Marines will investigate the killing of 19 Afghan civilians

[unhappycamper]

Marines will investigate the killing of 19 Afghan civilians
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, October 12, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — A Court of Inquiry will look into whether special operations Marines overreacted and killed 19 Afghan civilians following a March 4 ambush, a Marine Corps news release says.

The Marines allegedly shot at any perceived threat for miles after a suicide bomber in a minivan hit their convoy, injuring one Marine.

The event prompted the Army general in charge of Special Operations Command-Central Command to expel the entire 120-man company of Marines from Afghanistan by the end of March.

The company commander and a senior enlisted Marine were also relieved of duty, and six of the company’s members were sent back to Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Court of Inquiry will look at facts and evidence collected by investigators and “any other available sources of information,” said the news release from U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, or MARCENT.

A Court of Inquiry is an “administrative fact-finding process,” not a criminal proceeding, the news release says. It will include at least three senior commissioned officers with combat experience.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49433



uhc comment: Everything these days seems to generate an investigation. How many investigations were necessary before we found out Pat Tillman was killed by three rounds to the forehead?