Who’s Investigating the Investigators?

One of the things that popped into my head as I read TMLC's statement was whether anyone was investigating the investigators or the military personnel making rulings at the various hearings. Here's what got me started wondering about that:

The investigation of the “Haditha Marines” by over 65 Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents is the largest investigation in that agency’s history according to the director of that agency.

It isn't possible that that many investigators objectively examined that much information, including videotape from UAV's that monitored the firefight and audiotape communications between the Haditha Marines and the command center, and thought that there was a basis for charges against the Haditha Marines.

Capt. Dinsmore testified via video from Iraq that they knew in advance that there was an insurgent attack planned for November 19, 2005. They knew that a white car would play an important role in the ambush.

Here's what I posted over a year ago from John Murtha's interview with Charlie Gibson:

GIBSON: Jonathan just mentioned, there’s no charges yet filed against any of the Marines that were in this outfit, but Jonathan mentioned a moment ago, defense lawyers are already saying, well, there’s drone video and there is actual radio traffic to higher-ups that will give a different picture than you have been talking about of this incident. What do you know about that?

Why hasn't NCIS come under closer scrutiny? They're responsible for this witch hunt. Why aren't they being held accountable?

As I said earlier today, Col. Steven Folsom dismissed all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds that there was "unlawful command influence" involved in bringing the charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. This is about as serious a charge as can be brought against the convening authorities. Here's what USMilitary.org says about UCI:

UCI occurs when senior personnel, wittingly or unwittingly, have acted to influence court members, witnesses, or others participating in military justice cases. Such unlawful influence not only jeopardizes the validity of the judicial process, it undermines the morale of military members, their respect for the chain of command, and public confidence in the military.

It isn't a stretch to think that the influence in this instance was intentional. Putting it in betting parlance, the fix was in. If this happened in criminal court, the possible range of charges might include obstruction of justice, subornation of perjury, witness tampering and/or jury tampering.

Let's think of this from a civilian standpoint. The investigators would be part of the prosecution's team. They'd likely be a law enforcement organization like the FBI or a police or sheriff's department. If a judge ruled that a law enforcement organization had fixed a trial, rest assured that there'd be front page headlines in the local paper talking about the criminal activity.

The next logical question I'd ask is whether courts-martial trials were being determined by legislators. This deserves a full-scale investigation. I'd specifically want to know if John Murtha, Norm Dicks or Ike Skelton exerted pressure on NCIS investigators or on the Article 32 hearings. If they did, they should be immediately expelled from the House of representatives.

That type of behavior is unacceptable, especially when it involves true American heroes who followed the ROE.

Technorati: NCIS, Investigations, Article 32 Hearings, Haditha, John Murtha, Norm Dicks, Ike Skelton, Unlawful Command Influence, Perjury, Tampering, Obstruction of Justice

Cross-posted at California Conservative