The Military and Veterans' Room
Pentagon exonerates Marines blackballed by war-crimes case.
Back in 2007 the Marines were tipping their toes into the special operations community. But some leaders didn't want marines mixing with the United States Special Operations Command. So they railroaded that first unit for doing their job- KTF: kill them first.
Read the entire article at the link.A North Carolina congressman says the Marine Corps is “publicly exonerating” several military veterans it wrongly accused of committing war crimes more than a decade ago in Afghanistan, but those blackballed by the ordeal remain skeptical of the Pentagon’s sincerity.
The Marine Corps does not intend to reexamine the case, according to a letter from the Pentagon released Wednesday by Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), although top leaders have signaled their intent to provide counseling and other assistance to the 30 men who say they’ve suffered personally and professionally as a result of the military’s effort to prosecute and imprison them.
“We are concerned to hear of the challenges many members of Fox Company are facing — which are, unfortunately, all too common among our combat veterans,” says the letter to Jones from Maj. Gen. Frederick M. Padilla, who serves as staff director for the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. Robert B. Neller.
Jones announced the development in a news release. A spokesman for Neller declined to provide further comment, saying Padilla’s letter “articulates the service’s position.”
Fox Company, in 2007, was the first unit deployed into combat from what was then the Marine Corps’ new special operations force, MARSOC. After a turbulent first month in Afghanistan, including a hellish battle near the Pakistan border, all 120 elite Marines were expelled from the war zone by U.S. commanders. The 30-man platoon that came under attack was accused of slaughtering civilians, allegations fueled by erroneous media coverage immediately following the shootout and by senior American officials’ denunciations — one commander referred to the incident as a “stain” on the military’s honor — before all of the facts had been determined.
“Too often, the Marine Corps and the other services don’t give the benefit of the doubt to the warfighter,” Jones told The Washington Post, reflecting on his successful 14-year effort to clear the names of two deceased pilots falsely held responsible for a crash that left 19 service members dead. “This, to me, has always been an issue of fairness. Soldiers support soldiers. Marines support Marines. … After so many years, I am grateful the commandant wrote me this letter vindicating what Fox Company did during that firefight.”
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