most have military members in their family and some are veterans. Jose Nazario is happy with the jury selection and confident that justice will be served. Opening statements are scheduled for tomorrow. And so we begin....

Hearing on Iraq detainee death case postponed By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Tuesday, August 19, 2008 The Article 32 hearing for one of two U.S. soldiers charged with killing a detainee near Beiji, Iraq, has been postponed until Sept. 5, military officials said. Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner was originally to face the hearing last week. Warner and 1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna, both members of Company D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., face charges of premeditated murder, accessory after the fact, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice....

Two Camp Pendleton Marines, ordered to testify against former sergeant Jose L. Nazario by the US District Judge presiding over his voluntary manslaughter trial, have decided to refuse the judge’s order. Kevin B. McDermott, the Orange County attorney representing Nazario, says he received the news this morning. “It shows the solidarity of these Marines,” McDermott says. Nazario is charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter for allegedly executing two captured enemy combatants, compelling his subordinates to assist him in killing two others, and unlawfully using a firearm--his M-16 rifle--in the commission of the crime. Weemer and Nelson face general court-martials...

Government prosecutors, who filed an application in US District Court for an order compelling two Marines co-defendants to testify against their former squad leader, revealed that one of them was a government informant. All three men are accused of executing four enemy combatants they captured in the opening hours of the month-long battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Documents filed in the US District Court for Central California August 11 on reveal that Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, a co-defendant in the case against former Marine Jose L. Nazario, tried to trick his former squad leader into admitting the incident occurred. Nazario,...

The Marine Corps is considering the unprecedented step of appointing a reserve lawyer to assist the US Attorney for Central California in prosecuting former Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario in US District Court in Riverside, California, Defend Our Marines has learned.A Marine Corps spokesman at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. confirmed Thursday that a request for an SJA to assist in the prosecution of Nazario was received at HQMC from the US Attorneys Office for Central California. Nazario was indicted by a federal Grand Jury last August 17 for allegedly executing two prisoners of war at Fallujah. In a...

by Nathaniel R. Helms | August 12, 2008 | See the original article in The Hill at the link.Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha’s press secretary Matt Mazonkey may not have much to say about his boss slandering Marines who fought at Haditha, but he sure is cute, according to a political newspaper that put him on its annual 50 Most Beautiful list. The newspaper, The Hill, named Mazonkey a runner-up in its annual beauty contest. Until his recent honor, Mazonkey was best known for refusing to answer any questions about Rep. Murtha’s inflammatory comments that led to the prosecution of eight...

Major Bill Donahue (USMC, retired) has a personal stake in the Third Battle of Fallujah. He lost a son in that city (a second son lost both legs a month later in Iraq). Now Donahue heads United American Patriots, a national non-profit 501(c) 3 organization and its Warrior Fund project. His mission is to ensure justice for soldiers and Marines accused of crimes arising out of combat in Iraq. Donahue speaks with passion about his cause. And he speaks with understandable pride about his successes. Donations from Warrior Fund were crucial to the recent exonerations of Sgt. Leonardo Treviño and...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marine Corps is going to battle with CBS in what could become a prominent First Amendment case stemming from one of the highest-profile incidents arising out of the Iraq war. At issue is whether government prosecutors should have access to outtakes from a "60 Minutes" interview of a Marine who in 2005 led his squad in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians, including several women and children. Legal experts and media advocates say the chances of the Marine Corps prevailing over the revered media giant are slim. Several news organizations have joined CBS in its fight...

A Navy Cross recipient is among the Marine veterans of the Battle of Fallujah getting subpoenaed to a US District Court in Riverside, California where former comrade-in-arms Jose L Nazario is scheduled to go on trial for allegedly executing two captured enemy combatants in the opening hours of the battle. When the battle erupted on November 9, 2004 Nazario was an infantry squad leader in 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines – the Thundering Third. He is scheduled to go on trial Aug 19 for voluntary manslaughter and related charges after allegedly killing two insurgents and ordering Marines...

