Posted on 07/25/2007 6:09:15 PM PDT by RedRover
The prosecution’s criminal case against LCpl Stephen Tatum and six other Marines in various stages of judicial process took another nose dive today. Charges that Chessani and his officers failed to adequately investigate or report the circumstances of the ambush at Haditha to higher headquarters were blasted apart by confirmation that a U.S. Air Force RQ-1 Predator was on station above Haditha for more than five hours on November 19, 2005.
Both Chessani and higher headquarters at least at both regiment and division level were watching it do its thing on big screens, an officer revealed. The Predator’s amazing capabilities provide opportunity for anyone in the National Command Authority to watch the fight in real time if they wanted to.
“We had Scan Eagle from about 0830 until 1700. Predator joined in from about 1030-1400 or so. Scan Eagle was used to maintain continuous PID [Positive Identification] on human targets as they fled from neighborhood to neighborhood. We used Predator's IR [Infra Red] camera to identify them within the palm grove (hotspots) where they were attempting to hide and to get the bombs on target. Both were used to guide helos and fixed wing air support on to the targets,” the officer explained.
At least one type of sophisticated UAV was over the battlefield all morning. In addition to 3/1’s organic Dragon Eye and ScanEagle following bands of insurgents move from hiding place to hiding place, theater commanders in Baghdad diverted an orbiting RQ-1 Predator medium altitude, high endurance UAV to watch as well. The super-secret aircraft is launched from Balad Air Base in Iraq and controlled by remote operators at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, the Air Force says. The Predator is operated by the Air Force for the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and other highly classified intelligence authorities. It allows senior commanders at the Pentagon to see what is happening in real time as well as field commanders in Iraq.
An officer who was there said so many people were watching the fight go down that a faraway Public Affairs Officer wrote 3/1 to suggest it was time to “maximize the coalition coverage of this, pointing out to the locals that insurgents don't care about their children."
Chessani is charged with violating his orders for failing to inform higher headquarters of the situation at Haditha. On November 19 every Marine Corps senior headquarters in Iraq and the United States could watch events in Haditha go down in real time and living color thanks to Predator.
In the words of one expert, “They can run but they can’t hide [from Predator].”
Another blow fell when a spokesman for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that if Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agents threatened Venezuelan native LCpl Humberto Mendoza with deportation if he didn’t cooperate they were at odds with current US law. Jack Zimmermann, the Texas attorney representing Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum suggested NCIS used the ploy to gain Mendoza’s testimony during his examination of the 23-year-old Marine.
A spokesman for ICE in Washington, D.C. said that NCIS could only make such a threat if Mendoza was already convicted of a serious crime. Current immigration law mandates violators must be convicted of a crime providing for “at least one year in jail or more” before it will initiate deportation proceedings, according to Pat Reilly, the Public Affairs Officer for ICE. She noted two exceptions to the law;
1.) If Mendoza lied about his citizenship status and fraudulently enlisted in the Marine Corps;
2.) If Mendoza had already been convicted of two or more crimes.
A spokesman for the Camp Pendleton Media Center said Mendoza’s citizenship status was a question for the Public Affairs Officer for the 1st Marine Division. As of this report the 1st MarDiv PAO has not returned phone calls. Presumably, however, given Mendoza’s unfettered testimony earlier this week he remains in good standing in the Marine Corps. Otherwise the prosecution would have to reveal his tarnished status to the defense.
On December 18, 2005, three days before three Marines from his squad were charged with murder Mendoza was granted immunity from prosecution in return for his cooperation. Despite previous testimony to the contrary Mendoza went from being part of a combat stack of Marines attacking a hostile objective to a lone Marine apparently wandering around in a smoke-filled house grenades had just been thrown into, he testified.
In his post-immunity version of events, Mendoza didn’t shoot anyone except a couple of fellows who must have deserved it. When he discovered innocent civilians huddled in a room behind a closed door he backed away, shutting the door behind him. Despite the early morning gloom stipulated by both sides, he could see the darkened, smoke-filled chamber was full of terrified women and children. Tatum did all the killing, he said.
Zimmermann subsequently suggested during his examination of Mendoza that the NCIS told Mendoza his citizenship was at stake if he didn’t cooperate. If they did it was a hollow threat. It would particularly be true if the NCIS special agents knew Mendoza was neither convicted of a crime or in violation of any citizenship statutes, one Missouri county prosecutor said. In most jurisdictions the court would call that type of behavior coercion, she said.
At Haditha, Mendoza was fighting alongside Tatum, Sharratt, Sgt. Francis Wolf, the late Miguel “T.J.” Terrazas, and Joe Haman, all who paid so dearly at Fallujah the year before. Marines who know the fighting caliber of these fighting Marines find it simply incredulous that a rookie Marine rifleman who had just shot two men in a firefight would even be capable to shutting down the way Mendoza claims he was able to.
