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MARSOC Marines Under Investigation
Posted by Raven on October 11th, 2007
Marines who are members of the elite MARSOC are coming under investigation.
A little history:
A spokesman for Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney, who is under fire from military rank and file for bringing homicide charges against two soldiers who had already been cleared, said yesterday the general had acted only to clarify the situation after two investigations produced conflicting results.
Rep. Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Republican, has called on Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to open an investigation into the actions of the general, who has irked soldiers and Marines with the charges against a two-man Special Forces sniper team in Afghanistan
[...]
“Lieutenant General Kearney determined the best way to resolve the inconsistency was to prefer charges and send the case to an impartial, experienced Special Forces officer who could review the results and evidence of both investigations and make a recommendation,” he said.Regarding the case of the Marine Special Operations Command (Marsoc) Fox Company, which was accused by Afghans of shooting indiscriminately at civilians along a roadside, the colonel said “there is not a lot that we can clarify prior to the completion of the Marsoc court of inquiry.”
Leave it an Army Lt. General to mess this up.
Now the Marine Corps is taking over the investigation as it should have in the first place:
CAMP PENDLETON — The Marines will convene a special court of inquiry where officers will determine the facts behind a controversial March 4 shooting in Afghanistan where Marines allegedly killed as many as 19 civilians, the Marine Corps announced today.
The inquiry, which is not a criminal proceeding, was ordered by Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis and will be held at the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
At least three officers will review and evaluate evidence and send a recommendation to Mattis, commander of Marine Forces Central Command, on how the case should proceed.
“The U.S. military has a long tradition of using courts of inquiry to investigate matters involving major incidents that may include possible misconduct by U.S. military personnel,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.
The inquiry, to be comprised of senior officers with combat experience, is expected to take two weeks. No date has been set.
The Marines cited in the incident were from the Marine Special Operations Unit. Some Afghans said the Marines opened fire recklessly at civilians while traveling in a convoy; lawyers for the Marines say they were returning fire from an ambush.
The shooting occurred in a region near the Afghan-Pakistan border where U.S. troops have been trying to win the support of tribal members in the fight against resurgent forces of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Marines had only been in the country a few weeks. Their conduct has been severely criticized by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
After the shooting, all 120 members of the Marine Special Operations Unit were ordered by the Army to return to the U.S., which set off a rift between the Army and the Marine Corps. The latter felt the Army had prejudged the Marines as guilty without hearing the evidence.
We’ll let the boys battle this all out; I will say that I am leaning very hard towards supporting the Marines once again; after all, the “crimes” of Haditha have proved to be not as the media portrayed, or as John Murtha claimed…I suspect the same situation exists in this case. The media keeps looking for it’s “Defining Moment” of this war and they seem to highlight our Marines every time. Problem is, the Marines are just doing their jobs. The media doesn’t GET IT. Part of the job is to kill enemies. Since our enemies use civilians as decoys, these things happen.
Anyway, stay tuned.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Mattis is absolutely top-notch. As he’ll have the final word, I expect the end result will be fair. I’m glad it’s in his hands, and not Kearney’s.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
If you don’t want death and destruction, then don’t send in the Marines. For any Afghans to whine about being fired on, if you know their history, it is as ludicrous as nominating Hillary Clinton as a democratic nominee for president. Oh, wait. That could happen.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
I agree Beth. I have A LOT of respect for Mattis because of how he has handled the Haditha ordeal. And what an ordeal THAT has been. All for nothing. THOSE MARINES ARE MY HEROES.
I suspect these Marines are as well…for taking out the enemy as they are trained to do.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Hehe…the Marine thing
If you don’t want people to die, don’t send in the US Marines.
Good advice. The media and liberal bed wetters should know this.