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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 26th,
2007 - General Calls for Investigation of Leak |
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General Calls for Investigation
of Leak By William Finn Bennett North County Times Friday, January 26, 2007 10:37 PM PST North County - Marine Corps
officials confirmed Friday that Lt. Gen. James Mattis has called for an
investigation into who leaked documents recently from a massive investigation
of the 2005 deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq. An attorney representing one
of eight Camp Pendleton Marines charged in connection with the incident said
Friday it was essential Mattis order the probe given the notoriety caused by
a Jan. 6 Washington Post article. The newspaper cited interviews with
eyewitnesses who allege four of the Marines had gunned down five men. "A lot of people
already think the Marines accused in this case are not going to get a fair
shake," said Jack Zimmerman, an attorney representing Lance Cpl. Stephen
Tatum. The Naval Criminal
Investigative Service, a civilian agency under the control of the Department
of the Navy, conducted the investigation. Last month, charges ranging
from unpremeditated murder to negligent homicide were filed against four
enlisted Marines from Camp Pendleton in the case that generated worldwide
outcry when first reported in March. Four officers have been charged with
dereliction of duty and related offenses for the way they handled the initial
investigation. The eight men are with Camp
Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. The enlisted men are: Tatum,
25; Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26; Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, 24; and Lance Cpl.
Justin Sharratt, 22. The officers are: Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, 42; Capt.
Randy Stone, 34; 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, 25; and Capt. Lucas McConnell, 31. The civilian deaths occurred
Nov. 19, 2005. After a roadside bomb exploded beneath a Humvee and killed one
of 13 Marines in a convoy, four Marines are alleged to have shot five men who
drove by the scene. Members of the squad then stormed several nearby homes in
search of insurgents, and by the time it was all over, 19 other civilians - including
women and children - were dead. On Friday, Zimmerman and
Neal Puckett, who represents Wuterich, stated they had received copies of the
letter from Mattis, who is commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central
Command and Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force. Mattis is also the
convening authority over the case. Earlier this month, after
stories began running in the Washington Post based on portions of the report,
both attorneys sent letters to Mattis in which they called for him to
initiate the investigation. Not doing so, they said, would pose a threat to
their clients' ability to receive a fair trial. On Friday, Puckett sent a
prepared statement to the North County Times saying it was good to see that
Mattis understands how important it is to investigate the leak. "He (Mattis) wrote that
he shares our concerns and that he has requested a Marine Corps Inspector
General investigation into the source of the leak," Puckett stated. The attorneys and Marine
officials all declined to provide a copy of the letter to the North County
Times. However, Marine Corps
spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson did confirm that the letter had been sent and
its general contents. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01/27/news/top_stories/17_07_881_26_07.txt |