[RedRover]

One last bit I left out...

Maj Samuel H. Carrasco testified that the Watt Investigation was informal and disjointed. He also testified that the town council meeting (during which complaints were raised by the Haditha incident) included insurgent sympathizers and outright members of al Qaeda.

[Girlene]

He also testified that the town council meeting (during which complaints were raised by the Haditha incident) included insurgent sympathizers and outright members of al Qaeda.

I'm SHOCKED!!!!...not.

Here's an update to Chelsea Carter's AP report on closing arguments, Closing arguments

"CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—A prosecutor and defense attorney offered stark contrasts Wednesday to jurors about the actions of a Marine intelligence officer accused of trying to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children. A prosecutor painted 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson as a liar who wanted to avoid accountability and ordered a sergeant to delete photographs of the bodies. A defense attorney said he was victim of a botched investigation under heavy media scrutiny.

The contrasts came during closing arguments in the court-martial of Grayson, who is the first of three Marines scheduled to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi death to come out of the war.

Grayson, who says he did nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, but is accused of a telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera and laptop computer.

The prosecutor, Lt. Col. Paul H. Atterbury, told jurors evidence showed Grayson lied five times to investigators and hindered their efforts to look into the killings.

"Gentlemen, why would an otherwise promising officer make a statement like that? The government's argument is that it was to avoid accountability," Atterbury said.

But Grayson's civilian defense attorney, Joseph Casas, told jurors the prosecution of Grayson was the result of a botched investigation.

The case, he said, was falling apart, pointing to a move a day earlier by a judge who dismissed an obstruction of justice charge Grayson. "One of the greatest charges we started out with is no longer there," Casas said. "It's like the government ran a 90-yard punt return and got called back to line 10."

The judge, Maj. Brian Kasprzyk, did not explain why he dropped the charge. He told the jury shortly before closing arguments began that they should not infer anything from his decision. ".....

[Lancey Howard]

Maj Samuel H. Carrasco testified that the Watt Investigation was informal and disjointed. He also testified that the town council meeting (during which complaints were raised by the Haditha incident) included insurgent sympathizers and outright members of al Qaeda.

Sounds right.
How pathetic is a chain of command that would allow an insurgent propaganda scheme to go as far as this one has? Two years and counting. (Ooops... Here comes a little more of that throw-up in my mouth.)

[freema]

Whaddaya mean, "One last bit I left out..."

Maj Samuel H. Carrasco testified that the Watt Investigation was informal and disjointed. He also testified that the town council meeting (during which complaints were raised by the Haditha incident) included insurgent sympathizers and outright members of al Qaeda.

I'm gonna get put in time-out before this is over.