Analyst says Marine told him to get rid of Haditha photos

Union Tribune - San Diego ^ | May 30, 2008 | Steve Liewer

[freema]

AMP PENDLETON – Seeing the corpses of 24 Iraqi men, women and children – all killed in a short span Nov. 19, 2005, in the city of Haditha – made a powerful impression on Marine Sgt. Justin Laughner.

A squad of fellow Marines had done the killing. Laughner, an intelligence analyst, took pictures of the bodies and stored them on his personal laptop computer.

Then one day in February 2006, he said, an intelligence officer told him to get rid of the images. In a Camp Pendleton courtroom yesterday, Laughner identified that officer at 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson.

“He told me I needed to delete them,” said Laughner, now a staff sergeant. “I knew I had done something wrong with those photographs.”

[freema]

Dude. Where’d you hear that?

[Girlene]

I reread some of Laughner’s testimony from LCpl Sharratt’s hearing that you are referring to. There are a lot of holes in his information. Maybe he never wrote a report on his actions from that day? If he had, I’d think he would have reviewed it prior to testimony.

The passports and currency from suspected insurgents were put in a Mickey Mouse bag and handed over to other Coalition forces (according to Laughner), never to be seen again. I realize this was not handled as a crime scene, but I don’t understand why he didn’t have a little curiosity about where that bag ended up.

I’m not going to surmise why SSgt Laughner kept the photos on his computer, but they shouldn’t have been there. Supposedly he’d been told by two other senior officers to delete them. I have not seen an explanation why he ignored those orders, but finally complied when 1st Lt. Grayson gave him an order.

[Girlene]

So far nothing's been reported in NCTimes about Watt being relieved earlier this year. Seriously, who sends 8,000 text messages in 3 months to someone? That's almost 90 a day. Threatening his XO? Wow. He has some serious issues.

xzins, here's what was reported in San Diego Union Tribune about Watt's testimony.

Watt said that during an hour's worth of interviews, he asked Grayson three times about photos and reports of the Haditha incident. He said Grayson at first told him he didn't believe there were any photos, but that he would check, and then later said they had been deleted.

Sounds like the truth to me.

[xzins]

I agree, it does sound like the truth.

He specifically says they were deleted. They were. I wonder if Watt was dallying with his 8000 text-message SSG at the time he was castigating this combat Lieutenant?

[Girlene]

I wonder if Watt was dallying with his 8000 text-message SSG at the time he was castigating this combat Lieutenant?

LOL. I can't get over that number! An average of 90 text messages a day, including weekends.

[jazusamo]

Sounds like the truth to me.

That's exactly what I thought yesterday when I first read it, couldn't figure what Watt was saying Lt Grayson was lying about.

Can't really figure why Watt is even testifying in this courts-martial other than the prosecution throwing everything against the wall hoping something will stick, as Red said. :)

[Soothesayer]

Jihadis blow themselves up like pussy cowards.

[Soothesayer]

Losers always whine about their “best”

If we didn’t demand pushing the boundaries, would excellence exist anywhere at all?

[freema]

Yes, they do.

[hosepipe]

[ Losers always whine about their “best” / If we didn’t demand pushing the boundaries, would excellence exist anywhere at all? ]

That... Sounds neurotic and utopian to me..
"A mans got to know his limitations" - Dirty Harry...
If you do not know your best you cannot know when you've exceeded it..
And be GLAD...