Bumbling NCIS agents have been on horrifyingly hilarious display in the Haditha hearings. It was clear to anyone watching LCpl Justin Sharratt's hearing that he should never have been charged in the first place.

Agents broke every rule of an unbiased investigation...

• Exculpatory evidence was ignored (such as a suitcase filled with Jordanian passports found in a house and the fact that among the dead was a man named Kahtan who fit the profile of an insurgent).

• Incriminating evidence was not tested (suspicion fell on LCpl Sharratt and his squad mates because AK-47s they claimed to have recovered at the scene could not be found by an NCIS agent. But was there an explanation for the missing weapons?)

• Witnesses had reasons to fabricate statements (condolence, or "solatia", payments are only made to relatives of noncombatants), and they were not questioned about their claims.

A highlight (or lowlight, depending on your point-of-view) was the testimony of NCIS Special Agent Mark Platt. You can read his entire testimony here. Or just enjoy one of the best moments of testimony by a real-life Inspector Clouseau below (with my comments in italics).

________________________________________

Did government condolence payments actually encourage witnesses to lie?
SA Platt thinks it's irrelevant...

Whoopsie. SA Platt is about make a big slip...

Trapped!

Was there a reasonable explanation for the missing AK-47s
that the Marines had recovered?

"So I had not formed an opinion..."

Read the entire testimony here.

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