http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.marine18may18,0,4517660.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlinesWASHINGTON // The Marine Corps' top general said yesterday that a senior Army officer was wrong to apologize to the families of the 19 Afghan civilians killed and the 50 injured by Marines in March because investigators have yet to determine whether any wrongdoing occurred.
Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said Army Col. John Nicholson should not have issued the apology last week, particularly because he is a brigade commander in Afghanistan, which puts him in the chain of command that might be asked to decide whether charges should be brought against the Marines.
Conway said during a Pentagon news conference that he felt it was proper to pay condolence allowances, called solatia, to the families but that the apology, in which Nicholson said he was "deeply, deeply ashamed" by the "terrible, terrible mistake" made by the Marines, went too far.
"He's not wrong to make solatia payments," Conway said, referring to the payouts of $2,000 for each death. "But I would just as soon that no one at this point, in any chain of command, apologize or talk about 'terrible, terrible mistakes' or those types of wrongdoings. I think it's just premature."
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