Washington – A U.S. Marine company commander who led the unit that killed as many as 24 Iraqi civilians in Hadithah, Iraq, has had all criminal charges against him dismissed nearly two years after the shootings occurred.
Marine Corps officials announced Tuesday that Capt. Lucas M. McConnell no longer faces two counts of dereliction of duty in allegedly not investigating the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings and not reporting up his chain of command. Three senior officers above McConnell received administrative punishments this month for their own actions and inactions.
McConnell, who was not at the scene of the killings, has long maintained that he and the Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, reported the incident to higher authorities and that he thought the shootings were part of an appropriate response to a complex insurgent attack. In the incident, a Marine squad killed a group of Iraqis on a roadside after a huge bomb killed a member of their unit. Members of the squad then raided nearby homes, killing women and children as they hunted for the enemy.
Another captain – a battalion lawyer – was also cleared. Two officers, including the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Rangeley, still face charges. Murder charges are outstanding against two Marines who killed people in Hadithah, but an investigating officer has recommended that one of the cases be dropped.
