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Investigator: Drop Marine's Haditha murder charges
AP ^ | July 10, 2007 | AP

Posted on 07/11/2007 3:21:44 AM PDT by freema

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- An investigating officer has recommended dismissing murder charges against a Marine accused in the slayings of three Iraqi men in a squad action that killed 24 civilians in Haditha, according to a report released Tuesday.

The government's theory that Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt had executed the three men was "incredible" and relied on contradictory statements by Iraqis, Lt. Col. Paul Ware said in the report, released by Sharratt's defense attorneys.

"To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and sets a dangerous precedent that, in my opinion, may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq," Ware wrote.

Defense attorneys James Culp and Gary Myers in a statement welcomed the report and said it "reflected the value of the calm of a courtroom and the adversarial process."

Sharratt's mother Theresa said she was overjoyed.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: defendourmarines; haditha; marines; sharratt; usmc; wot
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To: caddie
IMHO, the Commander-in-Chief should have put the kibosh on the charges immediately.

All the charges against these men were very heavily politically motivated as part of an effort by treacherous partisan politicians and their media tools in an ongoing battle to discredit the GWOT, and thereby the CIC and the preemptive strike policy championed by this and other republican administrations.

To accomplish this, and turn public sentiment towards the left's goal of a United Nations controlled military, they needed to paint our military, particularly the Marines as invaders, oppressors, who according Jf'nK "terrorize women and children in the middle of the night.", and according to Murtha are "cold blooded murderers"....IOW, broken, out of control savages who need to be reined in and forced to conform to international standards of a humanitarian conflict.

One of the charges that has been brought against a number of the Marines is that they failed to investigate, in fact Murtha bellowed "cover up" in the same sentence as "Marines are cold blooded murderers".

Can you imagine what the same media who has convinced 50 million plus people that Karl Rove should go to prison for a non crime in which he was never even charged would do if the president pardoned these men before an investigation into murder by Marines, ordered by the Marine Corps generals, ever took place, would do with a story like that?

The media and certain traitors in our congress, the DOD, and apparently some high level REMFs that are tired of playing in the sand would have made sure that act would have resulted in permanently painting these Marines as murderers, it would have destroyed our credibility worldwide, and devastated the president's ability to protect this country.

Where it should have ended was when the generals took the reports from Chessani, Stone, and Dinsmore.

Then it should have ended when there was an investigation by the Army that confirmed the reports from the field. At that point, there was no reason to proceed any further.

Instead, something made made the brass go ahead and charge these men with ludicrous charges, and initiate Article 32 hearings. I'm thinking it's the same anonymous traitors in the DOD that have provided over 10,000 pages of classified materials to the Washington Post putting pressure on them, as one general, whose name eludes me, but starts with an S, appeared maybe too eager to initiate an investigation, but curiously has refused to testify.

It all comes down to the left needing to paint our military as boogeymen to satisfy their claims.

Bush going over the heads of the generals in command and ordering an end to the investigation would have been disastrous. General Matthis ending these investigations now that it has been shown that there is no substance to the two basic charges - murder and cover up - would now be appropriate. He let this get out of hand, so it's up to him to rein it back in, and up to him to report where the pressure to charge these men came from.

I do think that the president should recall Navy Secretary Winter for refusing to examine the techniques NCIS uses, and he should initiate an investigation into the leaks, and should it be revealed there was pressure from congress and the DOD to persecute these men, criminal charges should be brought.

Civil charges are already being brought against Murtha by one Marine. Should an investigation into undue influence commence, it would likely help that.

These Marines have been financially devastated by this, while Murtha's dining on mountains of pork every danged day.

41 posted on 07/11/2007 8:47:25 AM PDT by 4woodenboats (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: RedRover; 4woodenboats; xzins
A little more from the North County Times Hearing officer recommends dismissal of Haditha charges

...."The government version is unsupported by independent evidence," Ware wrote in the 18-page report released late Tuesday by Sharratt's attorneys. ....

"Whether this was a brave act of combat against the enemy or tragedy of misperception born out of conducting combat with an enemy that hides among innocents, Lance Cpl. Sharratt's actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force," Ware wrote.


Thank goodness for an investigating authority who seems to understand the full scope of this case. Thank goodness, also, for some excellent defense attorneys who were able to counter the prosecution's "evidence".
42 posted on 07/11/2007 9:25:24 AM PDT by Girlene
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To: 4woodenboats; jazusamo; Girlene; brityank; All
Busy morning! Phil Brennan will be on Michael Reagan's radio show today, talking about this development! (Phil told me he's using our hearing summary as his reference.)

I posted the IO's report as a pdf online. (Sorry, I can't test the link. Hope it works!) I need to convert it to text. Unless any of you know how to do it, I'll do it later!

43 posted on 07/11/2007 9:28:33 AM PDT by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: Girlene

“Whether this was a brave act of combat against the enemy or tragedy of misperception born out of conducting combat with an enemy that hides among innocents, Lance Cpl. Sharratt’s actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force,” Ware wrote.

