Meltdown in Haditha

In November 2005, Sunni insurgents attacked a U.S. Marine squad en route to Haditha with an improvised explosive device (IED). One Marine died and two others were wounded. Within minutes, squad members killed 24 Iraqi civilians, including an elderly couple, four women and six children. It was the worst incident of its kind in the Iraq War.
Thirteen months later, four officers and four enlisted men were accused of crimes ranging from dereliction of duty to murder. The legal proceedings dragged on for five years, longer than any in U.S. military history. The only conviction was that of an NCO who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Unlike other legal actions conducted during the 60-year history of the present military justice system, these proceedings were held mostly in secret. This book investigates the tactics adopted by Marine Corps commanders and the ineptness of the proceedings, which raise serious questions about the need for reform of the Code of Military Justice.

A veteran journalist, Kenneth F. Englade covered the war in Indochina and the struggles against white rule in southern Africa. He has written dozens of magazine articles, published nine nonfiction works and five historical novels. He lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Kenneth F. Englade
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 276
Bibliographic Info: 5 photos, 2 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9734-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1879-1
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Part I: Anbar Province
1. Haditha Prelude 7
2. The Convoy 15
3. Collateral Damage 26
4. The Lid Comes Off 37
Part II: Repercussions
5. Kicking the Ant Hill 47
6. Charges 60
7. Outflanking the Corps 68
8. The Bargewell Report 76
Part III: The Hearings
9. Captain Randy Stone 87
10. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani 99
11. Captain Lucas McConnell 115
12. Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt 118
13. Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum 129
14. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich 136
15. First Lieutenant Andrew Grayson 148
Part IV: The Trials
16. The CBS Fiasco 155
17. Unlawful Command Influence 167
18. The Grayson Debacle 176
19. Chessani Resolution 180
20. Wuterich’s Offensive 193
21. Court-Martial 200
Epilogue 210
Conclusions 216
Appendix A: USMC Iraq Command, ­Mid-November 2005 227
Appendix B: Abbreviations 228
Appendix C: Marine Corps Personnel Abbreviations 229
Appendix D: Significant Dates 230
Appendix E: Military and Legal Terms and Expressions 234
Chapter Notes 241
Bibliography 257
Index 261