The Haditha Vindication

On June 18, 2008, charges were dropped against the highest-ranking officer charged in the so-called "Haditha massacre": Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. Back in December 2006, Lt. Gen. James Mattis (then the commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force) pressed charges against four Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton for killing twenty-four Iraqi civilians at the town of Haditha on November 19, 2005. An additional four Marines (including Lt. Col. Chessani) were charged with having failed to properly investigate the incident.

The cause for dismissal of the charges against Lt. Col. Chessani was "unlawful command influence." According to the linked article at the San Diego Union-Tribune website:

[Col. Steven Folsom, the presiding military judge at court] ruled that Mattis acted wrongly in allowing Col. John Ewers, a subordinate who helped investigate Chessani and thus became a potential witness for the prosecution, to join deliberations about whether to file charges in the case. Folsom said the general created a real or perceived conflict of interest by doing so.

“Unlawful command influence is the mortal enemy of military justice. The appearance of unlawful command influence is as devastating as actual manipulation of a trial,” said Folsom, who described his ruling as drastic but necessary. “To restore public confidence ... we need to turn the clock back.”

When prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan stood up to speak, Folsom told him to sit down. When Sullivan said he wanted to raise other issues, Folsom cut him short.

“Quite frankly, there are no other issues in the case,” Folsom said.

With a crack of the gavel, the hourlong hearing ended.

With the dismissal of the charges against Lt. Col. Chessani, the only Haditha Marine still facing charges is Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Wuterich's trial is set to begin later this year.

What set the events leading to the prosecution of the eight Marines in question was a videotape taken by faux Iraqi "journalism student" Taher Thabet, prompting this article from Time magazine correspondent Tim McGirk, published on March 19, 2006. The reaction from self-described "human rights" groups, left-wing politicians, and other Islamist sympathizers was predictable, for the allegations confirmed all of their ignorant preconceptions about the American military.

One of the worst offenders in that regard was Rep. James Murtha (D-PA) who at a news conference on May 17, 2006 said this: "There was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Murtha's intemperate (and inaccurate) comment may end up costing him. According to this June 18 article published at WorldNetDaily, Lt. Col. Chessani is considering suing Rep. Murtha and Tim McGirk for libel and defamation. I hope he does so. Their ruining of lives and reputations should not go unpunished.

Semper fi.

Update:

Chessani's nightmare is not yet over. The prosecution has decided to appeal the dismissal of charges. Damn guttersnipes.