Marine Corps prosecutors have asked a military appeals court to reverse a lower court decision to dismiss criminal charges against the highest ranking officer to face criminal charges in the so-called “Haditha Massacre” affair. The incident occurred on November 19, 2005 at Haditha, Iraq after one Marine was killed and two others from a squad of 12 infantrymen were wounded by a remotely detonated roadside bomb. During the Marines’ counterattack against the hidden assailants 24 Iraqis, including 15 civilians, were killed in the cross-fire. The government seeks to reinstate criminal charges of dereliction of duty and orders violations against...

Bob Weimann | July 25, 2008 | Pdf version______________________________________________________ “For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. And for almost as long, some among them have derided such talk, called it a charade, insisted that war lies beyond (or beneath) moral judgment. War is a world apart, where life itself is at stake, where human nature is reduced to its elemental forms, where self-interest and necessity prevail. Here men and women do what they must to save their selves and their communities, and morality and law...

Breaking news!Judge recomends dismissal of manslaughter charges in Sgt John Winnick case. Recommends a minor dereliction charge with nonjudicial punishment. This is a developing story. Check back with Defend Our Marines for details.

A Marine sergeant charged with murdering an enemy combatant captured in Fallujah during the heat of battle repeatedly told Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agents he didn’t do anything wrong. Sergeant Ryan Weemer’s words were captured during a lengthy 2006 interview with NCIS Special Agents Mark Fox and Tess Berg obtained by Defend Our Marines. The interview took place on November 16 in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of Saint Louis. A carefully cherry-picked version of his statement was revealed by the prosecution during Weemer’s Article 32 preliminary hearing last week. Much less was said about Weemer’s apparent confusion, his overwhelming...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A military prosecutor on Friday asked a Marine officer to recommend that a veteran of the legendary Fallujah battle be tried for murder for his admission that he killed a prisoner under his control. "While he is a remarkably sympathetic figure," prosecutor Nick Gannon said of Sgt. Ryan Weemer, "especially on these facts, this is not a gray area. It's black and white. It's right and wrong." Gannon bolstered his argument by pointing to testimony that Marines who took prisoners during the massive 2004 offensive in Fallujah were told to treat the detainees humanely and get them...

ANN ARBOR, MI – In Iraq, LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, one of America’s most effective combat commanders, led the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines — one of the Marine Corps’ most decorated units. After devoting over 20 years of his life to the Corps, and three tours of duty in Iraq, he was criminally charged by government prosecutors for the combat action taken by four of his Marines who engaged insurgents in a fierce house-to-house, room-by-room battle, after being ambushed in Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005. On June 17, 2008 Military Judge, Col Steven Folsom, USMC, dismissed all charges against LtCol...

The unflappable public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Central Command during most of the explosive Haditha and Hamandiyah affairs is moving on. Lt. Col. Sean Gibson has been transferred to Marine Corps Installation West at Camp Pendleton after a tumultuous time facing heat for the Marine Corps. Lt. Col. Gibson, who says his age is a “state secret,” never missed a beat running the Camp Pendleton Media Center when it was the epicenter of an international media feeding frenzy. Along with a small staff of Marine public affairs specialists, Gibson quickly and honestly responded to the endless barrage of...

Marine Corps Sergeants Jermaine Nelson and Ryan Weemer will celebrate Independence Day in a Camp Pendleton brig instead of the San Bernardino County Jail, Defend Our Marines has learned. Sergeants Jermaine Nelson and Ryan Weemer, both veterans of the famous "Hell House" fight at Fallujah, Iraq, are currently being held in the San Bernardino County federal lockup for contempt of court charges. They were locked up after refusing to talk to a Grand Jury seated in Riverside, California. A spokesman at Camp Pendleton is still trying to determine whether they have already been transferred to the Camp Pendleton brig at...

The federal trial of former Marine Sgt Jose L. Nazario is on hold until August 19, Defend Our Marines has learned. Presiding US District Judge Steven Larsen issued the order last week. Nazario’s trial was scheduled to begin July 8 at the US District Court for Central California at Riverside. Judge Larsen has also issued an unusual order to Nazario’s defense attorney Kevin B. McDermott to keep the Grand Jury testimony he received in discovery secret, and to return the transcripts to the court undisclosed to the public upon the completion of the case. The delay in the Nazario case...

