John “Cold Blood” Murtha couldn’t be reached for comment. Chessani was the highest-ranking officer involved in the Haditha case, but the charges against him have now been dismissed.

A military judge has dismissed charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.

Col. Steven Folsom dismissed charges Tuesday against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani after defense attorneys raised concerns that a four-star general overseeing the prosecution was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the November 2005 shootings by a Marine squad in Haditha.

That places the number of Marines acquitted or no longer being charged at 6, while it has been recommended that charges be dropped against another Marine.

Here’s what Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) had to say last year about these Marines:

REP. JOHN “JACK” MURTHA: Well, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. One Marine was killed and the Marines just said we’re going to take care – we don’t know who the enemy is, the pressure was too much on them, so they went into houses and they actually killed civilians. And, and –

MATTHEWS:—was this My Lai? Was this a case of – when you say cold blood Congressman, a lot of people think you’re basically saying you got some civilians sitting in a room around a field and they’re executed.

MURTHA: That’s exactly it.

And now charges have been dropped, or recommended for being dropped, against all but one Marine.