LTC Chessani cleared!
My email box is filling up, Rush Limbaugh’s talking about it, it’s all over the news, so I guess I’d better tell ya’all (CBS News link);
A military judge has dismissed charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.
Col. Steven Folsom dismissed charges Tuesday against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani after defense attorneys raised concerns that a four-star general overseeing the prosecution was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the November 2005 shootings by a Marine squad in Haditha.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled, but Folsom excluded Marine Forces Central Command from future involvement.
There were 9 Marines charged and we’re down to one Staff Sergeant. I wonder if Murtha is writing his resignation.
UPDATED: My post at Eagles UP! Talon deals with this subject and Murtha.
Category: Legal, Support the troops, Terror War
I wouldn’t hold my breath over Murtha.
I know, Chris, the lame stream media should be all over this! I’m going to run this on my blog, Murtha’s video condemning warriors that he should be treating like brothers and throwing them under the bus.
I called Murtha’s office and they said they hadn’t heard anything. I told them to check Fox News and asked when an apology would be issued. They hung up on me…
Murtha’s office isn’t in a good mood right now.
The person who answered gave me some BS. I set her straight.
Ooorah!! One to go.
The person who answered actually tried to sell me some BS that Murtha was talking about the consequences of the stress of back to back tours on Marines. As if he never called them “cold blodded killers”.
The crap excuse “there’s a trial on” was met with “he said it even BEFORE there was a trial”. And asked if there would be an apology for at least saying something before there’s even a trial.
I pointed out that Army tours are 12 months with an R&R period midway, while most Marines rotate home in 6 months. Yeah, yeah there are slight variations on that so the rug rats with childish excuses don’t go tugging an my sleeve, I’m not your mom, I don’t have to reinforce your self-esteem when you’re wrong.
HOOAH! So, when will Murtha crawl out from under his rock to apologize?
*crickets chirping*
Raoul,
I got the video with Charlie Gibson interviewing Murtha on my blog now. Murtha accuses the Marines of being “cold blooded killers” several times in that particular interview alone. How about all the other interviews!!! I tell you, these people are loony tunes if they think they can explain their way out of it when we have the proof online:
Marine Cleared In Haditha Massacre
Murtha also stated that the war is lost…
Yeah, just recieved an email about this!! Great News!
The true test will come with Sgt. Wutterich’s court-martial. Sgt. Wutterich is the person who acted under, perhaps, “hot” blood, and shot the 16 non-combatants that lie at the heart of the matter.
If there was “command influence” that the Marines and the military fears (rightly so), then any dismissal of charges will lead to the dismissal of charges against Sgt. Wutterich. Any finding of “command influence” will “taint” any re-filing of charges against ANY of these Marines.
The Marines will be REQUIRED to DIS-prove that U.S. Congressman Murtha attempted to directly influence the outcome of this series of courts-martial. The Marines will be terrified to do so. As will [expletive deleted] Murtha. I could craft a Federal felony charge against Murtha if that relationship could be proven, something like conspiracy to deprive U.S. Citizens (i.e., Marines) of their Constitutional Rights.
Based upon media reports (to the degree that they can be trusted), Sgt. Wutterich MAY have committed Manslaughter, i.e., the non-premeditated unlawful killing of other human beings. If that was the case, then his prosecution is proper and lawful.
If, however, the Marines are trying to conceal their improper relationship with Murtha, who may have unlawfully attempted to direct the verdict of the military trials, then no such court-martial can be permitted, because the issue will arise to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces, and thence on to the Supreme Court (who can no longer be trusted due to their political agenda with giving non-U.S. citizens, non-U.S. located “criminals” with Habeas Corpus rights).
What happens with the Wutterich case will determine where this investigation goes. Non-lawyers may not understand the full ramifications of all that I post, but let’s put it this way … the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Convening Authority (Gen. Matthi?), will become subject to prosecution under Art. 133 (Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, if I have the cite properly remembered), and Art. 134 (General Article) of the U.S. Code of Military Justice.
This is not over yet.