Evidence introduced during pre-trial motions in the court-martial of Marine Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani for his role at Haditha revealed that commanding generals of Marine Corps Forces Central Command are often preoccupied with court fights as well as battlefields while the seemingly endless investigations drag on. The Marine Corps Forces Central Command – CENTCOM – was assigned the onerous task of investigating and adjudicating the sensationalized charges against Chessani. CENTCOM is the umbrella organization that controls Marine Corps’ war fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marine Corps designated the CENTCOM commander to be the convening authority and final arbiter in...

Chicago magazine, July 2008: "Web sites such as DefendOurMarines.com and DefendOurTroops.com feature tributes to the marines of Haditha. Bloggers have said the troops acted 'heroically' that day. Those supporters have scorned [prosecution witness, Sgt Sanick] Dela Cruz, deriding his testimony that he watched Wuterich gun down a group of Iraqi men who were surrendering. 'Dela Cruz is one of the sleaziest characters to emerge from the Haditha prosecution,' declared one writer on FreeRepublic.com, a conservative blog site. As this article went to press, the supporters had reason to be pleased: Of all of the men accused in the killings, only...

The US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals has ruled that the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes must turn over outtakes from its interview with Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich in which he revealed what happened at the so-called “Haditha Massacre” in Iraq more than three years ago. The three-judge appellate panel Friday directed Marine Corps military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey G. Meeks to “conduct additional fact-finding” including an “in camera review” of the outtakes to determine whether Wuterich revealed any information the government needs to bolster its prosecution against the Marine infantryman. The ruling of the military judge...

Attorneys representing Marine Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani will find out June 16 whether the presiding judge in the “Haditha Massacre” case will grant a defense motion to dismiss his charges because of undue command influence. If Folsom denies the defense motion Chessani will stand general court-martial July 21 for alleged dereliction of duty and orders violations, said Richard Thompson, chief counsel of the civilian law firm representing him. The veteran combat Marine is the highest ranking officer to be charged with a crime in the discredited massacre investigation. Four enlisted men and three officers under his command were also charged...

With this documentary, photo exhibit and book our aim is to raise funding for and awareness of the men and women warriors that have given so much to protect our freedoms. Freedom is not free. www.freedomisnotfree.com

Haditha: No Massacre, No Cover-UpBy Ben JohnsonFrontPageMagazine.com | 6/6/2008 THIS WEEK YET AGAIN PROVED THE PARTY OF DEFEAT'S KING WEARS NO CLOTHES. On Wednesday, a jury found Lieutenant Andrew Grayson "not guilty" of covering up the (un)massacre at Haditha. The 27-year-old had been accused of multiple counts of making false official statements and one count of attempting to deceive by making false statements. A charge of "obstruction of justice" had been thrown out the day before. More than simply another exoneration of those accused of wrongdoing in Haditha – the sixth of eight accused – this verdict will go a...

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, three "huzzahs" were given by British infantry before a charge, as a way of building morale and intimidating the enemy. The book "Redcoat" by Richard Holmes indicates that this was given as two short 'huzzahs' followed by a third sustained one as the charge was carried out.Defend Our Marines headline, June 4, 2008: “Verdict in the Lt Grayson trial---NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS!” Huzzah!I feel one of the striking impressions of the Haditha case is the lack of leadership demonstrated by the Marine General Officers. One of the principles of leadership is to...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine sniper has been charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the June 2007 deaths of two civilians in Iraq. The sniper, Sgt. John Winnick II, faces additional accusations of aggravated assault against two other civilians and failing to adhere to the military's rules of engagement. The charges represent the fifth case involving alleged unlawful killings in Iraq to have been brought against Camp Pendleton Marines since the U.S. invasion in March 2003. A hearing for Winnick will take place at Camp Pendleton this summer to determine if the charges against him should stand. The...