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March 21, 2009
A Victory for Marine LtCol Chessani
Today, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals issued their ruling that the dismissal charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani won't be re-instated. Here's TMLC's official statement on the NMCCCA ruling:
March 18, 2009
A Victory for Marine LtCol Chessani
ANN ARBOR, MI – Late this morning, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals sitting in Washington DC, released their unanimous decision upholding the dismissal of charges against Marine Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds of apparent Unlawful Command Influence. But the case may not be over yet.
For the last four years, LtCol Chessani has been investigated and prosecuted for his involvement in the so called “Haditha Massacre”, a massacre that never happened. A 22-year veteran, Chessani has served three tours of duty in Iraq. He served in the First Persian Gulf War and in Panama. At the time of the November 19, 2005 Haditha incident, he was the Battalion Commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (“The Thundering Third”), one of the most decorated units in the history of the Marine Corps.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, observed, “LtCol Chessani, one of the most effective combat commanders we had in Iraq, was made political scapegoat by the civilians in the Pentagon to appease the antiwar politicians and a liberal media. In fact, we now know that the story of the ‘massacre’ that prompted the Haditha prosecutions was a headline in a Time news article instigated by insurgent propaganda operatives.”
Continued Thompson, “This nation has come to the point where we can’t call terrorists captured on the battlefield ‘enemy combatants.’ We release the terrorists out of Guantanamo and prosecute the military our country placed in harms’ way to defend us.”
Robert Muise, an attorney with the Law Center, a national public interest law firm, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, argued the case on behalf of LtCol Chessani. The Law Center has been defending LtCol Chessani throughout his prosecution alongside his detailed Marine lawyers, LtCol John Shelburne and Captain Jeff King. Captain Kyle Kilian, a Marine appellate defense lawyer, also assisted in the appeal.
LtCol Chessani is the highest ranking officer facing criminal charges as a result of the much-publicized and ill-described “Haditha massacre.” The criminal charges against him stem from a legitimate combat action taken by four enlisted Marines in his command after they were ambushed by insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005. Their actions resulted in the deaths of several ambushing insurgents.
Unfortunately and tragically, several civilians were also killed in the house-clearing operation.
Even though LtCol Chessani wasn’t present during the incident, he was criminally charged with failing to launch a full investigation into the incident. If convicted, he faces 2 ½ years imprisonment, dismissal from the Corps, and loss of all of his retirement pay.
The essential holding of the military appellate court was as follows: “We are convinced the Government failed to meet its burden of demonstrating, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the proceedings were untainted by the appearance of UCI (Unlawful Command Influence).
We are similarly convinced that an objective, disinterested observer, fully informed of all the facts and circumstances, would harbor significant doubt about the fairness of this proceeding.”
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Rep. John Murtha's accusations have now been proven to be false. Among Rep. Murtha's accusations was that the Haditha Marines had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" because they "cracked under the pressure" of war. We now know that they didn't kill innocent civilians in cold blood because charges against these Marines have been dropped.
Another of Rep. Murtha's accusations was that the Marine officers, supposedly including Lt. Col. Chessani, covered the incident up. The NMCCCA upheld the dismissal of charges against Lt. Col. Chessani.
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Sending our the Marines......Marines requesting everyone to sign the Petition. ( this is the same petition in my other post about Murtha and his award. ) In case you missed it the Petition link is below. Thank you
http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html
Wild Thing's comment........
So Lt. Chessani gets legally persecuted and raked over the coals for being a faithful, brave Marine while ex-Marine corrupt Murtha made false accusations against Chessani.
"released their unanimous decision upholding the dismissal of charges against Marine Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds of apparent Unlawful Command Influence. "
OUTSTANDING!! A unanimous decision and very much deserved.
When Murtha checks out I hope ole Chesty Puller is there to send this piece of sh!t to the gates of hell.Thank God for the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!
......Thank you SSGT Steve
SSgt Steve
1st MarDiv, H Co., 2nd Bn, 5th Marine Regiment
2/5 Marines, Motto: "Retreat, Hell"
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at March 21, 2009 05:45 AM
Comments
21363 of 21363 Signatures total, don't know how I missed this petition before, thank you for repeating it. Just another example of injustice and the Democrats rewarding incompetence at the highest levels, those assholes at the CPUSA must be rolling on the floor laughing in victory at how they took over our Nazi party with the big D suffix.
All those acquitted are marked men in the eyes of the nation and the world, just as are the thousands of Korean and Vietnam war veterans who had their valor stolen and their reputation forever ruined. They will always be persecuted in one form or another.
Posted by: Jack at March 21, 2009 10:01 AM
This is good news that the last Marine has been found not guilty. Although kangeroo style court tactics started by dirtbag Murtha, the truth finally came out .
But how are these Marines going to get their reputation back. Between gutless bastards in the U.S. Congress trashing them and the media's hack job they have a long road to go.
Justice is finally served.
Posted by: Mark at March 21, 2009 10:28 AM
Thanks for posting this important message Chrissie.
I e-mailed it with the subject line:
I not only think Murtha shouldn't have gotten an award............................but I signed the petition instead.
Ben
Posted by: Ben Stephens at March 21, 2009 04:58 PM
OOH-RAH!!! Damn straight they didn't do anything wrong and Murtha should be strung up for his fabricated lies and deceit. He should be drummed out of his job, tarred and feathered and run out on a rail and then hunted down and shot!
Semper Fi, Devil Dogs.
Posted by: Lynn at March 21, 2009 05:00 PM
Chrissie, we could have been praising Diana Irey from PA instead of excoriating this traitor if the GOP hadn't backed RINO's. I E-mailed that petition link to my list.
Posted by: Jack at March 22, 2009 01:20 AM
