Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
12/6/2011
The legal team that defended a Marine officer accused of crimes after members of his battalion were ambushed in Haditha, Iraq, and caught in a firefight for their lives now is suing the federal government for allegedly hiding information about the attack for political reasons.
The lawsuit has been filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington names the U.S. Department of State as a defendant for “failing to provide records in its possession concerning an insurgent attack against U.S. Marines in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005.”
The attack resulted in the deaths of Iraqi civilians who were put into the line of fire by insurgents who were trying to ambush U.S. Marines. The military reviewed the circumstances before commending the Marines.
However, after politicians, mostly notably the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., got involved, the military filed charges against eight of the Marines. Among them was Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who was defended by the Thomas More Law Center.
The charges against Chessani ultimately were dismissed because of unlawful command influence, suggesting a political overtone to the case…
…Of the eight Marines charged criminally, all have been exonerated but one.
The remaining case, against Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is scheduled for a court martial in January.
Charges against Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt, Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell and Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz were dropped. First Lt. Andrew Grayson was acquitted and counts against Chessani were dismissed…
Read the entire article at WorldNetDaily.
Related: Terrorists said to be infiltrating military ‘Fort Hood attack was not anomaly,’ lawmaker contends at Hill hearing
