Corps opens hearing into Afghanistan shooting

[unhappycamper]

Corps opens hearing into Afghanistan shooting
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 7, 2008 22:23:23 EST

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — After 10 months of waiting, the Marine Special Operations unit accused of shooting more than a dozen Afghan civilians after an ambush there finally had its first day in court.

Allegations of lying witnesses, faulty military investigations and a lack of evidence set the tone for the opening of a military court of inquiry into the March 4 incident, involving a Marine spec-ops platoon operating in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. A seldom-used process that can replace an Article 32 investigation, the hearing began here Monday afternoon and is expected to last for two weeks.

The court could easily rule that the investigation into the shootout that followed the attack on a convoy of Marines from Fox Company, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, is so flawed that it should not be relied on as evidence, said Knox Nunnally, a civilian attorney for Capt. Vincent Noble, 29, the platoon commander and convoy leader. Noble and Maj. Fred Galvin, 38, who was Fox Company’s commander at the time, are the main focus of the inquiry.

The pair, along with six others in the company, were sent back to Camp Lejeune shortly after the entire 120-man company was pulled from Afghanistan following the attack and subsequent firefight, which some reports claim ended with the death of 19 Afghan civilians. Galvin and the company’s top enlisted officer were relieved of their duties by MarSOC officials.

The two men have not been charged with any crimes, but the court will consider whether they should be charged with conspiracy to make a false official statement, false official statement, failure to obey a lawful order and dereliction of duty.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/01/marine_courtofinquiry_080107/