Posted on 11/30/2007 8:15:25 PM PST by RedRover
WASHINGTON -- A Marine company involved in the shooting of civilians in Afghanistan last March responded appropriately to an ambush against them, and should not have been pulled out of the country, the commander of Marine Corps special forces said Thursday.
Marine Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, head of Marine Corps Special Operations Command, also told reporters that a legal tribunal investigating the incident has been postponed until mid-January at the request of one of the officers involved.
"Obviously it was not my decision to bring the company out of theater," Hejlik said. "It was the theater commander's decision. I will never second guess the commander on the ground. I will say, I did not agree with it. To this day, I do not agree with it."
Eight members of the Marine Corps company involved in the March 4 shooting -- which left as many as 19 civilians dead and 50 injured -- were ordered back to Camp Lejune after the incident, and the rest of the company was told to leave Afghanistan and return to ships in the Persian Gulf.
Hejlik, however, stopped short of clearing the Marines of any blame in the incident, saying he could not speak to what may have happened after the initial ambush, when the unit was returning to their base.
A preliminary military investigation found that the Marines used excessive force and referred it for possible criminal inquiry. And Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission said in a report that the troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy.
In other comments, Hejlik said the creation of the new Marine Special Operations Command is moving along well. So far, he said, there are about 1,700 Marines in the special forces command, and he will reach the goal of 2,600 by late 2008.
The Marines formally entered the world of military special operations in February 2006, under the direction of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Hejlik said he expects the units to continue to work in Afghanistan, and also to concentrate their efforts in the Pentagon's new Africa Command that is being set up now. A key priority, he said, is to work with military from other nations, providing training and additional expertise.
Rumsfeld added Marines to the Pentagon's Special Operations Command because he said the military needed to continue to adapt to the tactics of terror networks such as al-Qaida, who use unconventional warfare to counter American firepower.
Marines & Navy have the C.A.R. ( Combat Action Ribbon )
They are too gorgeous to keep all to myself, don’t ya know ; )
jaz, love the drill team video!
Hate to throw a wet towel on y’all, but I believe this is the incident where the Marine unit returned to Jalalabad thru what they described as a 7 mile long ambush...along the biggest road in Afghanistan, immediately next to a large FOB with helicopter gunships waiting.
Didn’t happen. An ambush 7 miles long?
I’ve been on that road. The bad guys in the area don’t have the resources to put together an ambush like that.
Sorry, but these guys panicked and shot the place up without any justification by the ROE. They deserve punishment.
I would also note the local Army CC has a reputation for outstanding integrity. I’ve worked briefly with him, and talked to a number of his soldiers - they admire him to an extent I haven’t seen elsewhere in 24 years in the military.
There is no way investigating this incident was going to help his career, unless he swept it under the carpet. He wouldn’t do so. He made General based on an outstanding record, NOT being a suck up.
Every Marine would get one; maybe you missed this up-thread:
All of the Marines I served alongside in the Navy were infantry trained first, any specialization they did was in addition to those basics. You'd be hard-pressed to take a Snipe out of the Engineering Gang and throw him into a Deck or Gun Division and get him competent in a fire-fight situation. Marines do. They have to.
Could save electricity too -- glow-in-the-dark bottles!
I'll drink to that. ;^)
If he’s not a suck-up, care to explain Kearney’s actions in the Green Beret case?
As far as your observations go, I have no respect for anyone who says servicemen are guilty based on his recollections of Associated Press accounts.
You didn’t throw a wet towel. Just irresponsible hot air.
The local Army CC I’m talking about isn’t Kearney...Col Nicholson was the local Army CC, and he’s been promoted to BG.
Nor are my comments based on AP accounts - I was at Jalalabad when this happened. I’ve talked with people who were part of the original investigation, and I’ve been on the road in question.
Not hot air.
I would also point out Col Nicholson took a fair bit of heat for apologizing for this incident...but it was the right thing to do, both as SOP & as a specific action in this instance.
Gen Kearney is the commander who ordered MARSOC out of the theater. That’s who we’re talking about.
Your other comments remind me of Haditha. When news of the incident first broke, there were plenty of people in the military who said the Marines were guilty of murder.
On what basis? They had talked to people who talked to people who talked to people....Yeah, they deserved to hang. Everyone said so. And some of the loudest accusers had been in Haditha—though it turned out they didn’t actually see what happened.
But when it came to proving it, the evidence just wasn’t there.
Prejudging the MARSOC case, as you are, is absolutely hot air. NCIS agents (if that’s what you mean by “investigators”) are not trustworthy sources. And asserting that you have special knowledge just because you were on the same road is pretty funny.
If this goes to trial, we’ll see the actual evidence, if any exists. In the meantime, most people here believe our servicemen deserve the benefit of the doubt.
You need to update your information in light of what Marsoc is doing. Marsoc operators are being trained to the same standards as SEALS and SF.
My son was started out in 3/6 moved to Recon then to Force Recon and is now part of Marsoc (Marine Special Ops Command).
My Delta operator friends will be hurt you left them out.
One fact you are ignoring - they claim to have been in an ambush 7 miles long. That claim is fantastic to anyone who knows the area. There is also physical evidence. There is simply no rational explanation for what they did that day.
As for Haditha, I always thought and still believe there was no basis for charges. My every instinct says to assume the soldiers/Marines/airmen acted properly. This is the one case where I cannot figure out an innocent explanation.
Sssssshhhhhhhuuussssss
They don’t exist.
That’s a keeper!
Yeah special operators were being overly taxed with the new 21st century style of fighting in Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran and they needed more qualified candidates and resources to call upon. The Marines for years have trained guys good enough to be a SEAL or a G.B. It only made sense they setup their own and train with SOCOM.
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