[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 193 (Thursday, December 6, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





        2007 DEPLOYMENT OF MARINE SPECIAL OPERATIONS TASK FORCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 6, 2018

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to inform my colleagues that on 
March 4, 2007 the first deployment of a Marine Special Operations Task 
Force to combat in Afghanistan was conducting a combat reconnaissance 
patrol in the village of Bati Kot, Afghanistan near the Afghan-Pakistan 
border when they were attacked by enemy forces who used a car bomb and 
a complex ambush consisting of groups of fighters on both sides of the 
road and a sniper element. The Marines courageously counter-attacked 
the enemy with accurate firepower and immediately reported the 
situation from the ambush site using satellite radio and data 
transmissions to their special operations command center as was 
factually proven through eye-witness testimony during legal 
proceedings.
  The most significant element of this engagement was the fact that the 
Marine unit did not choose the battlefield. As so often has happened, 
the terrorist element who attacked the Marines intentionally chose to 
launch their ambush while in an area where many noncombatants would be 
put in grave danger. The terrorists where hiding behind innocent 
residents knowing many would be caught in the crossfire.
  The Marines smartly departed the ambush site after five minutes and 
continued to receive enemy gunfire and sniper fire from multiple enemy 
positions. Twenty minutes following the attack the Marines returned to 
their patrol base and were informed that reports of Marines murdering 
Afghan civilians including women and children had already been 
announced in the international media. These reports of Marines 
committing civilian atrocities swiftly grew in the international media 
and a command investigation was ordered by the Commanding General of 
the Special Operations Command Central in Tampa, Florida. Only one day 
following the arrival of the command investigator who had heard 
testimony from only ten Marines who were on the patrol the entire 
Marine Special Operations Task Force consisting of 120 personnel were 
ordered out of Afghanistan and faced a criminal investigation led by 
Naval Criminal Investigation Services into accusations of negligent 
homicide.
  The Marines returned home in disgrace, several were relieved of their 
duties prior to the investigation being completed and were subject to 
greater slander by the international media of a war crime that alleged 
killing 19 Afghan civilians and wounding 50 Afghan civilians without 
ever having any prima facie evidence of a bullet, a body or even a 
photograph of a murdered Afghan.
  NCIS' investigation lasted over one year and utilized techniques that 
centered on strong arm tactics against two Marine witnesses of Latino 
ethnicity to include repeated coercion and false threats made against 
their families and careers if they did not comply with their unlawful 
requests for taking an ``ordered'' polygraphs and signing NCIS' 
prepared witness statements.
  Seven of these Marines who were falsely accused of war crimes were 
continually vilified in the press, families and careers were ruined 
from countless statements in the press for over one year after the 
alleged massacre took place. Over four months following a 3.5 week 
courtroom trial the Marine Corps Central Command released a short 
statement that, ``the Marines `acted appropriately' according to the 
rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures for a 
complex ambush.'' This statement enraged many Afghans and led to 
rioting in Afghanistan meanwhile the press continued to print libelous 
statements for eight more years accusing the Marines of having 
committed these crimes and not being punished. However, the Marines 
continued to serve their Corps and faithfully deployed to combat in 
Afghanistan and other locations overseas, with these repeated libelous 
statements being written and believed as facts in the media, books and 
many military senior commands.
  The effects were devastating to the seven Marines health (including 
fighting cancer and diabetes), destroying marriages and the careers of 
these Marines who continued to faithfully serve.
  It is time that the record be clearly be told that the Marines from 
the first Marine Special Operations Task Force were proven in court to 
have been attacked by enemy forces and the Marines fought with courage 
as they killed enemy forces, immediately and accurately reported the 
events to their command and were subsequently unethically interrogated 
by NCIS and in the media using methods that caused permanent 
destruction to their health, families and careers.
  These reports of war crimes were unsubstantiated, and these Marines 
deserve to be recognized for their courage as they encountered the 
enemy who inflicted the first casualty on a U.S. Marine from the Marine 
Special Operations Command and these Marines all deserve their God 
given rights to pursue happiness and not suffer the professional 
embarrassment of these false accusations of war crimes.