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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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April 14th,
2007 - Excessive Force By Marines Alleged |
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Excessive Force By Marines
Alleged Afghan Report on Killings of Civilians Is Called Consistent With U.S.
Findings By Ann Scott Tyson and Josh White Washington Post April 14, 2007 A platoon of elite Marine
Special Operations troops reacted with "excessive force" after an
ambush in Afghanistan last month, opening fire on pedestrians and civilian
vehicles along a 10-mile stretch of road and killing 12 people - including a
4-year-old girl, a 1-year-old boy and three elderly villagers - an
investigation by an Afghan human rights commission alleges. The investigation, based on
dozens of eyewitness interviews, found that Marines in a convoy of Humvees
continued shooting at at least six locations along the road, miles beyond the
site where they were ambushed by a suicide bomber in a van. They fired at
stationary vehicles, passersby and others who were "exclusively civilian
in nature" and had made "no kind of provocative or threatening
behavior," according to a draft report of the investigation obtained by
The Washington Post. In addition to the 12
Afghans killed, including at least two women, 35 were wounded, and one Marine
was injured by shrapnel. U.S. officials familiar with
the report by the constitutionally mandated Afghanistan Independent Human
Rights Commission said its findings are "troubling" and consistent
with the U.S. military's preliminary investigation, which led this week to
the opening of a criminal investigation into the March 4 shootings in
Afghanistan's eastern Nangahar Province. Together, the reports
contain "more than sufficient evidence of wrongdoing" by the
Marines, said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House panel that
oversees U.S. Special Operations forces. "There is very troubling
information in those reports that must be investigated," said Smith, who
was briefed Thursday by Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, head of the Marine Corps
Forces Special Operations Command. "All available evidence
and reports suggest that the ... response at the very least employed
excessive force against civilians as it was almost certainly disproportionate
to any threat faced," according to the human rights group's report,
which also alleges that other U.S. forces later arrived and cleaned up
evidence of the shootings while denying Afghan police access. Adm. William J. Fallon, head
of the U.S. Central Command, is expected to name a senior military officer who
would be the convening authority for any criminal or administrative
proceedings that could arise, U.S. officials said. Central Command legal
officers are "sorting through" the military's initial investigation
now, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott Miller, a spokesman for the command. Marine Corps
and Naval Criminal Investigative Service officials declined to comment
because investigations are ongoing. The allegations contained in
the commission's report indicate that the Marines opened fire on civilians in
the vicinity of the suicide bomb, but then also killed six more and wounded
at least 25 others in taxis, in buses and on foot along several miles of road
as the convoy headed away from the scene toward Jalalabad. One witness told
investigators that his car was stopped about 45 yards from the convoy.
"Suddenly they opened fire on my car and shot more than 240
bullets," the witness said. "I myself jumped out the car and got
injured, but my father, friend and my nephew were killed in the car." Another
witness said a woman was shot in front of her house. Investigators in Kabul and
Jalalabad interviewed approximately 50 witnesses and members of the local
police force shortly after the shootings, but they were not allowed access to
the Marine unit. Nader Nadery, a member of the human rights commission, said
in a telephone interview from Afghanistan on Thursday that the review yielded
major concerns about the Marines' actions. "Our investigation
shows there was excessive use of force in reaction to the bombing,"
Nadery said. "Our investigation shows that the attacks took place in
several different locations and it was just shooting without making sure who
the targets were." Nadery said his organization
turned a draft of the report over to U.S. and NATO officials early this week
and received a response Wednesday, which included the military's announcement
that an NCIS probe had been initiated Monday. "They assured us that
they take these allegations very seriously," Nadery said. "This was
the first time a military convoy in a civilian area openly shot at civilians,
and the nature of this makes it the most serious violation of international
humanitarian laws by coalition forces so far." The rights commission is
planning to release the full report today in Kabul, along with other
investigations of alleged atrocities by coalition forces and the Taliban.
Nadery said the Taliban are responsible for more serious incidents of
civilian deaths in Afghanistan, especially over the past five months, when
there have been at least 20 suicide bombings and executions of people who
have been kidnapped. "The civilians in
Afghanistan are paying the price from this continuous war, and they are
mostly affected by the Taliban operations," Nadery said. "Sometimes
it happens that they suffer from the misconduct of coalition forces or NATO
forces." John Sifton, a researcher at
Human Rights Watch, said the nature of the fight in Afghanistan has made it
difficult for U.S. troops to distinguish between civilians and the enemy.
But, he said, the incident appears to show that the Marines went beyond what
was necessary. "These troops are in
really difficult circumstances facing these insurgents disguised as
civilians," Sifton said. "But it isn't going to solve anything to
let loose a fusillade of bullets at everything you see." The counterattack has some
parallels to the alleged shootings of civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in November
2005. Marines were charged with unpremeditated murder after they allegedly
gunned down a group of college students who were ordered out of their car
immediately after a bomb went off. The Marines then allegedly raided two
homes and killed two dozen civilians believing they were under small-arms
fire. On the Afghanistan
shootings, Marine Corps officials said it would be standard for an infantry
unit to use heavy fire to counterattack ambushers and leave the "kill
zone" quickly, but they said there are concerns about reports that the
unit killed civilians as far as 10 miles away. Shortly after the incident,
the Marine platoon and its parent company were pulled out of the area and are
in the Persian Gulf with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Gunnery Sgt. Michael Turner,
a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune,
N.C., said yesterday that the company commander and senior noncommissioned
officer were redeployed to North Carolina after they were relieved of command
on April 3. Special Operations officers "had lost trust and
confidence" in the unit's leadership, Turner said. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041302171.html |