Posted on 12/10/2009 10:08:58 PM PST by Lancey Howard
The Marine officer who commanded the Camp Pendleton troops responsible for killing two dozen Iraqi civilians after a roadside bombing in 2005 denied Thursday trying to cover up the killings or failing to report what he knew to the chain of command in Iraq.
"I was told it was a bona fide combat action and no investigation was required," Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani said of the response he got from his superiors after he reported the incident.
Chessani also said his later removal as commander of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment "was the most professionally devastating day of my life."
Chessani made the comments, his most extensive since the killings, in response to questions from one of his attorneys during the final day of testimony before a three-member inquiry board at Camp Pendleton that will decide if he failed to accurately report and investigate the killings.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Yikes! There goes Mark Walker again.... You would think that after two years or so of covering this story the guy would get a clue.
(( ping ))
(( ping ))
Thanks for the ping
>> “...who commanded the Camp Pendleton troops responsible for killing two dozen Iraqi civilians...”
Responsible? The insurgents ambushed the Marine convoy and lured the Marines through a path of battle that unfortunately included hidden civilians.
But I do give him a degree of credit for including this:
Three days after the killings, Chessani said, he attended a meeting of the Haditha town council, which presented him with a letter contending that war crimes had been committed and asking for a formal investigation.
Chessani said he listened to the council members, but was suspicious because the mayor and several members were aligned with the insurgency, according to intelligence reports.
"I did not put a lot of stock in what they were saying," he said, adding that he reported the request from the council up the chain of command.
After agreeing to make payments to families of the deceased, the veteran of two Iraq deployments said that meeting ended on good terms and that the Iraqis never again mentioned the incident.
That should be a slap in the face to the prosecution and a bright flash of reality to the three officer panel to end this fiasco in favor of Chessani.
"Responsible?"
You know? That is an excellent point. I get so hung up on the idiotic "two dozen Iraqi civilians" that Walker always works into his reports that I missed the "responsible" part... The freaking INSURGENTS were the ones "responsible" for the deaths of the estimated 16 (NOT 24) civilians who were harboring the insurgents. (By the way, guess those civilians hitched their stars to the wrong wagon. Oh well... sucks to be them.)
Also, have you noticed how NONE of the Haditha reports over the past two years or so mention that white taxi cab with the four young male students who were innocently "on their way to college"? The ones who were killed at the scene by Chessani's Marines on the same day? That part of the story seems to have just dropped off the face of the earth. It's like it never happened.... Gee, I wonder why?
It's a miracle! (/Shawshank warden)
“...that unfortunately included hidden civilians.”
Someone needs to prove these “civilians” existed as civilians and not as open, active participants.
We know from the mouth of one of the “civilians” (the young bint, iirc, 12 yo), that she knew exactly when the bomb was supposed to go off, exactly where the bomb was going to go off, and took cover accordingly.
That’s not the act of an innocent nor a civilian. Such info as where the bombs are and when they’re set to detonate is most def insider info.
That entire family was part of the game and got treated accordingly.
We’ve become made into sniveling, spineless jellyfish by the previous decade of bullcrap UN “Peacekeeping” missions. Missions where the only real purpose of the UN forces was to provide cover and protection for the belligerents. That, and a news industry dominated by the weak, stupid, intellectually inbred, ignorant and insane.
If a totally uninformed person were to read this article would they come away from it negative toward Chessani? I think so. Especially the final paragraphs about his visit to Haditha but his not entering the buildings is information designed to influence negatively by the way it’s presented. It flows from the continued misreporting of the number of civilians. Nor is the article balanced by any mention of the nature of the fighting.
Chessani also said his later removal as commander of Camp Pendleton’s 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment “was the most professionally devastating day of my life.”
Having been a battalion commander at Camp Pendleton, I can absolutely understand LtCol Chessani’s anguish at being relieved.
Thanks for the pings, Lancey and xzins
“We’ll see if the BOI panel members can maintain a bit of theirs. “
I have to think the outcome was decided before it started.
Shameful
I don't know about the board members, but the jackals that have led - and followed - the chase on this would have to know dignity to miss it.
Great post, Girl
Walker is incapable of getting a clue.
Where I find disagreement with the entire reportage of this event is that claim of “civilians” in any context.
I hold that there were no civilian casualties in that fight what-so-ever.
All involved were insurgents and insurgent activists. The primary motivator for this bullcrap investigation, Tim McGurk, could also be tagged as an insurgent loyalist for his actions in flogging that obvious insurgent propaganda video for months after the battle in order to force a prosecution.
And let us never forget the truly un professional work done by the NCIS. The forgotten tape recorders, shoddy half brains that screwed around with our Marines, and the top brass and Secretary of the Navy that allowed this charade to drag out for so long.
The young girl knowing the time the ied would explode sure indicates they were all insurgent collaborators, doesn’t it?
No Marine should have turned his back that day on anyone of any able age or of any sex.
There weren’t any civilians in Iraq at that time, and there aren’t any in Afghanistan now. It’s damned war zone, and if the “civilians don’t like it, they can get rid of the Taliban themselves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.