An Honest Investigation Would Have Cleared Lieutenant Pantano in Iraq

Defend Our Marines ^ | March 11, 2007 | David Allender

[freema]

Love you, lily ♥

[freema]

O Lord, hear my prayer.

[Girlene]

Very descriptive and apropo!

It still astounds me that Murtha has run with this scam, gotten away with it, was reelected, and now is leading the charge to get out of Iraq. It was good to read attys for Lt. Col. Chessani go after Murtha, even bringing up Abscam.

[lilycicero]

Great idea...post a new prayer daily!
Get to work on your "MWR Yard of the Month"!

[RedRover]

O Lord, hear my prayer.

[Girlene]

Michael, one of the few angels that I remember mentioned in the Bible. He was designated the protector and defender of Israel. A powerful angel.

Off the subject, I heard a representative, Steve Buyer, use the same phrase attributed to Frank Wuterich at Haditha. When describing the firings/resignations for the snaffu over Walter Reed, Rep. Buyer mentioned it was a matter of "Shoot first, ask questions later", or something close. Buyer was a JAG in Desert Storm. Pretty common phrase; guess it depends on who uses it and when.

[RedRover]

Woo hoo!

My Pantano piece was picked up by the prestigious and powerful pinkpanther syndicate!

It's up at Conservative Thoughts.

I didn't know that the paperback of Warlord was coming out. Good timing! Hope the lieutenant goes back on TV to promote it. With the hearings coming up, he could be a powerful voice for the Haditha Marines.

[lilycicero]

Warlord

I found it interesting that Lt Gen Mattis endorsed the book. Isn't he holding all the marbles right now?

[RedRover]

Really? I missed that. What did Gen Mattis say?

In another case, Gen Mattis is due to make a decision regarding Lt. Nathan Phan. There were devastating criticisms of NCIS during that Article 32. It's interesting that Gen Mattis spoke well of a book that was so honestly critical of NCIS.

[lilycicero]

reviews:

“Pantano’s story is a tough, gritty, no-holds-barred saga of war by one who knows what it’s like to be caught in a crossfire.” – Oliver L. North Host of War Stories on Fox News Channel

“Demonstrate to the world there is ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy’ than a U.S. Marine.” – J. N. Mattis, Major General, U.S. Marines Commanding General’s Message to All Hands, March 2003

“Every tenth page of Warlord should be stamped ‘this is not a work of fiction.’ Some men run from a fight, some hold their own; Ilario is the rare hero that runs to a fight. He is one tough mother!” – James Carville New York Times bestselling author, political strategist, and former U.S. Marine

[RedRover]

Actually, that's not really an endorsement. It's just a quote from Mattis before the incident even took place.

The publisher is being just a little misleading. (You have to watch those jokers, I'm telling you!)

[PogySailor]

Read it and passed the book on to my son.

[lilycicero]

Ah ha...they shouldn't have put it under the comments/reviews. It's not saying much for me falling for the tricks of the trade!:)

[RedRover]

Just a little lamb among the wolves. ;)

[RedRover]

I thought it was pretty remarkable. Wish I knew how was viewed by Powers That Be in the Corps.

[xarmydog]

The commander I mentioned,more or less had a grudge against me due to the fact I could not reveal a certain piece of information to him.I had gotten into a fight at a local pub with five men.They were from all different countries and what I found interesting was the fact they all spoke English.I struck up a conversation with them and they all seemed like nice fellows.Until they got drunk.They became rude and obnoxious to the ladies working there,and the ladies became scared.I was asked to make them leave which I did.As we got near the door,the men went wild.One even pulled a knife.When they realized they were not at an advantage they left.
All I suffered was a scratched retina and a very sore finger.The next morning I was woken up by men I referred to as suits.CID men who wanted to know every little detail I could provide.Come to find out,the men were IRA.They"asked"me to go to the bar every night to see if I could spot them again,which I did for about two weeks.I was also "asked" not to say a word to anyone,including the commander.That infuriated him.The suits promised to take care of me as far as my unit was concerned.NOT!!So the commander took it upon himself to make my life miserable.Which he did.My faith in the Military was shaken,along with trusting the investigators who said they would make sure I had no repercussions from whatever happened.On the upside,the ladies working there took care of me,and I never had to buy another drink when I was there.It was their way of thanking me.I wish to this day I told the suits to screw off.But on the same token,they could have made my life miserable also.Catch 22

[Girlene]

Ah. The commander was ticked because he wasn't in the loop with CID. (He felt dissed.) Got it. Then in a separate instance, he had the command influence to not only register a complaint, but ensure a punishment. That would suck.

I hope this does not go on much in the military. It would hamper getting true justice within the UCMJ. I'm also hoping in the Haditha case, enough eyeballs are on all the players since it's a pretty high profile case. NCIS is the one I worry about since they don't seem to be under military court jurisdiction.

[Girlene]

What's up with Major General Huck? It seems that Pantano is implicating Huck as being the primary reason that charges were brought against him. (ref. the passage you quoted from his book.)

In the Haditha case, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines had been temporarily attached to the 2nd Marine Division under Maj. Gen. Huck at the time the incident happened in Nov. 2005. Reporting made it sound that Huck retired early (June, 2006) as fallout for not investigating the incident before Times got involved. (Huck is still assigned as an Assistant Deputy at Marine Corps headquarters.)

So was he too gung-ho getting NCIS involved and getting charges preferred in the Pantano case, but not gung-ho enough in the Haditha? Didn't know if this had been discussed before.

Thanks

[RedRover]

You're right. We haven't really noted the Huck connection. Your description of his predicament sounds all too real.

[Girlene]

Red, I'm trying to get some of these players straight. According to published articles, the chain of events/commanders in the aftermath of Haditha are:

Kilo Company commander, McConnell informs superiors of civilian deaths. McConnell's lawyer says, "There was never a hint whatsoever that these kids did anything improper. Not one."

Chessani, the Marines' battalion commander, informs his superior, the regimental commander Col. Stephen W. Davis, about the civilian casualties, Davis says no investigation needed. (I think Chessani visits the area that day or the next.)

Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, the division commander, learns about the casualties that day; says he believed that they were the result of a roadside bomb and the ensuing gunbattle. Visits the area 3 days later and briefed. Doesn't recall no. of Iraqis killed, but does recall discussing Marines clearing houses following the IED attack.

Chessani authorizes $38K in payments to families in Dec. 2005 for first 2 houses. (My comment - this is probably 15 deaths at $2.5K each and 2 injuries at $1.5K each.)

Times questions military in Feb, Huck and Davis ignore, but , then a battalion operations officer and a battalion executive officer suggest an investigation to Chessani. Chessani replies, "My men are not murderers."

Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli orders Army Col. Gregory Watt, to do an investigation. Watt concurs with Marines, but suggests NCIS do their own investigation. And the rest is history.

So, Maj. Samuel H. Carrasco and a battalion executive officer are responsible for getting this whole thing started. Then Army Col. Watt decides NCIS should get involved.

Chessani is charged, McConnell is charged, Huck and Davis are not. Where do 1st Lt. Grayson and Capt. Stone fit in this picture?

Thanks