Thursday, April 26, 2007

Haditha Bombshell - Intel Evidence

New evidence continues to surface in the Haditha case that shows the Marines didn't do it.

Convincing evidence that corroborates NewsMax.com's accounts of the Haditha insurgent ambush has compelled the prosecution to take extraordinary steps to bolster their crumbling case.

The stunning announcement that all charges are being dropped against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, formerly accused of murder in the Haditha incident where 24 Iraqis were killed during an insurgent ambush against the Marines, is indication that the prosecutors have a very weak case against all the defendants, lawyers for the some of the accused say.
There is more evidence of weakness in the case.
The announcement of the deal with Dela Cruz is further evidence that the cases against the Kilo Company Marines and several of their superior officers are in deep trouble. It comes on the heels of postponements of Article 32 hearings slated for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the battalion commander and two of the enlisted men charged with murdering civilians in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.
Now here is the bombshell:
In a nutshell, the case exploded when an intelligence officer dropped a bombshell on prosecutors during a pre-hearing interview when he revealed the existence of exculpatory evidence that appears to have been obtained by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and withheld from the prosecutors.

This officer, described by senior Marine Corps superiors as one of the best and most dedicated intelligence officers in the entire Marine Corps, was in possession of evidence which provided a minute-by-minute narrative of the entire day's action — material which he had amassed while monitoring the day's action in his capacity as the battalion's intelligence officer. That material, he says, was also in the hands of the NCIS.

Much of that evidence remains classified, but it includes videos of the entire day's action, including airstrikes against insurgent safe houses. Also included was all of the radio traffic describing the ongoing action between the men on the ground and battalion headquarters, and proof that the Marines were aware that the insurgents conducting the ambush of the Kilo Company troops were videotaping the action — the same video that after editing ended up in the hands of a gullible anti-war correspondent for Time magazine.

When asked by the prosecution team to give his copies of the evidence to the prosecution, he told NewsMax.com that he was reluctant to do so, fearing it would again be suppressed or misused, but later relented when ordered by his commanding general to do so.

Confronted by the massive mounds of evidence that Marine Corps sources tell NewsMax proves conclusively that the cases against the Haditha Marines are baseless, the prosecutors were forced to postpone the Article 31 against Lt. Col. Chessani and two of the enlisted men in an attempt to regroup.

By granting immunity to the officer on the scene of the house-clearing effort, the prosecution, lawyers say, has further weakened its case.
It is looking more and more like there was no case to begin with. Just some allegations and a movie by our enemies. With Time Magazine taking the side of our enemies.

It is looking more and more like the Haditha Massacre will be put in the same category as the Duke Rape Hoax. Prosecutorial overstretch.
Robert Muise, the Thomas More Law Center attorney who questioned the officer, told NewsMax in a statement, "The intelligence officer is a crucial witness in this case. During his testimony, he effectively described the enemy situation prior to, during, and after the November 19 terrorist attack, providing the necessary context for the decisions that were made as a result. His testimony shows the complexity of the attack this day, the callousness of the terrorists toward the local civilians, whom they use to their advantage, and the error of viewing this incident in a vacuum.

"The officer also showed how the insurgents used allegations of wrongdoing by Marines as propaganda to support their cause. In fact, another witness, who was the assistant intelligence officer during the attack and is now the current intelligence officer for the battalion, testified that since the Haditha incident received so much negative attention, terrorist propaganda alleging law of war violations against American servicemen in Iraq has ‘ballooned.'"
So this case is what many had suspected all along. A propaganda effort by our enemy to smear American soldiers. And of course our media lapped it up uncritically. Who's side are they on anyway?

And what about old Stinking Jack Murtha who pressed the Marine Corps to investigate by saying that some of the Marines involved that day were cold blooded killers. Murtha, who used to be a Marine, is a disgrace to the Corps.

Haditha Roundup.

NCIS Misconduct Alleged in Haditha Probe

Curt at Flopping Aces has an excellent overview that is linkage rich.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome!

Terri

Karridine said...

Working intelligence for four years gives me some small insights into this, but your (and E-Max's) reporting lays it out for all to see:
'Time sided with America's enemies, who then pumped up their original lies and used this whole mess of lies to make American troops more hesitant, slower to react and MUCH more vulnerable to attack!'

Good work, Simon!

Unknown said...

I'm a Marine who served in Haditha between Sep 06 and Mar 07. During my time there we made tremendous progress in bringing peace to the city. In winning the support of the LNs. However, the focus was not on "hearts and minds", although it was still important. It was on good old "killing and capturing", on neighborhood sweeps and "Command Outposts". More of this needs to be done in Iraq. We also need to loosen the ROEs. We need to stay in Iraq until the job is finished!! Period. The international media focuses more attention on "19 Nov" then the local Hadithans do. So you know where I sit before you see where I stand.

I've walked those streets. I know the local characters. I've seen the investigation. Those MotherF---- Marines did it. THEY DID IT!! They killed those civilians in cold blood. The 3/1 that entered the "Triad" was an undisicplined, ill-lead unit. Their squad committed a crime, and the battalion and supporting units tried to cover it up!! They tarnished my Eagle, Globe, Anchor. They are a shame to every Marine.

All my brothers in this fight against Islamofascism do themselves do credit by sticking up for that bag-o-donuts known as Frank Wuterich. Please stop it!!

M. Simon said...

Kirk,

I support I Support Democracy In Iraq.

So I'm with you there.

=====

What you say may be so. The unit may have been ill disciplined. The officers poor.

OTOH the government's case is falling apart. If the evidence I reported turns out to be true then there is no case for murder.

On top of that this whole investigation was driven by enemy propaganda. So you ought to give that some consideration.

==

I'm Navy myself. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club '66. RO DLGN-25.

Semper Fi.

And just to set the record straight. The Marines have never gotten the credit they deserve for John Paul Jones' victory over the Serapis. Sharp shhoting from the rigging on one ship to moving targets on another ship with black powder guns and reloading them in the rigging gets my highest admiration.

The Marines today carry on in that tradition (barring a few bad apples).

Again.

Semper Fi.

Doug said...

I've sure seen a lot of evidence that there was never a coverup at all, but now it turns out exculpatory evidence might have been covered up.
Wish Kirk had explained why he's sure a crime was committed and covered up.

Doug said...

Here Allen and J. Willie call me out for defending the troops.
Somehow that makes me like Murtha!

M. Simon said...

Doug,

I looked at that thread.

Those guys are insane.

The fact that they are not responding to what you post indicates they are some kind of 'bot. Ignore them.

allen said...

re: Those guys are insane.

Hmm...

Comment #18

Comment #77

In order to reach an influential and international audience, I have responded through the venue of the Belmont Club, where you post from time to time.

Be well.