No charges for 2 Marines in Afghan deaths

[unhappycamper]

No charges for 2 Marines in Afghan deaths
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday May 23, 2008 16:20:37 EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two Marine officers in a unit that was accused of killing as many as 19 Afghan civilians in 2007 will not face criminal charges, the military said Friday.

Lt. General Samuel Helland, the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, made the decision not to bring charges after reviewing the findings of a special tribunal that heard more than three weeks of testimony in January at Camp Lejeune.

The tribunal investigated allegations that as many as 19 Afghan civilians died when a unit of Marines special operations troops opened fire after a car bomb targeted their convoy in March 2007 in Nangahar Province.

The Marines said Helland determined the Marines in the convoy “acted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack.”

It was the first time in more than 50 years the Marines empanelled a Court of Inquiry. The panel, composed of two Marine Corps colonels and a lieutenant colonel, only considered the actions of the company’s commander, 38-year-old Maj. Fred C. Galvin of the Kansas City area, and a platoon leader, Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_afghanmarine_052308/