Jeffrey R. Chessani (born December 26, 1963) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the November 2005 urban combat in Haditha, Iraq. In that event, known as the Haditha killings, marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 20 civilians while pursuing insurgents.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service was called in to investigate the killings after Time magazine published a report on the killings. [1] Thirteen months passed between the killings, and the initiation of the NCIS inquiry.
Chessani was removed along with Captains Luke McConnell and 10-years-veteran James Kimber (born 1973), [2] However, all criminal charges against Chessani were dismissed. A Board of Inquiry found that there was no misconduct even though the lower standard of proving guilt, preponderance of the evidence, was applied instead of reasonable doubt.
The Thomas More Law Center along with national radio host Michael Savage defended Chessani against the charge that he failed to investigate the killings. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was the senior marine on patrol and is under investigation for other charges. To date, after numerous trials, no marines have been found guilty of committing any crimes.
Chessani, 45, was raised in the small town of Rangely, Colorado, where he graduated from high school in 1982. He went on to receive a B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in 1988. [3] During his military career he participated in the 1989 Operation Just Cause (Invasion of Panama), the 1991 Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), and most recently the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom). [4]
On June 17, 2008 Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom dismissed all charges against Chessani on the grounds that General James Mattis, who approved the filing of the charges against him, had been improperly influenced by an investigator probing the incident. The ruling was without prejudice, which allowed the prosecution to refile. [5]
In 2008 an appeal filed on behalf of the Marine Corps, claiming that the judge abused his power when he dismissed dereliction of duty charges against Chessani in killings. [6] On March 17, 2009, a military appeals court upheld the dismissal of the war crimes charges against Chessani. [7]
Chessani’s commanding general, Major General Huck, reported up the chain of command, "I support our account and do not see the necessity for further investigation." Huck was allowed to retire without loss of rank, and without going to a Board of Inquiry. [8]
On Friday, August 28, 2009, the new general in charge of Chessani’s case, LtGen George Flynn, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA, decided that criminal charges were not warranted. Instead, he ordered Chessani to face a Navy administrative procedure, called a Board of Inquiry, [9] which found no misconduct and recommended that he be allowed to retire without loss of rank.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said, "The government’s persecution of this loyal Marine officer continues because he refused to throw his men under the bus to appease some anti-war politicians and press, and the Iraqi government. Any punishment of LtCol Chessani handed down by a Board of Inquiry would be a miscarriage of justice because he did nothing wrong, and our lawyers will mount the same vigorous defense in this administrative proceeding as they did in the criminal." [8]
The dismissed allegations against Chessani were for failing to properly report and investigate the November 19, 2005 incident. The evidence shows instead that he had immediately reported the deaths of the 15 civilian Iraqis to his superiors, and not one of his superiors — including top generals— considered it unusual or ordered a further investigation. Instead, they commended him for a job well done. In fact, Chessani’s immediate superior told him that no investigation was needed because it was a bona fide combat action— which was consistent with the orders in effect at the time, there were: no investigation of civilian deaths related to combat action. That order was changed in April, 2006, well after the Haditha incident. [8]
Chessani retired from the Corps on July 16, 2010. [10]
John Patrick Murtha Jr. was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Raymond Gilbert Davis was a United States Marine Corps four-star-general who had served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Davis was decorated several times, he was awarded the Navy Cross during World War II and the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. While serving as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, he retired with over 33 years service in the Marine Corps on March 31, 1972.
Ilario Gregory Pantano is a former United States Marine Corps second lieutenant. He has also been an author, a television commentator, and served as a Deputy Sheriff in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a Republican Party nominee for the US House of Representatives in 2010.
Haditha is a city in the western Iraqi Al Anbar Governorate, about 240 km (150 mi) northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River at 34°08′23″N42°22′41″E. Its population of around 46,500 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The city lies near the Buhayrat al Qadisiyyah, an artificial lake which was created by the building of the Haditha Dam, the largest hydroelectric facility in Iraq.
Daniel Coburn is a member of the United States Marine Corps. He came to prominence in an incident where he accused his platoon commander, Ilario Pantano, of shooting two unarmed captives while on patrol in Mahmudiyah, Iraq on April 15, 2004. Coburn's accusation was at odds with Pantano's account of events which stated that the shootings were done in self-defence as he was rushed by the insurgent prisoners. Coburn's accusation led to Pantano being charged with murder but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Thomas More Law Center is a Christian, conservative, nonprofit, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and active throughout the United States. According to the Thomas More Law Center website, its goals are to "preserve America's Judeo-Christian heritage, defend the religious freedom of Christians, restore time-honored moral and family values, protect the sanctity of human life, and promote a strong national defense and a free and sovereign United States of America."
3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,220 Marines and Sailors and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7) is an infantry battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps. It is currently based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. Consisting of approximately 1,000 Marines, it is part of the 1st Marine Division.
The Haditha massacre was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in Haditha, a city in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar. Among the dead were men, women, elderly people and children as young as 1, who were shot multiple times at close range while unarmed. The ensuing massacre took place after an improvised explosive device exploded near a convoy, killing a lance corporal and severely injuring two other marines. The immediate reaction was to seize 5 men in a nearby taxi and execute them on the street.
Lucas Michael McConnell is a Major in the United States Marine Corps. In accordance with standard administrative procedure, he was removed from command of the Camp Pendleton-based Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines following an alleged November 2005 war crime in Haditha, Iraq, where Marines under his command were accused of having murdered 24 civilians after one of them had been killed in an insurgent attack. According to a report in The Times on 29 May 2006, commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey R. Chessani and 10-years-veteran Captain James Kimber were also removed from command. McConnell was not physically present during the incident but was being investigated for related events that occurred afterwards. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was the Marine leading the patrol.
The Hamdania incident refers to the alleged kidnapping and subsequent murder of an Iraqi man by United States Marines on April 26, 2006, in Al Hamdania, a small village west of Baghdad near Abu Ghraib. An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service resulted in charges of murder, kidnapping, housebreaking, larceny, Obstruction of Justice and conspiracy associated with the alleged coverup of the incident. They were forced to drop many charges on the defendants. The defendants are seven Marines and a Navy Corpsman. As of February 2007, five of the defendants have negotiated pleas to lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, or less, and have agreed to testify in these trials. Additional Marines from the same battalion faced lesser charges of assault related to the use of physical force during interrogations of suspected insurgents. Those charges were dropped.
Frank D. Wuterich is a former United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant who pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as a result of his actions during the Haditha massacre where multiple innocent civilians were murdered. As a result of the plea agreement, he was reduced in rank to Private. He was given a general discharge in February 2012.
Richard Huck is a retired United States Marine Corps officer. Huck served as Commanding General of the 2nd Marine Division from 2004 until June 16, 2006. Huck is currently serving as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps.
The Battle of Haditha was a battle fought between U.S. forces and Ansar al-Sunna in early August 2005 on the outskirts of the town of Haditha, Iraq, which was one of the many towns that were under insurgent control in the Euphrates River valley during 2005.
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United States of America 