"The rules of engagement are irrelevant here."
The ROE are quite relevant, here. The four Marines charged with murder are not charged with falsifying claims, they are charged with murder, or not adhering to proper ROE's at the time, for this incident.
Beyond the fact that the ROE's used in Haditha was put under question at the time charges were preferred, the aftermath of Haditha has further affected current ROE's. To further protect themselves from charges, currently, Marines in Haditha have even taken to wearing video helmet cams to provide backup that they are following ROE's should an "incident" occur. See following link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794712/posts
ROE's are VERY relevant.
Falsifying their field reports is evidence they knew they did something wrong and attempted to cover it up.
This thread however, involves Lt Col Chessani, who failed to investigate the incident and cause behind hte filing of the false field reports that resulted in the issuance of a false press release.