Posted on 06/01/2009 5:25:09 PM PDT by jazusamo
U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway is deciding what to do with the dereliction of duty case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the Camp Pendleton officer accused of failing to order a full-scale investigation into the slayings of two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha in 2005.
Conway got the case in late May, after the Marine Corps gave up its appeal of a military judge's ruling that unlawful command influence illegally tainted the case against Chessani.
The Marine Corps appealed that ruling on two occasions and was considering a third appeal before deciding to let Conway determine the next move in the Chessani saga.
"He (Conway) will consider the matter carefully," Maj. David Nevers at the Marine Corps' Pentagon headquarters said, adding there no was firm date for when Conway would announce his decision.
Conway's options include dropping the case entirely or appointing a new convening authority to consider whether a new investigation should be ordered. He also can pursue a non-criminal administrative action against Chessani, who commanded the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Haditha when the civilians were slain by Marines after a roadside bombing.
Chessani, 43, was charged with dereliction of duty in December 2006 after Marine prosecutors said he negligently failed to order a full-scale investigation into the killings. Chessani maintains he kept his superiors informed of the killings and was never directed to launch such a probe.
One of Chessani's attorneys, Brian Rooney, said the Colorado native is hoping the commandant ends the prosecution without any further action.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Lt. Col. Chessani Ping!
Easy call.
Issue a formal apology to Col, Chessani and give him a promotion as a reward for not letting Political Correctness and political pressure influence his judgement.
He is paid to lead men, not to pander to leftists and to follow leftist fads.
You’re correct but sadly there’s been nothing easy about the Haditha Marine cases.
Hopefully Gen. Conway will dismiss all charges.
Absolutely, and pleasantly surprised to see Gary Solis calling for that.
That would be the best route. However, now that the CIC has changed, it depends on the material of which the Gen.'s balls are made. I think this Admn. will want someone to pay a PC tribute. The only sacrificial lamb left available is Chessani.
I agree with another poster that he should get an apology and a promotion. Gen. Conway should order that and then order an investigation of the people stirring up Haditha in the first place. A companion investigation of John Murtha's complicitness in fanning the flames against the Marines should be ordered by the ethics commission and Murtha should be stripped of all pretense of having ever been a Marine, or anything else except a pandering, lying, egotistical fradulent, graft taking scumball.
If I had time and space, I would make my true feelings known.
vaudine
I think that Murtha and others have been putting pressure on the Marine commanders, possibly telling them not to let the Haditha Marines off on pain of losing some of their procurement needs.
Possibly Murtha’s current political problems may keep him too busy to interfere again at this point. At least I hope so. It’s past time to end this political witch hunt.
BUMP to you both!
Actually, I’d like to see the Commandant reopen the investigation, but in a different direction.
There is a desperate need to investigate those who pushed so hard and so aggressively at turning a bullsh**, weak and obvious enemy propaganda ploy into this abomination of a criminal prosecution.
Someone should hang and I don’t mean figuratively.
Agree, I can think of many without looking them up. Time magazine, Tim McGirk, John Murtha, various NCIS agents, assorted JAG officers and tons of the enemedia, there’s got to be many more.
*sigh* I thought this was done.
AMEN to that, Red. Glad you posted those, was hoping you would.
I hear you, Lily. I guess good things happen slow. :(
My analysis has to do with the path of least resistance for the current commander, Corps, and administration.
First, the situation has been back-burnered for quite a while, so it’s out of the public mind.
Second, they keep getting smacked down when they go after the accused. The score is something like Accused 8, Persecutors 0 at this point. Far worse than that if you count rulings and appeals. Sometimes when you’re beating your head to a bloody pulp, it’s a good idea to pause at least for a second and ask some reasonable questions like: “Do we keep losing because we’re wrong?” and “What are we really trying to accomplish?” or “Are we nuts or what?”
Third, the original DoD, SecNav, and all other civilian players have changed, and they have different priorities that have them occupied right now. (See #1).
Fourth, Murtha is tied up right now with corruption charges, so he might really want to just let this one go. (See #1.)
Finally, Chessani doesn’t WANT a promotion and back pay. He simply wants to retire and fade away.
How hard can this decision be? It is not rocket science. Drop it and get it over. (Same with Wuterich, too, ‘cause Chessani’s UCI is imprinted now on Wuterich’s case.)
Conway’s decision isn’t about Chessani. If it was, this disgraceful fiasco of prosecuting combat veterans for battlefield decisions made at Haditha would have been over long ago. No, this is about Frank Wuterich. Wuterich is the last chance the JAGoffs have to mount a trophy on their wall. If Chessani’s ordeal is offically slammed shut, then that means the finding of “unlawful command influence” stands. And if that stands, Wuterich is likely home free because his case would similarly have been unlawfully influenced.
Very good reasoning, xzins, lets hope Gen. Conway sees it that way.
Your point is well taken. I’m praying they give this up for both Chessani and Wuterich.
I agree Lancey.
Yes. The Marine Corps has a long and honorable tradition of standing for its own. But I would judge that the commanders are between a rock and a hard place.
I like to think that if I were in command, I would not let political considerations get in the way of doing the right, just, and honorable thing, especially when it involved betraying a Marine instead of standing by him.
