Leader talks of lessons learned in Afghan shooting

Leader talks of lessons learned in Afghan shooting
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, November 30, 2007

WASHINGTON — Special operations Marines have learned to work closer with higher headquarters and Army Special Forces after an incident in Afghanistan in which a Marine special operations unit allegedly killed 19 Afghan civilians, according to the head of Marine Special Operations Command.

Maj. Gen. Dennis L. Hejlik said Thursday that one major lesson from the incident is that special operations Marines need to coordinate more with Combined Joint Special Operation Task Forces on planning and execution.

“Frankly, we didn’t do that well enough,” Hejlik said during a breakfast with reporters.

A Court of Inquiry is looking into whether the unit overreacted after being ambushed on March 4.

Witnesses claim the Marines shot at any perceived threats after the ambush.

The military later issued an apology and made condolence payments to the families of the families of the Afghans killed and wounded in the incident.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50618



uhc comment: Previous thread on the shooting

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