One Marine finds justice in the military court system.
(SALEM, Ore.) - A Marine Lieutenant charged charged in connection with the killings in Haditha, Iraq, Andrew Grayson, was found "not guilty on all charges" by a military court martial yesterday. The Marine officer's defense team leveled the accusation against prosecutors that they were relying on a botched and politically motivated investigation.
1st Lt Andrew Grayson was charged with obstruction of justice, making false official statements and an attempted fraudulent separation from the Marine Corps.
He is one of many Marines being brought up on charges for their conduct in the wars overseas by what many consider to be a group of overzealous group of government prosecutors more than happy to take down their own.
Grayson was among eight Marines who have been cleared over the controversial incident relating to the deaths of 24 people in the central Iraqi town.
Military prosecutors allege that in 2005, Marines from 3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1) killed many Iraqi's after members of Kilo Company were injured and killed in a complex attack on November 19th 2005.
Grayson was on his second tour in Iraq at that point. According to innocentmarine.com, he was the Human Intelligence Exploitation Team (HET) officer in charge of the Camp Lejeune based team that was attached to 3/1 for the duration of the deployment.
"He and his eight-man team were responsible for conducting interviews of local Iraqis' in order to garner information that would save the lives of Marines from 3/1," the site explains.
The original press release from the military stated that 15 Iraqis had been killed by the bomb. It was later reported by Time magazine that "most of the dead were killed as Marines conducted a vengeful raid through three houses near the site," the Telegraph UK reported.
Then a military investigation reached the conclusion that five Iraqi men were shot by a car stopped at the scene. The Marines then reportedly forcefully entered homes, using hand grenades and gunfire to kill more Iraqis, which included including women and children, in the process.
But Grayson always maintained he did nothing wrong, and that he was not at the scene when any of the alleged took place at Haditha. The military had accused him of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead Iraqi's from a digital camera and a laptop computer. Grayson could have spent twenty years in prison if he had been convicted.
The contrast is mind boggling when compared to incidents like My Lai in Vietnam, when several hundred unarmed villagers were slaughtered in a single day. In that instance, a single officer named 1st Lt. William Calley was brought up on charges and after having his wrist slapped, he was completely acquitted by then President Richard. M. Nixon.
The Haditha killings in contrast, as bad as they were, represent a small number of deaths compared to My Lai, but Marines are almost always pursued and prosecuted. Today Army soldiers are also quickly investigated and charged with war crimes.
Upon exiting the courtroom, Grayson reportedly was visibly shaken, calling the acquittal an end to a terrible ordeal. "It's finally time for me to get to be with my family," he said.
All told. 8 servicemenbers have been charged over the incident. Four enlisted men faced charges over the Iraqi deaths and four officers, including Lt Grayson, were accused of covering up and failing to properly investigate the killings.
Of those 8, five have been cleared of charges. Two more still await prosecution. One of them was the Marine's squad leader, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich. He will face a lesser charge of manslaughter when he goes on trail later this year.
Wuterich reportedly told a preliminary hearing at Camp Pendleton last year that he would "always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to that attack. Based on the information I had at the time, based on the situation, I made the best decision I could have," the Telegraph UK reported.
The highest ranking officer charged in the case is Colonel Jeffrey Chessani. He faces charges of dereliction of duty, and violation of a lawful order.
Good Deeds Overshadowed
While he endures scrutiny over Haditha, the Marine advocacy site notes that 1stLt Grayson’s HET team in Haditha was a strong nomination for the Department of Defense Award for Intelligence Collection Team of the Year.
"Individually, 1st Lt Grayson was recommended for the Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device for his heroic achievements as the officer in charge of HET 3 during the Haditha deployment. Among other important accomplishments, this recommendation was a result of his role in locating and detaining the insurgents responsible for detonating the IED that killed LCpl Tarrazas and wounded LCpl Guzman and LCpl Crossan, as well as in locating and detaining other insurgents who participated in the November 19th complex attacks.
U.S. Coverage of Acquittal
People supporting this Marine and others, say the U.S. media outlets are quick to pour on the judgment when members of military forces are investigated or charged, but they tend to bury the acquittals. As if standing as evidence of this today, a "Google News" search shows international news groups covering the story with U.S. outlets leaving it alone.
Sydney Morning Herald, Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom, Aljazeera.net, International Herald Tribune, France and Africasia, UK are the agencies showing with prominence on the Google search. If you look long enough, you will find a San Diego paper and the Boston Globe covering it but none of the American media giants one might expect. It gives weight to the argument that the plight of the U.S. war vets from Iraq and Afghanistan will probably have a long, uphill battle to fight for the rest of their lives.
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Today, in addition to his role as a war correspondent in Afghanistan where he spent the winter of 2006/07, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators. Tim's coverage from Iraq that was set to begin in April has been delayed and may not take place until August, 2008. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com
Marine Officer Found Not Guilty Over Alleged Role in Haditha KillingsSalem-News.com