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Afghans `didn't need to' die

A former US Marine Corps intelligence sergeant testified that up to 19 Afghan civilians died unnecessarily as his special operations unit responded to a car bomb attack on its convoy.

"I really felt there were a lot of people who died who didn't need to," Nathaniel Travers said on Tuesday. "They were just driving their cars."

But the gunner in the Humvee carrying Travers insisted the Marines who fired, killing the Afghan civilians, should be commended for defending the unit.

"We do not shoot for the hell of it," Staff Sergeant Jose Queiro said. "It was controlled fire."

Travers and Queiro were called during the first day of testimony at a rarely used fact-finding proceeding that is investigating the conduct of two officers involved.

The three-member panel will recommend whether the officers -- Major Fred Galvin, 38, commander of the 120-person special operations company, and Captain Vincent Noble, 29, a platoon leader -- should be charged with a crime.

That decision will be made by Lieutenant General Samuel Helland, commander of US Marine Forces Central Command.

One Marine was wounded in the blast, and as many as 19 Afghan civilians died and 50 were wounded by the subsequent gunfire. Attorneys for the two officers have said testimony will show the death toll was lower and that the March 4 incident was a justified shooting.

"If you conclude that, then this court of inquiry is closed," said Lieutenant Colonel Scott Jack, one of Galvin's attorneys, on Monday.

It was unclear whether any Afghans will testify; a witness list has not been released.

Queiro, the turret gunner in the Humvee, said the unit started taking incoming small-arms fire seconds after the blast. He did not shoot, but only because he could not immediately identify a target.

A report issued by Afghan-istan's Independent Human Rights Commission, citing witness accounts, concluded that the Marines responded to the bombing by firing indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 16km stretch of roadway.

Travers said the patrol from the unit's base at Jalalabad to the border of Pakistan and back was uneventful until an explosives-laden minivan detonated near the second Humvee in the six-vehicle convoy. Marine Corps officials have previously said the Humvee was rammed by the minivan.

Travers said he then heard gunfire and saw bodies in at least two vehicles as the convoy sped from the area. Some, but not all, of the gunners in the convoy began to return fire, Travers said. After a few minutes, he said, Noble issued a convoy-wide command to stop firing.

Travers also acknowledged he was unhappy in the Marine Corps and did not think the US should be fighting in Afghanistan.
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