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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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December 2nd,
2009 - Marine Officer Could Face Demotion in Iraq Deaths News article from the Associated
Press |
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Marine Officer
Could Face Demotion in Iraq Deaths By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press December 2, 2009 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
Marine Corps colonel overseeing a demotion hearing for an officer accused of failing
to investigate the deaths of 24 Iraqi men, women and children considered
Wednesday whether photos of the dead people should be allowed as evidence. The administrative hearing
for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Rangeley, Colo., began at Camp Pendleton
four years after the 2005 killings of the men, women and children in Haditha,
Iraq. A three-member military
panel will determine if Chessani should be demoted in retirement, which his
civilian attorney said could cost him and his wife a half-million dollars in
lost pension, health and retirement benefits. The couple is expecting their
seventh child. Chessani had been charged
with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the killings, which
occurred after one Marine was wounded and two others killed by a roadside
bomb. However, a judge at Camp
Pendleton dismissed the charges because of improper contact between a general
overseeing the case and an investigator. The Marines announced in April they
would not pursue further criminal charges. The hearing began with
questions for the panel and legal arguments over whether the government could
introduce evidence that includes photos of the dead, interviews with troops
who witnessed or were involved in the incident, and videotaped statements. Col. Kurt Brubaker, a
military judge overseeing the panel, rejected a defense challenge to one of
the panelists, Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Craparotta. Craparotta said during
questioning by the defense that in his division, the battalion commander had
to investigate any report of civilian killings - a statement that would make
him biased against Chessani, said Lt. Col. Jon Shelburne, Chessani's military
attorney. The panel will hear opening
statements later in the day then retire to review a number of documents
before taking witness testimony beginning Dec. 7. If the board finds no
wrongdoing, the case will be closed. If it finds misconduct, it can recommend
that the secretary of the Navy order Chessani retired at a lesser rank. Chessani's civilian attorney
Brian Rooney said his client faces demotion to major, which would be a
financial blow. "There's a sense of
fairness that all Marines have, and typically these (hearings) are seen as
unfair," Rooney said. "If you can't get a guy criminally, it's seen
as taking another bite of the apple." Chessani's wife sat in the
front row reading from a Bible during the hearing and was flanked by about a
dozen supporters. Murder counts have been
dismissed or withdrawn against four enlisted troops, and charges also were dismissed
or withdrawn for three other officers accused of mishandling the case. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is
expected in military court early next year to face nine counts of
manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty. Wuterich and a squad member
allegedly shot five men by a car at the scene. Investigators say Wuterich
then ordered his men to clear several houses with grenades and gunfire,
leaving women and children among the dead. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijlZuyAYL8ztNBbPZmQK-O7-UY1AD9CBFE403 Inquiry board deciding fate of man who commanded troops when 24 Iraqis
were slain in 2005 By Mark Walker North County Times December 2, 2009 After 22 years in the Marine
Corps, including three tours of duty in Iraq, the fate of Lt. Col. Jeffrey
Chessani rests with three officers who must decide if he was derelict in his
response to the slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians four years ago. Chessani was the battalion
commander of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in the city
of Haditha when the 24 civilians, including several women and children, were
slain after a roadside bombing on Nov. 19, 2005. On Wednesday, the three
experienced combat officers who comprise an inquiry board were told by a
prosecutor that Chessani was negligent because he failed to order a
full-scale investigation into the killings. Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury told
the inquiry board that Chessani misrepresented what occurred at Haditha. In
the best interest of the Marine Corps, he said, Chessani should be ordered to
retire at one level below his current rank. "What the institution
needs is a gathering like yourselves to evaluate the evidence and do what is
right in this case," Atterbury said. "Separation is warranted at
the retirement grade of major." But Lt. Col. Jon Shelburne,
one of Chessani's attorneys, said his client did nothing wrong, and reported
the killings up the chain of command and was never advised that a full
investigation was warranted. Chessani and the brass above
him believed the deaths were an unfortunate, but legitimate result of a
squad's search for the people responsible for a bombing that killed one
Marine and injured two others, Shelburne said. "Lieutenant Colonel
Chessani was not afraid to investigate," Shelburne told the board's
brigadier general and two colonels. "From his perspective, there was no
law of armed conflict violation. It was a legitimate combat action." A finding otherwise would send
a message to battalion commanders now in Iraq and Afghanistan that their
battlefield decisions will be second-guessed, Shelburne said. The inquiry board was
ordered by the Marine Corps after it dropped criminal dereliction of duty
charges against the Colorado native. The board heard opening
statements Wednesday and will spend the next several days reviewing
officials' reports, photographs, taped interviews and other evidence. On Monday, it will begin
hearing testimony from defense and government witnesses. When all have
testified, the board will adjourn to make its decision. If it decides Chessani did
nothing wrong, the case is over. If it decides he was derelict, it will
recommend to the Secretary of the Navy that Chessani be forced out at a lower
rank. As he has throughout
hundreds of hours of hearings over the last two years, Chessani sat stoically
at the defense table inside a packed base courtroom. During breaks, he chatted
with his wife, who is pregnant with the couple's seventh child and a cadre of
supporters who argue the Marine Corps is trying to make Chessani a scapegoat
for what happened at Haditha, an incident that flamed anti-war sentiments and
resulted in an order five months later that all civilian deaths in Iraq be
formally investigated. What was initially portrayed
in media reports and by Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., as a "massacre"
has played out far differently in base courtrooms. Of four enlisted troops
originally accused of murder, only one remains charged in the case, Staff
Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who faces nine counts of manslaughter and is slated to
go on trial next year. The other three had charges dismissed or withdrawn. Criminal charges against
Chessani and two lower-ranking officers were withdrawn. A fourth was
acquitted at trial. When initially confronted
with the suggestion that the men had wantonly slain civilians, Chessani
became visibly angry, a witness has testified in earlier hearings. "My men are not
murderers," he said. The panel determining how
Chessani's record in the Marine Corps ends is led by Brig. Gen. Lewis
Craparotta, a former Camp Pendleton commander. The other two officers are
Col. Daniel O'Donohue and Col. Patrick Looney. Whatever the panel decides
won't change Chessani's plans. He has said he intends to retire. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_651f0c9d-75b5-5375-bb88-d2c125727e7d.html |