Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Diego Union-Tribune
June 3, 2008 He says aide didn't advise on Haditha
By Steve Liewer, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON – Marine Gen. James Mattis said yesterday he neither sought nor received advice from an assistant whose counsel would have tainted the military's case against troops connected to the killing of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq, about 2½ years ago.
“It is extraordinarily unusual for a general – especially a four-star – to testify at a court-martial,” said Tom Umberg, a former military prosecutor now in private practice in Costa Mesa.
Mattis testified during a hearing at Camp Pendleton for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who allegedly failed to properly investigate the Haditha incident or report it to his superiors.
Chessani's lawyers accuse Mattis of being influenced by at least one commander with a vested interest in prosecuting their client. They said Marine Col. John Ewers interviewed Chessani as part of a Haditha investigation – making him a potential witness – then sat with Mattis during two-to five-hour meetings at least once a week to discuss the case.
Yesterday, Mattis denied any conflict of interest in his decision to court-martial Chessani. Although he had known and trusted Ewers for several years, Mattis said, he didn't ask for his perspective on the Haditha incident.
“He never offered it, and I wouldn't have accepted any,” Mattis said. “It was prohibited.”
Ewers also took the stand to confirm Mattis' recollection. He and Mattis both testified that he kept silent during talk of the Haditha killings.
“There were meetings where I didn't say anything other than, 'I've got nothing to add,'” Ewers said.
Mattis' comments offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how a high-ranking officer decides whether to prosecute service members accused of atrocities. Until a promotion last year, Mattis oversaw the Haditha case as commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. He now heads the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.
Yesterday, Mattis said he read at least 9,000 pages of evidence.
“The environment in which they were operating (in Haditha), I considered to be the most ethically challenging environment I'd experience in my 35 years in the Marines,” Mattis testified. “I was going to make sure I left no stone unturned in understanding what these Marines faced.”
When the Haditha incident occurred Nov. 19, 2005, Chessani commanded the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Iraq. On that day, a roadside bomb hit a convoy in Haditha, killing one Marine and wounding two others. Surviving members of the squad killed the 24 Iraqis.
Chessani wasn't at the scene, but he is charged with not following an order and dereliction of duty. His lawyers have maintained that Marine officials are under political pressure to blame the Haditha incident on certain service members.
Marine Col. Steven Folsom, the presiding judge, will decide later whether to dismiss the case against Chessani.
June 3, 2008 He says aide didn't advise on Haditha
By Steve Liewer, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON – Marine Gen. James Mattis said yesterday he neither sought nor received advice from an assistant whose counsel would have tainted the military's case against troops connected to the killing of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq, about 2½ years ago.
“It is extraordinarily unusual for a general – especially a four-star – to testify at a court-martial,” said Tom Umberg, a former military prosecutor now in private practice in Costa Mesa.
Mattis testified during a hearing at Camp Pendleton for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who allegedly failed to properly investigate the Haditha incident or report it to his superiors.
Chessani's lawyers accuse Mattis of being influenced by at least one commander with a vested interest in prosecuting their client. They said Marine Col. John Ewers interviewed Chessani as part of a Haditha investigation – making him a potential witness – then sat with Mattis during two-to five-hour meetings at least once a week to discuss the case.
Yesterday, Mattis denied any conflict of interest in his decision to court-martial Chessani. Although he had known and trusted Ewers for several years, Mattis said, he didn't ask for his perspective on the Haditha incident.
“He never offered it, and I wouldn't have accepted any,” Mattis said. “It was prohibited.”
Ewers also took the stand to confirm Mattis' recollection. He and Mattis both testified that he kept silent during talk of the Haditha killings.
“There were meetings where I didn't say anything other than, 'I've got nothing to add,'” Ewers said.
Mattis' comments offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how a high-ranking officer decides whether to prosecute service members accused of atrocities. Until a promotion last year, Mattis oversaw the Haditha case as commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. He now heads the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.
Yesterday, Mattis said he read at least 9,000 pages of evidence.
“The environment in which they were operating (in Haditha), I considered to be the most ethically challenging environment I'd experience in my 35 years in the Marines,” Mattis testified. “I was going to make sure I left no stone unturned in understanding what these Marines faced.”
When the Haditha incident occurred Nov. 19, 2005, Chessani commanded the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Iraq. On that day, a roadside bomb hit a convoy in Haditha, killing one Marine and wounding two others. Surviving members of the squad killed the 24 Iraqis.
Chessani wasn't at the scene, but he is charged with not following an order and dereliction of duty. His lawyers have maintained that Marine officials are under political pressure to blame the Haditha incident on certain service members.
Marine Col. Steven Folsom, the presiding judge, will decide later whether to dismiss the case against Chessani.