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Three Marine officers censured in Haditha incident
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A general and two colonels have been censured for their roles in failing to fully investigate the deaths of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha nearly two years ago, the Marine Corps announced Wednesday.
Special Report
Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., received a letter of censure from the Navy Secretary Donald Winter for his role in the incident.
Cols. Stephen W. Davis and Robert G. Sokoloski received similar letters from the secretary.
All three officers failed to uphold their responsibilities in reporting and investigating the killings, Marine Corps Commandant James T. Conway said in a statement issued in Washington. The Haditha incident, which involved a Camp Pendleton unit, drew international condemnation and was not fully investigated until a reporter began asking questions.
"Accountability and responsibility are at the foundation of all we do as Marines," Conway said. "While these three officers have served their country and corps exceedingly well for decades, their actions, inactions and decisions in the aftermath of the Haditha incident did not meet the high standards we expect of Marine senior officer leadership."
The recommendation that the higher-level officers receive censure letters came from Lt. Gen. James Mattis, head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East and commanding general of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force. Mattis is the convening authority over the Haditha case now being prosecuted at Camp Pendleton, where the Marines involved were based.
While not finding the men intended to cover up the Nov. 19, 2005, civilian deaths at Haditha, Mattis "did determine that their actions, or inactions, demonstrated a lack of due diligence on the part of senior commanders and staff," according to a statement issued by the Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington.
The letters of censure, which are not normally made public and are the Marine Corps' most serious administrative sanction, will affect the men's careers, Conway said.
"The administrative actions will affect officers who have dedicated their lives to our corps and country, but they are necessary actions in light of what happened on Nov. 19, 2005, and in the weeks and months following," he said.
The three were not charged criminally with any wrongdoing in Haditha. Four other officers were charged with dereliction of duty and four enlisted men were charged with murder. Charges against one officer and two of the enlisted men have since been dropped. Mattis is now deciding whether the battlefield commander at Haditha, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, will face trial. Hearings for the two other charged officers have not yet taken place.
Huck was the general in charge of the Marines at Haditha in 2005. Sokoloski, an attorney, was his chief of staff. Davis was in charge of Regimental Combat Team 2 from the 2nd Marine Division.
Huck testified during one of the Haditha hearings that he did not believe the civilian killings, which followed a roadside bomb that killed one Marine and injured two others, required a full investigation. A probe of the deaths wasn't launched until several months later following in inquiry about the events at Haditha from a Time magazine correspondent.
Sokoloski has refused to testify at any of the hearings, citing his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Davis also has never testified.
Huck remains on duty at the Pentagon as deputy assistant commandant for plans, policies and operations. Davis is chief of staff for the II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune. Sokoloski is currently that force's chief legal officer.
A senior Marine Corps official in Washington speaking to reporters on background said the commandant weighed each man's privacy rights against the public interest in the Haditha case in deciding to announce the action. The letters came after the commandant and Navy secretary consulted at length with Mattis, the official said.
Military law expert Gary Solis said the letters underscore the approach the Marine Corps has taken since it decided to investigate the deaths at Haditha, which included six children and two women.
"The Marine Corps is taking an aggressive action to make certain that no one ever says about the Marine Corps what some sectors of the public have said about the Army with regard to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal ---- that no officer ever gets punished," Solis said during a telephone interview. "These letters are not usually made public."
The censure letters also mean that while the officers are not being ordered to retire, none will likely ever see another promotion, said Solis, a former Marine Corps attorney and judge who teaches military law at Washington's Georgetown University.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
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AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Sep 5, 2007 2:15 PM:Abu Ghraib was in the past. This is in the present. I've never seen a bunch who can't stop dwelling on past incidents. Has it occurred to Gary Solis that Lt. General Mattis may be doing what he feels is right , rather than trying to prove a point to the public?
Former Marine wrote on Sep 5, 2007 2:31 PM:Again we see the " Arm chair " justice at work again. Young Marines trained and placed in very high stress encounter with gray definded enemy to make a split decision in micro second to respond to a situation so to survive one more day are again critized for their actions in a foriegn nation in a urban enviroment. These brave Marines are placed on trial because the general masses what answers for their decision making. Marines their fellow comrades are killed by these terrorized and we have to be held accountable for killing them or by accident killing so call friendlies. If these cowards would not hide among these familes and be man and face us it would be great if we lived in a perfect world. We don't! ooooooOOOO-RAH Marines!
rolls downhill wrote on Sep 5, 2007 9:43 PM:generals get censure letters and further punished with a flag officer's retirement; not a grim world to be banished to. An enlisted man takes 100% of the physical risk and is sent to prison. I guess it is true ... stuff does roll down hill
mark wrote on Sep 5, 2007 9:46 PM:what sort of officers receive letters of censure. Paton, Grant, Billy Mitchell. Officers with unblemished records, Pace, Hagee, Franks. nuff said.
