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Lawyer: Hadithah CO betrayed by Corps

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The recommendation by an investigator Wednesday that a former infantry battalion commander should be tried in a general court-martial for allegedly failing to investigate serious charges against his men in Hadithah, Iraq, infuriated his defense attorneys, who have painted the commander’s prosecution as a political ploy.

Col. Christopher Conlin, who presided over a preliminary hearing last month for Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, recommended that the former battalion commander should go to trial on charges of dereliction of duty and violating general orders, Chessani’s attorneys said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

The decision by Conlin, a former infantry battalion commander, now goes to Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis for a decision. Mattis, who commands I Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Forces-Central Command, can refer the charges against Chessani to a court-martial, levy lesser administrative punishment or dismiss the charges.

Chessani’s attorneys said they will submit a rebuttal to the recommendations.

“This recommendation deals more with political correctness than criminality,” Richard Thompson, chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing Chessani, said in a statement Wednesday. “Colonel Chessani is chastised in the report because he had more confidence in his men than in insurgent propaganda. It glorifies paper pushing over fighting and has the unintended consequence of dampening the spirit of the most ferocious fighters on Earth.”

“If good officers and men like Lt. Col. Chessani can’t react to combat situations the way they were trained, if our young soldiers are forced to hesitate in battle because they may be criminally charged by their own government, they will be killed,” Thompson said. “If the higher command doesn’t correct the injustice of this flawed recommendation, ultimately there will be no aggressive military left to defend the life of our nation.”

If convicted of the charges at a general court-martial, Chessani could face up to three years in confinement, dismissal and loss of retirement.

Brian Rooney, one of the defense attorneys, said they were “disappointed” by the recommendation “but not deterred.”

“I always told Marines in Iraq that in the final analysis, it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by six,” Rooney, a former Marine and judge advocate, said in the statement. If the case goes to trial, he said, Chessani “will be judged by a true jury of his peers — many will be combat veterans themselves. We are very comfortable with that scenario.”

Chessani commanded the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and led the unit during a seven-month combat tour in Iraq’s Anbar province until he was relieved of command last year, just days after the battalion returned home.

The charges against Chessani stem from his and the battalion’s actions after the Nov. 19, 2005, deaths of at least 17 civilians, including women and children, in Hadithah following a roadside bomb that struck a Kilo Company convoy. The explosion killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, 20, and wounded two other Marines.

Members of a squad later assaulted nearby houses, tossing fragmentation grenades and firing their weapons inside two houses in what several have testified during earlier hearings was a chase of insurgent fighters inside the homes. Several suspected insurgents were killed in two nearby homes during fighting they said lasted several hours on a day when 3/1 encountered attacks on multiple fronts in their area of operations.

Chessani’s attorneys noted that another investigating officer, Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware, recommended Tuesday that Mattis dismiss all charges against Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, one of the squad members. Sharratt is accused of shooting and executing four men his fire team encountered in one of the houses.

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Trial recommended for Hadithah lt. col.