Posted on 03/26/2010 1:47:30 PM PDT by jazusamo
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. A military judge in California has denied a motion to dismiss charges against a Marine sergeant whose squad killed 24 Iraqi men, women and children after a bomb killed a Marine.
Lt. Col. David Jones ruled Friday at Camp Pendleton on a defense motion claiming there was unlawful command influence while a general considered a court-martial for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich.
The judge ruled there was no record of any "meaningful comment" between the general and an aide who had investigated the case as a military lawyer.
Wuterich is facing trial on reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and other crimes in the November 2005 attack in the town of Haditha.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Disappointing.
I feel your anger. I’m not quibbling...just minorly correcting your rant.
Sec. Nav ordered the letters of censure, otherwise, those 3 would have gotten off.
No Marine should have been been investigated in this matter.
The General Staff and Murtha bought Tim McGIRK’s fantasy.
And I agree....Marines are suppose to cover another Marines ass.
Where’s Chesty when you need him ?
Semper Fi.
Chessani would probably argue with your broad, simplistic generalization.
I as so many here feel very bad for the Sarg., as well as all his Marines that where caught up in this total fiasco. Damn it all.
So would Lt Phan....
Marine to face court-martial in killings of 24 Iraqi civilians
I see you get your scoops from other headlines, rather than do your own DD.
A couple of pertinent facts amongst dozens; The 1st investigation was by the Army, and it was called the Watts Investigation.
It cleared the 3/1 from any wrongdoing.
However, SecNav Winter had already jerked his knee and destroyed the carreers of senior officers over the matter, Murtha was conducting a Murdering Marine telethon from his trough that feeds the Navy, so another investigation was "set up", the Bargewell report.
Col Ewers was a principal in that report, and at the same time he made a film condeming the 3/1's actions shortly after the investigation begun.
I watched it on TV as did millions of people worldwide.
Concurrent with these actions, Col Ewers was General Mattis's senior advisor on Haditha, the Bargewell investigation, etc.
The judge in Lt. Col Chessani's trial called foul for the obvious Unlawful Command Influence Ewers had on Mattis (Who, BTW, received his 4th star immediately upon "his" decision to railroad the 3/1.
This is one of the most documented military prosecutions in history, and likely the most influential on our military's moral.
If you and that barrel of ink you're sitting on can't do any better than this, see if you can get yourself assigned to M.O.'s fashion detail and stop wasting our time.
Thank you for sending that to ABC, boats.
I read their hit piece on this and wouldn’t even link it in this thread, they’re despicable.
You have a good grasp of what has taken place. So much has transpired over the last four plus years it’s difficult for me to remember without going back and reading the many articles written.
Thanks again!
Frank Wuterich, a leader who was caught in a hellhole firefight during a city wide planned attack by the insurgency in Haditha and still miraculously brought all but one of his men home alive.
Here's what Judge Jones said this afternoon starting at 1:00 pm: “Denied” and then 39 mins & 59 seconds of blah blah blah, CTA (covering their a$$e$) blah blah, Riggs and Ewers have big enough egos not to cow tow to influence, blah blah blah, Mattis and Hellend weren't impacted by Ewers siting in on every meeting (even though he conducted investigations with the Bargewell investigation to implicate the Marines) and now everyone is supposed to believe Ewers had NO IMPACT on the outcome.
Thanks for relating what took place today in the hearing room Saoirise.
After seeing Jones’ ruling I figured it was something along those lines.
Do you know if Frank’s defense team made any kind of statement at all after the hearing? There’s been nothing said in the media accounts that I’ve been able to find.
Thanks also for attending the hearings!
"I'm actually happy to see there is a trial date and that this will be over soon," Wuterich told reporters. ". . . It's been a tough five years, seeing everybody else exonerated."
At least 1/3 enlisted?
Fine, here's the jury...Lt. Andrew Grayson, Lcpl Stephen Tatum, Lcpl Justin Sharratt, CPT Randy Stone, CPT Lucas McConnell, LTCOL Jeffrey Chessani
I believe it was only Frank making the statement. I am putting my notes together and will post more, as soon as I calm down.
Good call, Smooth, that’s exactly who it should be.
Let the people that know most about the incredible dangers of the incident judge their fellow Marine.
Wait until tomorrow, I didn’t mean to press. I can’t really imagine how you must feel because I was worked up for quite awhile after just reading the ruling.
I honestly don’t know.
The commanders in the field looked into the incident and decided it was a consequence of war.
Sadly, the enemedia, politicians and then the brass decided their must be something sinister because a few Iraqis, that it turns out later were insurgents, screamed war crimes.
Correct, until it became a political firestorm fueld by the Anti-war crowd.
From the Al Associated Press: Abdul-Rahman Najim al-Mashhadani, who heads the Baghdad-based Hammourabi NGO human rights organization, welcomed the ruling. "It is a very important case and we feel happy that attention will be paid to a case dealing with human rights," he said. "This case is regarded as a success for us."
al-Mashhadani is McGirk's buddy I beleive, Frank is the last Haditha case and the Govt has to safe face with the Iraqi's and sacrifice Frank. I'm going to sleep and will add more tomorrow.
It is already well known that the vid produced to start this bullcrap, and shopped around for months later by Tim McGurk was pure insurgent propaganda.
Imo, the current judge should be arrested and tried for treason. He’s doing squat all but serving the will and goals of the enemy that produced the bullcrap video of lies and twisted spin.
And he damn well knows it too.
There was a time, when this was fresh, that the program had to be gone through. But now the truth of it all is well known and there is no value in any sense to any form of justice to keep playing this idiot game.
Keeping this going is a travesty that should cost the perfid in a life lost by court order sort of way.
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