A U.S. military investigation has found that the Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq engaged in “willful negligence” in failing to investigate a November 2005 attack by Marines that killed 24 unarmed Iraqis, lawyers involved in the case said.
The report, by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, did not conclude that officers covered up evidence or committed a crime. But it said the Marine command in Iraq was too willing to tolerate civilian casualties.
The report focused on senior commanders’ handling of the aftermath of the attack in Hadithah, in which several Marines killed two dozen unarmed Iraqis after a Marine convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, killing a Marine.
The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who grew up in Rangely, had refused to investigate the incident, saying, “My Marines are not murderers,” according to two of his top subordinates. Bargewell called this “an unwillingness, bordering on denial,” to examine an incident that could be harmful to his unit. Chessani’s attorneys have said he informed commanders about the incident.
