Posted on 08/21/2008 8:54:26 AM PDT by jazusamo
Reinstating or restarting charges against a Marine officer over the military firefight in Haditha, Iraq, in which two dozen Iraqis died could do serious damage to the public's confidence in the military system of justice, according to lawyers for the officer.
"Unlawful command influence is 'the mortal enemy of military justice.' It is the acid that erodes an accused's right to receive a fair trial and the public's confidence in the fairness of the system," says a legal brief filed by lawyers working on behalf of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.
"Remarkably, throughout the court-martial proceedings in the case, the government utterly failed to apprehend the seriousness of a charge of unlawful command influence. This colossal failure is evidenced by the half-hearted ... way in which it treated the matter ... and the feckless arguments it has presented ... in an attempt to reverse the well-supported and well-reasoned ruling of the military judge," the law firm said.
Chessani had faced charges that he failed to investigate properly the Nov. 19, 2005, incident in which 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed after U.S. Marines were attacked by insurgents.
The charges four Marines were charged with murder and another four with not properly investigating the attack came about after the case was publicized in the media, where it was compared by war critics to the infamous My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...

Haditha Ping!
I hope people reading this will consider helping Russell take on and hopefully take down that disgraceful excuse for a pork-laden Congressman.
“Feckless”? I can think of another word that begins with “F”!
Murtha’s motto (after giving up all pretense of morality and intelligence by becoming a senator) : “Semper A**hole”.
Yes, and probably more appropriate.
Bump!
Thanks for the link, I just donated to Russell’s campaign, what a strike if he defeats the pompous Murtha!
Murtha’s a representative, not a senator.
You’re welcome, and thanks for donating to him. LTC Russell has his work cut out for him, but he’s really off to a heckuva good start!

Thanks for linking that, Red.
I read the brief last night and it is full of interesting information. It is a must read for anyone interested in the Haditha cases.
Fecklar would be more like it....
</startrek ref>
Murtha should be censured for his actions.
Fat-headed?
Good one, but not what I was thinking of! LOL
Agreed, at the very least.
Sorry to say, that is not the worst point of this "feckless" rush to persecution. It is the loss of trust and justice that our Troops rightly have -- and will take going forward -- if these cases are not resolved in a honest and truthful way. I've seen no truthfulness or honesty from JAG or NCIS/CID across the board.
I almost think I could support a military coup to return the US back to the Constitution, but realise that would negate the promise of both the Declaration and Constitution, and the Oath I and all others took. We do need to find a way to totally defeat our internal enemies; they are far worse than any external foe we could face.
Good point and I have to agree, brityank.
The thing that I found illuminating in the Brief were the many footnotes detailing the background for the points made in the body. Don't skip too much -- it IS written in English! ;^)
LOL. Great ping by the way, Red.
Jaz, that brief is one long pdf file. I’m impressed you’ve read it! I got to page 13. Woohoo.
Yes, the footnotes shouldn’t be skipped over. Though it takes awhile to read I was expecting more legalese than was present, I definitely don’t understand legalese. :)
I got to the title page. If I go any further, the day will be gone! Looks like I have new plans for this evening.
Murtha is a fractious pimp, frothing over fantastical events as reported by the Fungi Imperfecti in a fallacious folly with feckless persecutors trying to fool us into believing the moon is just the sun at night.
My first reaction was that the word "feckless" was ill chosen, but after reading the article, no, it was just right.
the Nov. 19, 2005, incident in which 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed after U.S. Marines were attacked by insurgents
Not to pick nits, but is it conclusive that all 24 were Iraqis?
I agree. Murtha is a fart face.
Good point, Lancey. I don’t know that it is conclusive, haven’t read where the armed males were all Iraqis and Haditha was supposedly an insurgent stronghold.

I am a conservative. I believe in the sovereignty and security of this one nation, under God. I believe in the sanctity of life and that life begins at conception. I believe in marriage between one man and one woman. I believe that all children in our school systems should be educated in English and taught the civic duties and responsibilities of citizenship and patriotism. I believe that we have the responsibility and obligation to control our borders and determine who is allowed to live and work in our country. I believe in private property rights and that the death tax should be killed. I believe government economic policies should reward those who build business or save and invest their money. I believe in the right to bear arms and the right of self defense. I believe in rugged individualism and that no one owes me anything just because I live and breathe. I believe we should all practice charity in some form or fashion, especially to those who are suffering and least fortunate. But charity must be voluntary and spring from a spirit of altruism and love for your neighbor. I believe that imposed systems of wealth redistribution destroy families, produce a culture of dependence and hurt everyone. Finally, I believe there is room to acknowledge the role of our Creator in public life as stated in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
BUMP!
Great photo of Diana and Bill and an outstanding statement by him.
They’re all great ...But, you deserve a double Gold Medal Medal for that ping graphic.
I hope his yard signs and bill boards look like that graphic!
Now that is something Murtha would excel at, a pet rat. I’d rather see him scratched behind the ears by a tomcat though.
You could make him a bouncing head to the Marine Hymn....
(I think Pee Wee Herman had a genie that did that)
Funny, fred!
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