I agree with you, to an extent.
The reason this entire fiasco got started in the first place is because the cowardly Bush decided to leave the running of the war in the hands of the scumbag ACLU lawyers of JAG. Now the Marines are more concerned with “battlefield ethics”, “rules of engagement”, and sensitivity classes which stress the need to rat out your brothers-in-arms if, heaven forfend, there are incidental civilian casualties following a fatal ambush.
Had the “Haditha massacre” hoax been vociferously exposed right away there would have been no need to drag a bunch of good Marines through the mud for 18 months, at considerable expense to those Marines and their families. Instead, what we see is a bunch of masturbating JAG lawyers and lying NCIS punks knocking each other over to see who can get their name in lights.
This malicious prosecution is a sickening disgrace, and every day that passes makes it worse. I simply find it difficult to believe that the Marine Corps could let itself get handcuffed like this and that Mattis would let it drag on without sticking his boot up somebody’s behind.
Well, it could be that Lt. Gen. Mattis was snookered by NCIS. They seem to tend to cull statements and info that fits their idea of what happened. They may have “neglected” to fill in the full story of al-Hadithi, and al-Mashhadani’s role in prior knowledge. They may have slanted the whole investigation to appear it was something it wasn’t. Hopefully these hearings will expose the truth. Justin Sharratt’s defense team is doing a heck of a job exposing NCIS tactics and discrepancies. Thank goodness for Capt. Dinsmore and the fact that this info. is now becoming declassified.
You are correct about what a tragedy it is for the families who have to endure the financial and emotional hardship of these allegations and for so long. Let’s first see these Marines exhonerated, then hopefully something can be done to clean up NCIS. Who knows, maybe there’s a way for the families to recoup some of their financial losses?