****************
Let’s hope this statement sets a precedent for the remaining hearings. Any news on recommendations from Chessani’s hearing? Wonder if they are waiting to see what the results of the other hearings for “murder” are?


44 posted on 07/11/2007 9:35:34 AM PDT by Chickenhawk Warmonger (The Media Lied & Soldiers Died)
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To: RedRover
I'll check it out. The CBS news article Report: Haditha Charges Should Be Dropped also includes this quote from Lt. Col. Paul Ware

"Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy"

So I'm wondering if the prosecution would like to drop thc charges against SSGT Frank Wuterich in that fourth house? Frank was charged with the unpremeditated murder of the fourth man that was killed in that house. What's the point of continuing with that charge when most of the evidence has been reviewed and found lacking?
45 posted on 07/11/2007 9:39:17 AM PDT by Girlene
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To: RedRover

The link works fine, thanks!


46 posted on 07/11/2007 9:40:42 AM PDT by 4woodenboats (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: Chickenhawk Warmonger; RedRover

I haven’t heard much about the Chessani hearing. I’m not sure the IO has all the transcripts [it was a long one] yet from the hearing for his review. Red will know.


47 posted on 07/11/2007 9:41:42 AM PDT by Girlene
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To: freema

“It’s not the accuracy of the evidence, it’s the seriousness of the allegations!”


48 posted on 07/11/2007 9:46:07 AM PDT by TChris (The Republican Party is merely the Democrat Party's "away" jersey - Vox Day)
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To: RedRover; All
Good news about Phil Brennan being on Reagan's radio show today, at least the truth is getting out in some of the media.

Thanks for the IO's report link, it works fine. I don't know how to convert it but I'll retype the final paragraph, that says it all.

Accordingly I recommend that the Charge and specifications be dismissed without prejudice. I further recommend that LCpl Sharratt be given testimonial immunity and ordered to cooperate with ongoing investigations concerning the events of 19 November 2005.

49 posted on 07/11/2007 9:50:11 AM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: RedRover

Rush talking about this now...VERY pissed at Murtha!

Cindie


50 posted on 07/11/2007 9:51:59 AM PDT by gardencatz (Your son might be an honor student, but mine's a US Marine...it can't always be someone else's son!)
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To: Girlene; jazusamo; smoothsailing

Rush Alert!


51 posted on 07/11/2007 10:04:38 AM PDT by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: freema
What say ye now Murtha? You POS!!!
52 posted on 07/11/2007 10:07:12 AM PDT by BluH2o
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To: freema; jazusamo; RedRover
What wonderful news to find as I log on to FR for the first time today! Woo-Hoo!

Ma, you must be on cloud nine! I know I just want to run out in the field behind my house and shout Thank You Lord at the top of my lungs!

And there's this from California Conservative:

Rep. Murtha Running For Cover

53 posted on 07/11/2007 10:07:16 AM PDT by smoothsailing ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction"--President Ronald Reagan)
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To: smoothsailing

Wow! Did they ever rip murtha as well they should, thanks for the link.

The most pitiful thing about murtha is that the Sharratt’s reside in his district and the POS won’t even talk to them. What a coward the POS is.


54 posted on 07/11/2007 10:20:39 AM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: jazusamo
dismissed without prejudice

This is a legalism for the charges can be brought again at a future date. You want the charges dismissed WITH prejudice.

55 posted on 07/11/2007 10:25:25 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: freema

Great news!


56 posted on 07/11/2007 10:27:43 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: freema; smoothsailing; RedRover

Update ping! ;-)


57 posted on 07/11/2007 10:40:53 AM PDT by Tunehead54 (Nothing funny here. ;-)
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To: freema; RedRover; jazusamo
Ma, the complete IO report submitted by Lt.Col. Ware is available here:

http://warchronicle.com/TheyAreNotKillers/LCplSharratt/Sharratt_IO_Report.pdf

Scroll down to page 17 for the "Disposition of Charges". I wish I knew how to cut and paste it here. Maybe someone can help us out.

(Tip of the hat to warchronicle.com and our good friend there! :-)

58 posted on 07/11/2007 10:46:58 AM PDT by smoothsailing ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction"--President Ronald Reagan)
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To: smoothsailing

I couldn’t convert the pdf to text so I need to print it out, and do an OCR scan. I’ll post the juciest bits in about an hour (unless someone beats me to it—which they’re welcome to do! Let the word go forth!)


59 posted on 07/11/2007 11:08:26 AM PDT by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.com)
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To: xzins; goldstategop
"The JAG military prosecutors are not culpable, imho."

Well... That assumes they aren't as lame of JAGs as Senator Lindsay Graham musta been!!!

60 posted on 07/11/2007 11:16:40 AM PDT by SierraWasp (SIERRA REPUBLIC!!! (our 51st united state)(all of CA excluding coastal counties))
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