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Top Marine Officer Victim of Haditha Propaganda Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com A heroic Marine Lt. Colonel called by his superiors "a superb leader, who knows his men, knows the enemy, knows his business," is facing charges sparked by specious Time Magazine stories based on the testimony of known insurgent propagandists.
Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani who commanded the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Haditha when members of the unit were ambushed by insurgents was recommended for promotion to colonel by his Division commander, who filed a fitness report calling him one of the most effective combat commanders in Iraq.
Yet Chessani now faces criminal charges arising out of the so-called "Haditha massacre" of November 19, 2005 — even though he was not at the scene. According to Brian Rooney, a lawyer for the Thomas More Law Center which is voluntarily representing Lt. Col. Chessani, and himself a former Marine captain who served with the unit during the 2nd battle of Fallujah – one of the Corps' most hard-fought combat engagements - his client faces a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps, the loss of all his retirement benefits, and a possible 3 years in prison.
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Described by Rooney as a 19-year Marine veteran and the father of 5 young children, who served in the Panama Invasion, the Persian Gulf War, and three tours in Iraq, Chessani, the highest ranking officer charged in the Haditha incident, was given the highest possible recommendation in his fitness report covering the time period of the Haditha incident.
Said Rooney, "The charges against Lieutenant Colonel Chessani were incited by an inflammatory Time magazine headline accusing Marine enlisted men of ‘massacring innocent civilians.' The story was planted by a known terrorist propaganda operative — since discredited. Anti-war Congressman John Murtha, with influence over military appropriations, in an unprecedented action, publicly accused Marine officers of a 'cover-up' even before the investigation of the incident was completed. The subsequent investigation specifically found no ‘cover-up' at any level of command." Time subsequently was forced to admit that the story, written by their Jerusalem correspondent Tim McGirk, contained a series of egregious errors. In a March 19th, 2006 story McGirk wrote "In the original version of this story, TIME reported that ‘a day after the incident, a Haditha journalism student videotaped the scene at the local morgue and at the homes where the killings had occurred. The video was obtained by the Hammurabi Human Rights Group, which cooperates with the internationally respected Human Rights Watch, and has been shared with TIME.'" In fact, Human Rights Watch has no ties or association with the Hammurabi Human Rights Group. TIME regrets the error." On Friday May 26th, 2006, Time's Matthew Cooper wrote "In the original version of this story, TIME reported that 'one of the most damning pieces of evidence investigators have in their possession, John Sifton of Human Rights Watch told Time's Tim McGirk, is a photo, taken by a Marine with his cell phone that shows Iraqis kneeling — and thus posing no threat — before they were shot.' While Sifton did tell TIME that there was photographic evidence, taken by Marines, he had only heard about the specific content of the photos from reports done by NBC, and had no firsthand knowledge. TIME regrets the error." It's worth noting that no such photographic evidence ever surfaced despite strenuous efforts by investigators to locate it. Later it turned out that McGirk's so-called "journalism student" was in reality a 43-year old insurgent propagandist Thaer Thabit al-Hadithi who together with Abdul-Rahman al-Mashhadani, another known insurgent propagandist, constituted the entire membership of the Hammurabi Human Rights Group. Lt. Col. Chessani is the same officer whose official 2006 Combat Fitness Report (a required annual evaluation of a Marine officer's performance) by his Regimental commander Colonel Davis called him "A superb leader, who knows his men, knows the enemy, knows his business."
Moreover, Davis recommended him for promotion and the reviewing Major General Huck added that Lieutenant Colonel Chessani has "unlimited potential and value to the Marine Corps." He also recommended him for promotion.
The report continues: "Leads Marines from front in every operation. Demonstrates moral courage everyday. Doesn't hesitate to report bad news fast or contest unrealistic plans/poor concepts. Despite the complexity and size of his AO (area of operations), he always maintains a calm, cool demeanor."
"Always seeks advantage over complex, diverse insurgent enemy. Truly one of the finer thinkers in this COIN (counterinsurgency) environment."
"One of the top 3 infantry/Cav Bn cmdrs of 13 who have served with RCT –2 (the regiment) during OIF. A superb leader, who knows his men, knows the enemy, knows his business. Doesn't attract a lot of fanfare; just gets the job done to an exceedingly high standard."
"Long ball hitter; recommend selection for promotion to Colonel and TLS [Top Level School]."
The Reviewing Officer, Major General Huck added his comments: "Top notch officer with outstanding potential. Promote and select for TLS (top level school). Post TLS slate for Regimental command and subsequent joint tour. Unlimited potential and value to the Marine Corps. Capable of the most challenging assignments."
Despite these glowing evaluations of an extraordinary Marine officer Rooney charged that Lieutenant Colonel Chessani was accused of failing to investigate and properly report the incident to his superiors.
As NewsMax has previously reported, however, testimony by an intelligence officer, much of it given in secret proceedings, clearly showed that mountains of classified evidence including videos shot by an unmanned aerial vehicle, transcripts of radio traffic covering the entire day's battle, intercepted insurgent communications, and other highly classified information proved that the entire command structure including Lt. Colonel Chessani were fully informed of the day's events which made it obvious that since the full story was known in the immediate aftermath of the engagement, no further investigation was warranted.
"The heart of one of the reasons why we took Lt. Col. Chessani's case besides wanting to defend him, is that we also believe that this case is going to effect how the Marine Corps in America fights now and in the future," Rooney told NewsMax.com.
"It's going to have a definite outcome on whether or not Marines will have the ability to properly defend themselves or not, and the outcome of this case literally will either cost Marines' lives or save Marines' lives."
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is defending Lieutenant Colonel Chessani against the charges, and believes he is being sacrificed for the sake of placating anti-war critics.
In a statement Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, "We are eating our own, and the terrorists are laughing in their caves. Because of them one of the most effective Marine combat commanders in Iraq has been eliminated by his own government. The testimony we will elicit at the Article 32 hearing, which begins on May 30th, will show just how ridiculous and politically motivated these charges are."
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization.
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