Haditha Iraq

This struggling town along the Euphrates River may long be remembered as the place where U.S. Marines killed 24 civilians in 2005, an incident that led to troops being charged with murder and their superiors accused of dereliction of duty for failing to properly investigate.

The Marine Corps is appealing a military judge's decision to dismiss criminal charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani in the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November 2005. The judge, Col. Steven Folsom, ruled Tuesday that the case against Chessani was tainted by the appearance of undue influence brought on the convening authority, Gen. James N. Mattis. Chessani, 44, was charged with dereliction of duty and failure to obey a direct order for not launching a war crimes investigation into the killings.

More than a year after two dozen civilians were killed here in what prosecutors call an appalling case of wanton murder by four Marines, a new batch of troops is trying to win the hearts and minds of the public. But as they patrol the narrow, winding streets and try to protect themselves from a deadly, unseen enemy, the November 2005 incident hangs like dust in the air. "I think about it because I want to give them the right image about Americans," said Lance Cpl.

A Marine platoon commander who ordered that several houses be cleared in an Iraqi town testified Tuesday that he was shocked to learn women and children were among 24 Iraqi civilians killed in the attacks. But 1st. Lt. William Kallop defended the assaults as a legitimate combat operation during the first day of testimony in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths in the Iraq war.

The weather was desert hot. But the Pepsi was nicely cold. After acting as gracious host, the mayor here made his point. "The people of Germany and Japan would not have made progress without the Americans," Mayor Abdul Hakim M. Rasheed told the Marine officers who recently came to his heavily guarded home. "The people of Iraq deserve the same." The Marines, including three generals, quickly assured Rasheed that they had no plans to abandon him and his city.

A Marine lieutenant testified Wednesday that he had never considered that Marines might have done anything wrong in killing 24 people in the Iraqi town of Haditha, even as he found the bodies of two women and six children huddled on a bed. Lt.

Some of the 24 Iraqis killed by Marines in Haditha in late 2005 were shot in the head, several of them at such close range that the bodies had powder burns, a prosecutor said Thursday. As a hush came over the courtroom, Lt. Col.

A Marine general testified Friday that he probably would have ordered an investigation of the killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha but for a misleading report filed by the commander there. The testimony by Maj. Gen. Richard Huck is central to the prosecution's case against Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, 43, accused of dereliction of duty and violating a lawful order for not launching a complete investigation of the killings. On Nov.

The officer who recommended that Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani not inspect the area where Marines had just killed 24 Iraqis testified Saturday that he profoundly regretted his recommendation because it contributed to a false report about the deaths being filed with superiors. "Col. Chessani is not a coward," Maj. Sam Carrasco said, leaning forward and looking directly at the hearing officer, Col. Christopher Conlin. "He'd be the first to go into a house [filled with insurgents] if we needed to."

War weariness and a deep suspicion of Iraqis kept Marines from investigating after their troops in the town of Haditha stormed three houses and killed 19 people and yet found no weapons or insurgents, officers testified Tuesday. 1st Lt. William Kallop said that on the night of the incident the U.S. Marines in central Iraq were still reacting to the death of Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, killed earlier in the day by a roadside bomb, and were focused on what they expected to be dangerous days ahead.