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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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December 10th,
2009 - ‘We Regrettably Killed Women and Children’ |
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‘We Regrettably Killed Women
and Children’ Marine officer at center of Haditha incident explains his actions By Mark Walker North County Times December 10, 2009 The Marine officer who
commanded the Camp Pendleton troops responsible for killing two dozen Iraqi civilians
after a roadside bombing in 2005 denied Thursday trying to cover up the
killings or failing to report what he knew to the chain of command in Iraq. "I was told it was a
bona fide combat action and no investigation was required," Lt. Col.
Jeffrey Chessani said of the response he got from his superiors after he
reported the incident. Chessani also said his later
removal as commander of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment
"was the most professionally devastating day of my life." Chessani made the comments,
his most extensive since the killings, in response to questions from one of
his attorneys during the final day of testimony before a three-member inquiry
board at Camp Pendleton that will decide if he failed to accurately report and
investigate the killings. The board, which also heard
a series of character witnesses laud Chessani's professionalism and
integrity, has to decide whether his actions warrant a recommendation that he
be ordered to retire at the lower rank of major. Chessani's wife, Alisa, who
is pregnant with the couple's seventh child, submitted a written statement
pleading that her husband be allowed to keep his current rank and be allowed
to "retire with some dignity." The board will begin its
deliberations after hearing final arguments Friday morning. A battalion commander at
Haditha, Iraq, Chessani said he informed a colonel of everything he knew
within hours of the Nov. 19, 2005, incident. "I recall telling him
we were subject to an (improvised explosive device) and small-arms fire and
had pursued the enemy and we regrettably had killed women and children,"
the 43-year-old Colorado native said in a calm, clear voice. Standing at the defense
table with his hands firmly clasped behind his back, Chessani said that he
told a general who visited Haditha a couple of days after the incident that
several women and children were among those killed as his Marines searched
for their attackers. When allegations surfaced
three months later that the troops had gone on a rampage, Chessani said he
became angry. "It was outrageous -
they were unbelievable on their face," he said, as his wife listened
from a front-row seat in the courtroom gallery. "I had no concerns. I
told (my men) to tell the truth." Chessani was among eight
Marines charged with criminal wrongdoing in the wake of the Haditha killings
that sparked an international outcry when they first came to light. He was accused of
dereliction of duty, a charge that subsequently was dropped after a military
judge ruled that unlawful command influence unfairly tainted the case against
him. The Marine Corps had the
option of refiling that charge, but ultimately opted for the inquiry board. Three days after the
killings, Chessani said, he attended a meeting of the Haditha town council,
which presented him with a letter contending that war crimes had been
committed and asking for a formal investigation. Chessani said he listened to
the council members, but was suspicious because the mayor and several members
were aligned with the insurgency, according to intelligence reports. "I did not put a lot of
stock in what they were saying," he said, adding that he reported the
request from the council up the chain of command. After agreeing to make
payments to families of the deceased, the veteran of two Iraq deployments
said that meeting ended on good terms and that the Iraqis never again
mentioned the incident. Criticized in one
investigation for failing to visit the site of the killings, Chessani said
there were several attacks that day and that he did go there the next
morning. "I went to gain an
understanding of what happened, but nothing changed my understanding of the
facts," he said. He could not explain why he
never entered any of the homes where the majority of the civilians were shot
to death. "I can't honestly say
right now," he said. Six of the other Marines
accused of crimes at Haditha have been exonerated through trial, hearings or
withdrawal of charges. The only man still facing
charges is the leader of the squad that carried out the killings, Staff Sgt.
Frank Wuterich, who faces nine counts of manslaughter and is scheduled to go
on trial next year. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_c4fea1b0-351b-523a-8184-af279ce494d4.html |