But the pressure must be enormous. Suppose he defies Murtha & Co., and then the Marine Corps is deprived of vital supplies in revenge. Many Marines might die in future combat because of that lack of supplies and support.
I’m still not persuaded that even such an eventuality would justify going along with this farce of a trial, but then I’m glad it’s not my decision to make.
Hey! I’m here, too!
Agreed, unfortunately. I don’t think we’ll hear a decision on the Chessani case until Frank’s case is decided—whenever the hell that will be. Hope I’m wrong.
Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world where a person, like a General, could stand up and say something just like that?
I’m sure there are many factors in play. But it is just that complicated crap that I object to the most.
I am a pretty “simple” person. But I have my principles. And I love this country and the people who sacrifice so much to defend her.
IMO, people like the little tin god Murtha need to be whittled down to the point I could take a sand wedge and loft his melon into the deep rough...and then just walk away.
>> Wuterich is the last chance the JAGoffs have to mount a trophy on their wall.
They also spent a significant amount of time and money on this fiasco, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they felt compelled to produce something for that reason alone.
Hopefully he'll choose the path laid out by Chappy.
It is my fervent prayer that he drop the prosecution of Lt. Col Chessani and of SSGT Wutterich. It's my belief that he will protect the USMC - and I hope that he will do so with a long term strategic view of justice. Protecting his Marines instead of allowing the runaway politicians inside and out of the Marine Corps from having sway.
Semper Fi,
TS
AMEN to that!
Thank you for your post and your service.
Well good golly...where have you been hiding?
Wuterich's attorneys could probably make a compelling argument that Frank's case should not proceed until final dispensation of the Chessani case. UCI is serious business, and the players were the same (Mattis and Ewers) in both cases.
That sounds very encouraging. Mattis was supposed to be the same way, but he couldn’t find a way to end the fiasco. Here’s hoping Conway finds a way to make the nightmare go away for these heroic combat veterans.
By the way, whenever a new Haditha thread pops up I like to remind readers that a Marine was killed in the ambush at Haditha. His name was Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas.
FRegards,
LH
I’m afraid you hit the nail on the head! This case is definitely about Frank. If Chessani’s case is dropped, then so is Frank’s.
Let’s hope Conway makes the “right” decision. I pray every day that this “fiasco” ends.
Perhaps the most important thing for Gen Conway to look at is the actual scenario of that day now that the smoke of propaganda has been cleared away by all the evidence coming forth.
It would be wise to compile all the evidence, and use it to get a new take on what transpired that day in Haditha.
The courts who’ve had to look at that have all determined that our Marines did not do anything other than respond to an urban attack by enemy insurgents.
There are facts in evidence now all the way from eye in the sky to little girls talking about knowing when the bomb would go off to Marines talking about hearing rounds being chambered. There are facts about Chessani reporting up the chain, about the chain following numerous attacks that day in Haditha, and there are UNTOLD facts yet to come out about how units actually had been handling the reporting (formally or informally) as the war had settled into “standard practices” instead of “by the book reports.” (Those who’ve been military know exactly what I mean by that.)
If Gen Conway were to actually look at the facts of the case, I think it would be easy to determine that Chessani had done his duty, that the firefight was justified, and that enemy propaganda is the only reason this went forward.
Let’s pray someone (Nat Helms or Defend our Marines?) compiles all this and sends it to him. I doubt he’ll get it from HQ remfs.
Thank you for posting that, Lancey. That fact seems to be forgotten many times when new or important info comes out on the fiasco of these persecutions.
Well, I guess we shall soon see if justice shall be served. The Colonel’s career is obviously destroyed. Will he at least get a fair decision from the General to end this madness.
Not that the Marine Corps justice system has spent much time trying to provide any semblance of a timely and orderly search for the truth, choosing instead to permanently etch a dubious place in history as politically driven and readily corrupted by power.....other than the devastating UCI award pinned to the skins of some amazingly dishonorable officers, the Shrieking Blind Rage Brigade shows no sign or concern for undermining the Corps' credibility, much less the foresight that any unbiased panel will bury them, they will be known as traitors to the Corps and to the United States.
I hope you and/or Nat writes a book on this, Red, and every military lawyer, judge, prosecutor, investigator (or multipurpose prosecutor/witness/investigator such as Pigott or Fox)is put through Basic Ethics training, with the penalty for a sub par grade being time to contemplate their treachery in Leavenworth.
We used to think that about Mattis, too.
I never met General Mattis. I was just telling Freepers of my experience with General Conway. Not name-dropping; just giving you my opinion.
Semper Fi,
TS
I know, not an attack, just something that saddened us in the Pendleton 8 case. We all thought that the man we respectd from back in the day just let this happen to one of his Marines.
We saw how government interference and command influence destroyed the Pendleton 8. I only wish a sitting congressman slandered Larry Hutchins so we got more media attention.
They were orderd to do a snatch and grab to intentionally do a hit and then got court martialed for it with a pack of lies and each and every congressman that sent his aide to sit in that courtroom knew it, was informed of it in detail, and then went home and ignored it.
Larry is doing 11 years in Leavenworth for a crime that even his squadmates testified they did the shooting to kill the man.
An Autopsy that doesn’t match testimony, either. Not by a long shot.
Sad.
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