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June 22, 2008 
Warning: Contains coarse language.
The military has long recognized that when the unwelcome stench of undue command influence begins to waft through the halls of justice, you’d better hold your nose, because bad things are about to happen. That is why they have regulations in place to seek out and eradicate the influence of commanders on the military judicial process. Unlawful command influence has been called “the mortal enemy of military justice” and for good reason. In this particular case, the ones wielding that illegal influence are figuratively fragging Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.
Chessani was the highest ranking Marine to be recommended for charges by another Marine; one who was ruled to have been unlawfully influenced by a third Marine to charge Chessani for the actions of one of his squad leaders who was accused accused of shooting and directing his men (all of whom had their charges dismissed) to shoot civilians.
The motive: Alleged retaliation for getting caught in an enemy ambush that occurred on November 19th, 2005 along Route Chestnut in Haditha, Iraq that killed one of their fellow Marines. An ambush that is denied to this day by a sitting Congressman, who cited senior Marine Corps leadership when he called it murder in cold blood. Chessani’s charges were dismissed on June 17, 2008, but prosecutors retorted within hours of the ruling that they intended to appeal. At unlimited taxpayer expense of course… All the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, to convict someone.
Sound crazy? Of course it does, but that is the ludicrous position that the US Marine Corps has placed one of their own, a man described by other Marines as steadfast, unflappable and of unlimited potential.
The persecution is 0 - 7. They’ve lost every single time. They’ve pulled out all the stops. They’ve separated one defendant from his civilian counsel and he was still found innocent. They’ve ruined the reputations of eight Marines in the biggest criminal investigation in history costing millions of dollars and financially bled several of their families dry.
If every single Marine who was accused of committing a crime that day –with the exception of the squad leader who gave the orders and his Commanding Officer– has been found to have lawfully followed their orders; and if every officer who bore responsibility for investigating these non-crimes that has been found to have either not borne such responsibility or to have carried out that responsibility lawfully, then by logical extension the two men at the top of the food chain - Jeff Chessani and Frank Wuterich couldn’t possibly be guilty of anything, because nothing illegal occurred. Surely, you can begin to appreciate the absurdity of this witch hunt?
What has happened with Haditha is the same thing that happened in the Duke case with Mike Nifong. The accusers have gone so far exhausting so much time, money and effort insisting these men were guilty, that they must continue their wretched lies, lest it be their reputation cast underfoot. And the news media, so eager to see a military defeat, gleefully hung on John Murtha’s every cursed word when the lie of a massacre first went public, yet they remain mute concerning recent developments that illuminate the truth.
When will some courageous Marine somewhere in the chain of command recognize that the prosecution has turned the largest military criminal investigation in history into an adolescent pissing contest and say “ENOUGH!”?
I never thought I would see the day that the US Marine Corps began to devour itself, but that is exactly what is happening. Watching prosecutors mangle this case has been like being forced to watch –as they used to say in my Navy– three monkeys trying to f*** a football… They’re clueless. The prosecution of these Marines has ruined lives, ended careers, squandered tax dollars and hurt recruiting efforts, yet has produced absolutely nothing. The only way it will stop is by putting enough public pressure on Congress and the Marine Corps to end it before any more damage can be done.
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