Target of Haditha claims facing new accusations

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

Nearly four years after the so-called "Haditha Massacre," which was cited by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., when he publicly accused U.S. Marines of being cold-blooded killers, and after being cleared by multiple levels of military courts, a Marine officer is facing a new round of allegations stemming from the firefight in Iraq.

According to some members of his legal team, the attorneys at the Thomas More Law Center, the original investigation that failed to produce evidence for a conviction took more than 65 investigators and cost millions of dollars.

After an lengthy process in which prosecutors lost at every stage, the government has announce it no longer will pursue a criminal case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. However, his fight still goes on, because a new general in charge of the case, Marine Lt. Gen. George Flynn, has called for an administration procedure called a "Board of Inquiry," the law center announced.

"The government's persecution of this loyal Marine officer continues because he refused to throw his men under the bus to appease some anti-war politicians and press, and the Iraqi government," said Richard Thompson, president of the center.

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"Any punishment of Lt. Col. Chessani handed down by a Board of Inquiry would be a miscarriage of justice because he did nothing wrong, and our lawyers will mount the same vigorous defense in this administrative proceeding as they did in the criminal [case]."

The law center said the board is different from a trial in that the rules for evidence are not the same. "Evidence that would likely be thrown out in a criminal proceeding may be considered by the board," the report said.

Ultimately, a negative decision by such a board of Marine officers could result in Chessani being forced to retire and a loss of some benefits.

In dismissing the counts in the criminal case, a Marine hearing officer cited "Unlawful Command Influence" as having tainted the evidence.

Thompson has described the case as a "vendetta" against the officer.

"We must also remember the sacrifices made by his wife and children while he left them to defend us during three tours of duty in Iraq, and during the First Persian Gulf War, and in the Panama Canal," he said.

The foundation for the case was the fierce house-to-house, room-by-room combat action taken by four of his Marines after being ambushed by insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005. In the battle, nine insurgents and 15 civilians were killed.

The dispute was reignited when Time magazine published an article months later charging the Marines with committing a massacre. The claims have since been proven untrue, the law center said.

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A military investigation of the Haditha firefight found "no indication" that the Marines had "intentionally targeted, engaged and killed noncombatants."

As WND reported, the case was contaminated because of improper closed-door meetings with investigators who reviewed evidence.

The government had accused Chessani, who wasn't present at Haditha, of improperly investigating actions of Marines under his command and covering up details of the firefight.

Eventually eight Marines were charged, but cases against Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt, Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell and Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz were dropped. First Lt. Andrew Grayson was acquitted, leaving only the Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich case pending and Lt. Col. Chessani's case unresolved.

The enlisted Marines were charged with murder and the officers accused of failing to investigate the deaths.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage has supported Chessani and the Thomas More Law Center's work on the case.