Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Raleigh News & Observer
January 12, 2008
Pg. B5
Court of inquiry resumes next week
By Estes Thompson, Associated Press
CAMP LEJEUNE - Testimony this week from several Marines whose convoy was attacked in Afghanistan shows that their unit's response was justified and that troops didn't fire haphazardly at civilians, an attorney said Friday.
Eleven witnesses have testified so far before the Court of Inquiry, a rarely used fact-finding proceeding under way at Camp Lejeune to investigate the shootings that killed as many as 19 Afghan civilians. The Marines said their Humvees were targeted by a car bombing followed by small-arms fire from both sides of the road.
"The hearing so far has confirmed that in the March 4 patrol, the Marine patrol was actually the target of two ambushes," said civilian lawyer Mark Waple, who represents one of the two officers under investigation. "The first was partially successful, and fortunately, the second wasn't successful at all."
The Court of inquiry is focusing on two officers involved in the shootings: Maj. Fred C. Galvin, 38, of the Kansas City area, the company commander, and Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia, a platoon leader. The court, which is to resume Monday and is expected hold hearings through the end of next week, will recommend whether charges should be filed against the officers.
Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded last year that the Marines responded to the car bombing by firing indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of roadway.
The Marines have said they were attacked in a well-planned ambush that began when a suicide bomber detonated a van loaded with explosives near their six-vehicle convoy. An investigation by the Army concluded 19 people died and up to 50 people were wounded, but attorneys said the death toll is lower. One Marine was injured in the incident.
Waple, Galvin's attorney, said Friday the evidence presented so far doesn't clear up the discrepancy, because it was "so difficult to do any reasonable forensic examination." Some of the Marines testified that they saw only one or two people who appeared dead, but they didn't stop to examine them.
On Friday, Staff Sgt. Mohamed Sheik testified that he was in the front seat of a Humvee during the car bombing. The convoy was shot at moments after the blast, and at least two machine gunners from the convoy fired back, Sheik said.
Sheik said when the Humvees began moving again, he saw an enemy rifle on the ground next to a sport utility vehicle and a man's slumped body.
As the convoy picked up speed, it again took small-arms fire near a gas station, he said. Sheik said he saw muzzle flashes and puffs of smoke from rifle fire on a hill behind the station, and that tree limbs were shaking from the fire. Marines returned fire again in a span of roadway about 1 1/2 miles long, he said.
Sheik said the gunner in another Humvee didn't use an automatic grenade launcher during the fighting because "more people would get hurt than necessary."
The unit was on its first deployment after the 2006 creation of the Marine Special Operations Command. After the shooting, eight Marines were sent back to Camp Lejeune, and the rest of the company was taken out of Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, the commander of the Marine Special Operations Command, later said he disagreed with that decision and that the unit responded appropriately. Marine Corps commandant Gen. James T. Conway also criticized an apology issued by an Army brigade commander, calling it premature because an investigation remained under way.
January 12, 2008
Pg. B5
Court of inquiry resumes next week
By Estes Thompson, Associated Press
CAMP LEJEUNE - Testimony this week from several Marines whose convoy was attacked in Afghanistan shows that their unit's response was justified and that troops didn't fire haphazardly at civilians, an attorney said Friday.
Eleven witnesses have testified so far before the Court of Inquiry, a rarely used fact-finding proceeding under way at Camp Lejeune to investigate the shootings that killed as many as 19 Afghan civilians. The Marines said their Humvees were targeted by a car bombing followed by small-arms fire from both sides of the road.
"The hearing so far has confirmed that in the March 4 patrol, the Marine patrol was actually the target of two ambushes," said civilian lawyer Mark Waple, who represents one of the two officers under investigation. "The first was partially successful, and fortunately, the second wasn't successful at all."
The Court of inquiry is focusing on two officers involved in the shootings: Maj. Fred C. Galvin, 38, of the Kansas City area, the company commander, and Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia, a platoon leader. The court, which is to resume Monday and is expected hold hearings through the end of next week, will recommend whether charges should be filed against the officers.
Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded last year that the Marines responded to the car bombing by firing indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of roadway.
The Marines have said they were attacked in a well-planned ambush that began when a suicide bomber detonated a van loaded with explosives near their six-vehicle convoy. An investigation by the Army concluded 19 people died and up to 50 people were wounded, but attorneys said the death toll is lower. One Marine was injured in the incident.
Waple, Galvin's attorney, said Friday the evidence presented so far doesn't clear up the discrepancy, because it was "so difficult to do any reasonable forensic examination." Some of the Marines testified that they saw only one or two people who appeared dead, but they didn't stop to examine them.
On Friday, Staff Sgt. Mohamed Sheik testified that he was in the front seat of a Humvee during the car bombing. The convoy was shot at moments after the blast, and at least two machine gunners from the convoy fired back, Sheik said.
Sheik said when the Humvees began moving again, he saw an enemy rifle on the ground next to a sport utility vehicle and a man's slumped body.
As the convoy picked up speed, it again took small-arms fire near a gas station, he said. Sheik said he saw muzzle flashes and puffs of smoke from rifle fire on a hill behind the station, and that tree limbs were shaking from the fire. Marines returned fire again in a span of roadway about 1 1/2 miles long, he said.
Sheik said the gunner in another Humvee didn't use an automatic grenade launcher during the fighting because "more people would get hurt than necessary."
The unit was on its first deployment after the 2006 creation of the Marine Special Operations Command. After the shooting, eight Marines were sent back to Camp Lejeune, and the rest of the company was taken out of Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, the commander of the Marine Special Operations Command, later said he disagreed with that decision and that the unit responded appropriately. Marine Corps commandant Gen. James T. Conway also criticized an apology issued by an Army brigade commander, calling it premature because an investigation remained under way.