Haditha report faults officers

By: North County Times Staff and News Services | Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:34 PM PDT ∞

An Army general's report that examined the actions of Marine Corps officers in the wake of the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005 contends the leadership ignored signs of misconduct and wilfully failed to investigate the incident, according to two reports published Saturday.

The report's conclusions were reported by the New York Times and Washington Post which said they had obtained copies of the 103-page document. The Marine Corps has not made the document public.

Four officers were charged with dereliction of duty and other offenses in the wake of the killings, which also led to murder charges against four enlisted Marines. One of the enlisted men, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, was granted immunity by the Marine Corps earlier this month and charges against him were dropped in exchange for his testimony at upcoming court hearings.

The accused men are all from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment contend they are innocent of any wrongdoing and that the slayings were the result of a legitimate response following a roadside bombing that killed a lance corporal.

Brian Rooney, an attorney for the highest-ranking officer charged in the case, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, said Saturday that he believes the report actually helps exonerate his client.

"Lt. Col. Chessani went to the battlefield that night and the next day and reported up the chain what he knew," Rooney said.

The Bargewell document faults the Marine division commander, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, and the regimental commander, Col. Stephen W. Davis, for failing to investigate the civilian deaths, according to the Post and Times reports. Neither of those men was accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

See Sunday's North County Times for a full report.

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AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Apr 22, 2007 1:51 PM:Isn't it wonderful in a democracy to know that if we want to find anything negative about our troops or what the enemy wishes to impart to us, that Time, The Washington Post and New York Times are always at the ready with any leaked, unauthorized or unreleased information and enemy propaganda we could possibly seek? "Drive-by Media"; whoever coined that one nailed it!

Proud American wrote on Apr 23, 2007 9:56 AM:The one trashing some well respected newspapers and magazines--relies on Rush Limbaugh, talk radio and the Fox station as a source. Excuse me butit is wonderful to live in a Democracy, if you don't like it.....

AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Apr 23, 2007 1:25 PM:To Proud American: Well-respected newspapers and magazines? Give me a break. You're talking about "If It Bleeds It Leads" journalism. Just because these people have had a monopoly for too many years does NOT make them respected. One has to earn repect and these people have trampled it. I hate to burst your microcosmic bubble but; among Rush Limbaugh and FOX, I also watch CNN, and MSNBC. I also read TIME and Newsweek (both liberal). I also have researched every article I could find published by the military: UCMJ, Manual for Courts-Martial, NCIS, Coerced Interrogations, Military Law articles on every subject possible. So get off your narrow-minded liberal BS attitude that everyone who disagrees with you is as narrow-minded. I will not blindly follow anyone who can not prove what they say. Tell me why YOUR well-respected journalists always say that the information they get cannot be independently confirmed? If it can't be confirmed then why wasn't it investigated more thoroughly? Hell No! "If It Bleeds It Leads", and who cares what harm it does to the ACCUSED. No trials, noone convicted; Only ACCUSED!!!

News? wrote on Apr 23, 2007 4:29 PM:All the main stream media are cozy with the bush administration, don't want to lose access you know. Time is particularly right wing as is CNN and MSNBC also; they cover the spin as if it were news; they attend publicity photo ops as if they were late breaking news and cut away to endless coverage of Aruba or Viginia Tech or any other distraction from our ongoing losses in Iraq or the Gonzales hearings. Why is the third day of VT still being covered instead of the disintergration of Baghdad and the Prime Minister of Iraq telling us to "take down that wall".

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