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Title: Marines Stand Up For Embattled Officer
Source:
WND
URL Source: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=118591
Published: Dec 11, 2009
Author: Chelsea Schilling
Post Date: 2009-12-11 12:10:10 by Joe Snuffy
Keywords: United States Marine Corps, War On Terror, Politically Correct Kangaroo C
Views: 1013
Comments: 3
IN THE MILITARY Marines stand up for embattled officer Testify in Haditha case about leader's 'outstanding military character' Posted: December 11, 2009 12:10 am Eastern By Chelsea Schilling © 2009 WorldNetDaily Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani A long line of "stand up" officers and enlisted men who served with Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani are testifying before a three-member military panel, four years after the so-called "Haditha Massacre," and vouching for the Marine's outstanding military character. The panel will determine whether Chessani should be demoted in retirement for dereliction of duty. It will hear closing arguments tomorrow. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, has been defending Chessani at no charge. The center reported Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, Chessani's former intelligence officer, informed the board on Dec. 9 of the complexity of the daylong engagement in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005. He said his intelligence assessment indicated Marines were going to be attacked in Haditha that day. Later intelligence confirmed the attack was one they were expecting from foreign fighters – namely Syrians. The foundation for the case against Chessani was the fierce house-to-house, room-by-room combat action taken by four of his Marines after being ambushed by insurgents in Haditha, Iraq. In the battle, nine insurgents and 15 civilians were killed. On Dec. 9, Maj. Luke McConnell, company commander of the Marines originally charged in the case, testified before the board. He said he spoke to the Marine unit, as commanding officer, during and after the incident. He personally fought in the engagement and confirmed that the unit was in a daylong battle with insurgents. The unit platoon leader told McConnell that he ordered the Marines to clear insurgent homes and, unfortunately, some civilians were killed as collateral damage. According to McConell's testimony, all Marines he spoke with that day confirmed the Marines had taken proper action. As WND reported, Chessani was the highest-ranking officer charged in the Haditha incident, when insurgents attacked U.S. Marines in Iraq while using civilians as shields. A series of investigations found nothing wrong until U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., publicly accused the Marines of murdering Iraqis. Government prosecutors charging Chessani with criminal wrongdoing lost at every stage. The case was thrown out of military court, and an appellate court affirmed the decision. The dispute was reignited when Time magazine published an article months later charging the Marines with committing a massacre. A military investigation of the Haditha firefight found "no indication" that the Marines had "intentionally targeted, engaged and killed noncombatants." The government, however, had accused Chessani, who wasn't present at Haditha, of improperly investigating actions of Marines under his command and covering up details of the firefight. Eventually eight Marines were charged, but cases against Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt, Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell and Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz were dropped. 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was acquitted, leaving only the Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich case pending and Lt. Col. Chessani's case unresolved. San Diego's North County Times reports Wuterich is no longer charged with murder but still faces nine counts of manslaughter, and the Marine's attorneys expect to be back in court early next year. For Chessani, the board he faces consists of a one-star general and two colonels who were selected by the convening authority, Marine Lt. Gen. George Flynn. According to the Law Center, because a board of inquiry is an administrative hearing, the normal rules of evidence do not apply. The board can consider material without the benefit of a cross-examination, and Chessani's legal team cannot subpoena witnesses – it can only request them. Further, the Law Center reports, the government need only prove misconduct by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt as required in a criminal proceeding. The Thomas More Law Center released a statement today, saying, "The bad news, as predicted, the government, in its efforts to disgrace and destroy Lt. Col. Chessani, has consistently ignored the rules of fundamental fairness by introducing tainted evidence from other cases that had nothing to do with the allegations against Lt. Col. Chessani, and which would never be allowed in court-martial proceedings." The center said the most egregious evidence allowed has been giant, poster-size blow-up photos of the dead, which the group believes are "meant only to inflame board members." If the panel decides to demote Chessani, he and his wife, pregnant with the couple's seventh child, stand to lose a half-million dollars in retirement benefits. If the board finds no misconduct, the case will be closed and Chessani's name will be cleared. 
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#2. To: Joe Snuffy (#0)
I have empathy for this soldier and his betrayal by the Feds. But the good news is.. Thank God the globalists in their arrogance are remarkably stupid. When the ... start decorating lampposts with rope, the US military just might pause.
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