Someday the truth will be available for everybody to see for themselves. The continuous video should be 8-10 hours, and includes the entire fight, one Marine said.
“[It]… finishes with the insurgent holding a child in order to avoid getting bombed again,” he added, “before we swarmed in to capture him.”
About time. We knew about the predator how soon after it happened? Sheesh. Excellent post Red.
Has anyone touched on the morgue angle yet?
Damn good news Red! Any reports from the closing statements today?
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200707/NAT20070713b.html
“Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood,” Murtha said, before calling for U.S. troops to be “redeployed” out of the country.
POS, and I don’t mean the ‘+’ post on a battery.
.
Bush should pardon our Marines from this non-sense, and politicians better be prepared for ruthless bombing of enemy countries so no American Troops ever have to endure the Rep John Murtha (D-Pa.) types.
The scuttlebutt is also that Mendoza has an illegal alien wife who was threatened with immediate deportation if he didn't play ball.
It’s evident to me at this point in the hearings that much of what has come out in these hearings wasn’t turned over to the defense in a timely manner.
IMO it has been that some of the evidence was classified but should have been made available to the defense, some of the NCIS investigators were and are inept and/or biased and lastly the prosecution is guilty of misconduct. All three reasons should be enough to dismiss all charges against all these Marines.
I agree that Winter and Walker should be fired and that a full investigation of the NCIS be conducted.
Good point about COl. Sokoloski. I’m also wondering how Gen. Huck feels about his testimony during Chessani’s hearing? The predator may not have been aloft when the civilians were killed in those houses, but it and the Scan Eagle make it obvious the insurgents were spreading out and taking on the Marines elsewhere. The Haditha “incident” was not an isolated engagement. It was part of a full day of combat.
Mr. Bush's DOJ is constitutionally wrong:
Article I Section. 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Murtha's statements were made, not only on the Floor of the House, but in a public venue both before and after his Floor speeches. Also notice that "Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace" ARE causes for arrest on the Floor.
Oh my...
Hell yeah, ping.
Granted, prosecution experts based their determinations about causes of death on photographs so it wasn't two conclusions based on the same evidence. But it showed that prosecuting Marines for murder when no one really knows how the "victims" died is ridiculous.
Anybody up for some serious debunking?
From Newshounds...
“He cited as one of his examples the mainstream media’s reporting on Haditha. Last I checked, the media got it right about that. But Bozell didn’t elaborate and Hannity didn’t ask.”
Like much of the news today, we don’t read/hear about all that is going right with many government agencies. I believe - and that is all I can do - that there are many honest and hard working people in gov’t agencies doing excellent work for this country, keeping us safe and promoting the betterment for all. It’s the “dirty dishes” we see and smell.
You aren't the only one.
An officer who was there said so many people were watching the fight go down that a faraway Public Affairs Officer wrote 3/1 to suggest it was time to “maximize the coalition coverage of this, pointing out to the locals that insurgents don't care about their children."
They have VIDEO of this!! Remind me again why these men were charged??
And this:
On December 18, 2005, three days before three Marines from his squad were charged with murder Mendoza was granted immunityfrom prosecution in return for his cooperation. Despite previous testimony to the contrary Mendoza went from being part of a combat stack of Marines attacking a hostile objective to a lone Marine apparently wandering around in a smoke-filled house grenades had just been thrown into, he testified.
This story has so many holes, swiss cheese would blush.
Oh, and finally this nugget:
“[It]… finishes with the insurgent holding a child in order to avoid getting bombed again,” he added, “before we swarmed in to capture him.”
Uhhh, wouldn't this be a smoking gun?? If I were the judge, it would be "Dismissed, WITH prejudice!" thwap, thwap, thwap (my gavel). Oh and then,"Now bring me Tim McGirk and John Murtha!" thwap, thwap, thwap. (Obviously more a civilian court fantasy.)
This has gone from being just "hinky" to a total farce of a prosecution. What on EARTH is going on here??
Yes, that statement is bugging me. Wouldn't Conlin actually be AWARE of the technology capabilities of the Scan Eagle? And if he was, why would he spout off something so ridiculous, on its face?
Also, portions of this evidence were only recently declassified and are still being kept largely under wraps. Understandably, no one is eager to let the enemy know just how we monitor them.
Probably not.
Recall that Conlin was in Iraq in 2003, and they didn't have division-level flying eyes until 2005, and the newer ones didn't arrive until then either. He based his wrong-headed opinion on only what he had experienced, not on what he should have learned in the Leadership Training Continuing Ed courses he should have had. He, and the rest of the Rear Echelon Military Fakes need to take some remedial Operations courses and see what the real Marines are doing today, not what they were doing three years ago.
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