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Gen. McInerney: Treatment of Haditha Commander 'Despicable' Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com Retired Air Force Gen. Thomas McInerney is outraged at the recommendation by an investigating officer that Marine Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani face a court martial for his actions during the Nov. 19, 2005 incident in Haditha, Iraq that left 24 Iraqi civilians and insurgents dead.
In an exclusive interview with NewsMax.com the general, who served 35 years in the United States Air Force as a pilot, commander, and Joint Force commander, called the court martial recommendation by Col. Christopher Conlin "despicable."
Said McInerney, "I'm deeply disappointed that the investigating officer did not bring sound operational logic to this problem. It appears to be too much of a lack of understanding of wartime conditions.
"Lt. Col. Chessani did exactly what he should have done as a battalion commander, which is go where the action is, not where history was. He had no idea, and no value added to go back where the IED went off.
"I am deeply disappointed that the Marine Corps in convolute combat fighting can treat our leaders like this. It is very, very discouraging."
According to the Thomas More Law Center which is representing Chessani, Conlin, who conducted an Article 32 hearing to determine what if any action should be taken, has recommended that the heroic battalion commander face court martial on charges of "dereliction of duty" and violations of "orders."
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These charges stem from a battle in the insurgent held town of Haditha, Iraq on Nov. 19, 2005. Marines were alleged to have purposely killed Iraqi civilians and that their officers were allegedly involved in a "cover-up" of the incident.
Conlin had based his report partly on the fact that he believed Chessani, one of the most respected combat commanders in the Marine Corps, marked by his superiors as a future general, should have been at the scene of the IED (improvised explosive device) explosion that killed a Humvee driver and set off the initial action where the civilian deaths occurred.
Apparently Chessani should have been at that scene instead of at the command post overseeing the heated battle where 11 of his men were wounded in a day-long engagement with insurgents, five of whom were killed and two captured.
Incredibly, Conlin's report came on the heels of the recommendation that all charges be dropped against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Lt.Col. Paul Ware, the investigating officer in Sharratt's Article 32 hearing, said the charges of murder against Sharratt were unsupported by the facts.
As NewsMax has previously reported, upon learning of the IED explosion, Chessani, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment — the famed "Thundering Third" — had established a command post where he could direct his Marines engaged in day-long active combat with insurgent forces rather than go to the scene of an incident that was over.
In the fight he directed, 11 Marines were wounded, and on more than one occasion, Chessani had to call in airstrikes against heavily defended insurgent positions after assaults by his Marines were repelled.
Turning to the furor ignited by the Haditha incident and the charges leveled against four officers and three enlisted men McInerney told NewsMax.com, "This Haditha thing has been a disaster for the Marine Corps, and frankly I'm embarrassed for them.
"This manner of treating our combat troops like this is absolutely despicable. They deserve better. I'm so disappointed in this kind of combat using this kind of logic. To me it's aggravated peacetime cover-your-butt type of logic."
In an interview with NewsMax on Feb. 7, 2007, the general had said, "We need to give our people more latitude and not put handcuffs on them. This is despicable conduct by our leadership over there and I think that we've got to get with it and tell America what needs to be done."
The co-author (with Gen. Paul E. Vallely) of the book "Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror," McInerney served as a command pilot with more than 4,100 flying hours, including 407 combat missions (243 in 0-1s as a forward air controller and 164 in F-4Cs, Ds and Es).
His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal with "V" device and oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster and Vietnam Service Medal with six service stars. He has also been awarded the Third Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government. © NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.
Editor's note:
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