Military justice in Iraq

Word comes today that military prosecutors will appeal the dismissal of charges against the top-ranking U.S. Marine accused in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in 2005. According to the Reuters international news service, the Marines will seek the reinstatement of dereliction of duty and violating an order charges against Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Colorado. Chessani and seven other soldiers were charged in the slayings, after witnesses said the Marines shot innocent civilians in their homes after a fellow Marine was killed in a roadside bombing. The killings caused an international furor, but charges against five of the eight have been dismissed and one has been acquitted. The Marines said the deaths were the result of a firefight between the Marines and Iraqi insurgents in Haditha, then a Sunni stronghold. Obviously, both versions of the tragic events at Haditha cannot be right. While it speaks well for the military command that it is continuing to pursue the case, it does raise another question, which has so far not been adequately answered: Will the military honestly investigate what transpired, even at this late date, and honestly reveal its findings?