His role was considerably worse than that, AB. Mattis was a key participant in the Unlawful Command Influence which tainted the entire shabby affair, and made it impossible for those accused to receive justice. To further compound his dishonor, as convening officer he was in a position to end the travesty before their careers and lives were ruined, but he chose to play ball with the rest of the chain of command who were looking for scapegoats.
This has all been covered, analyzed and documented on Free Republic in the Haditha archives if anyone care to actually look. Much more in depth analysis by military legal experts can be found at other sources such as the Thomas Moore Law Center, DefendOurMarines.com and others.
As a start, I suggest any readers here who are interested in truth versus the blow-hard chest-pounding some employ check out the following:
General Mattis testimony: History repeats itself
Finally, here are some personal comments I made on a previous thread:
"There is some really tragic irony at play here. If we ignore Mattis’ actions in the Haditha matter, from a strictly combat ability and leadership perspective he and Petraeus probably really are the best men for the job."
"Unfortunately, there are two reasons we are going to lose the Afghanistan conflict. First, it is not going to be decided militarily, but politically, and the political goal is not victory, despite what we are being told."
"Second, from a strategic and logistical perspective Afghanistan is militarily untenable. Our troops are in an isolated, landlocked location which can only be supplied by air or ground over routes we don’t control. We are at the mercy of Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and even Russia. The land component is critical because we don’t have the airlift capacity to completely supply our forces that way."
"Even if Petraeus and Mattis decide to get tough those countries can instantly change the equation. No matter how capable or brilliant our generals may be they can’t semantically redefine reality the way politicians do and just magically make these conditions disappear."
"When (not if) things begin to unravel there our troops face the possibility of being trapped and having to either fight their way out, or more likely being allowed to leave after a face-saving but shameful “peace agreement” that the Obama regime has been working towards all along."
"Either way serves Obama’s purposes. The US military and our patriotic military personnel are the single biggest obstacle to the fascist transformation of America which is well under way. A defeated, dispirited and discredited US military is one of the best benefits for the left to achieve their domestic agenda of complete control here."
"One of the things that saddens me most about Free Republic is that, even here, people get so wrapped up in cult of personality based thinking they don’t bother to think about the bigger picture. Individuals are important, but the game being played is bigger than just one general, or even one president."
"Afghanistan is the wrong war in the wrong place for the wrong reasons. The real terrorist threat comes from Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. That’s why Iraq was the right place to start - just look at the map. Iraq was like a giant unsinkable aircraft carrier right in the middle of the enemy, a perfect, easily supplied staging ground from which to carry the fight to the rest. We started well but have now dropped the ball. Afghanistan is a diversion, and a trap."
Generals Mattis is like a tragic hero from Greek mythology - despite his accomplishments, a tragic flaw of character, ambition, will prove his undoing. Both he and Petraeus are being set up a scapegoats in Afghanistan in order to discredit, demoralize and ultimately defund our military in the wake of the planned debacle.
Oh .. your words echo my most terrifying
fears about the true goals of these
despicable monsters. I pray God’s merciful
hand hovers ever near.
” .. and an angel in the whirlwind still
directs this storm.”