Grunt Marine wrote on Sep 6, 2007 7:14 AM:I had the pleasure of working personally with Col Davis in Iraq from January 05 to January 06. As an enlisted Marine (NCO), I have never met an officer I have had more respect for. His philosophy and action as a ground commander would have made any American proud, and it is OUR loss as Americans that I man like this is being taken out of the fight.
Grunt Marine wrote on Sep 6, 2007 7:34 AM:I had the pleasure of working personally with Col Davis in Iraq from January 05 to January 06. As an enlisted Marine (NCO), I have never met an officer I have had more respect for. His philosophy and action as a ground commander would have made any American proud, and it is OUR loss as Americans that I man like this is being taken out of the fight.
KB wrote on Sep 6, 2007 9:51 PM:This is not right. Put Marines in IRAQ WAR with politically correct rules of engagement and take the word of the enemy over our own-it sucks! Gen. Mathis seems nothing more than a puppet. Also, our soldiers have less rights and are treated worse in the military justice system then anywhere else in our civlian courts. Shame on our "Commander in Chief" and his cronies for doing this to our fine Marines.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Sep 7, 2007 5:43 PM:In retrospect, I think my first comment may have sounded like I agreed with censure of the Marine oficers. I'm tired of the government trying to prove itself to foreign countries at the expense of our troops. I just choose to believe that Lt. General Mattis is above trying to prove anything to the public. AW4.
Retrospective wrote on Sep 8, 2007 3:10 PM:If we aren't to dwell in the past why don't we just "Get Over It" as far as 9/11 is concerned. I am tired of the USA trying to justify the pre-planned invasion of Iraq because of something that a group of guys from Saudi Arabia and Egypt and Pakistan did.
Mother of Marine wrote on Sep 10, 2007 7:24 AM:How sad that our Military has to answer for the job they are doing. To the best of their knowledge at the time everyone in the buildings were insurgents or worse. They did not have time to ask questions. Why are our armchair quarterbacks now trying to solve the results of the game? It was courageous to be in the armed battle and should not be forgotten. And why is the Times reporter trying to make a name for himself at the cost of men that have been protecting him and his family by serving in Iraq. Shame, shame on him and the Pansies that are trying to be Politicaly Correct (ha, ha) for the good of their careers (politicians like Murdach are a disgrace).
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Sep 10, 2007 3:51 PM:To Retrospective: You seem more concerned about the "group of guys" than the USA. You said "something" that a "group of guys" did? Excuse me but the "something" by the "group of guys" was an unprovoked attack on this country that resulted in the murder of over 3,000. Where's your concern for your own countrymen? Oh! Matbe you've already expressed that and I just missed it....Almost!
Retrospective wrote on Sep 10, 2007 10:01 PM:AW4 you must recognize that none of the men who killed the 3000 Americans had anything to do with Iraq. You also must know that because of what we are doing in Iraq, about 2000+ innocent Iraqis are dying every month--month after month. We have a lot to answer for. Maybe the 9/11 terrorists just "couldn't tell the good [Americans] from the bad [Americans]" . You excuse the cold blooded intentional murder of babies, by saying our troops can't tell the difference. They all look the same. I can't tell the good babies from the bad babies either; they all look good to me.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Sep 12, 2007 3:12 AM:To Retrospective: No,I don't excuse the cold blooded intentional murder of babies. So; just when do you think the insurgents will stop murdering them? You have no clue whatsoever as to who was responsible for the deaths of any children at Haditha. The insurgents in those houses most likely did it. THAT is THEIR MO. But hey! Don't give the Marines the benefit of the doubt. Nope; you be a good little patriot and defend the enemy. What a... remark about good or bad babies. They all look good to you? Well, to the enemy they all look "Expendable".
Retrospective wrote on Sep 12, 2007 9:41 AM:AW4 I don't think that you really believe what you just wrote. It strains credulity, and one thing your not is anybody's fool. A propagandist and ideologue, yes, not a fool.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Sep 12, 2007 4:04 PM:Retrospective, I don't think you believe what you just wrote to me. The only thing it stains is your agenda. As for your "Propagandist" routine; What's up with that? I'm an American with beliefs that don't fit your absurd misinterpretations. To quote you: "Get Over It"!
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