This is typical misreporting by officials. Originally the death was supposed to be from enemy fire and the marine was to be rewarded the Purple Heart. Now it seems that he was killed by a renegade contractor high on drugs. Note that the contractor is not named. It is not even disclosed whether it was an Afghan contractor or perhaps one of the big U.S. firms. Or it might perhaps be that they are contracted to the CIA. They hire some wild types one group of whom murdered the police chief of Kandahar. The story quickly disappeared into the media void after a few reports.
This is from antiwar.com.
Posted By Jason Ditz
Backing off previous statements about US Marine Corporal Joshua Birchfied’s death in Afghanistan last month, a Pentagon statement today indicated that seven private contractors had been detained in his killing.
Cpl. Birchfield
Initially the US Marine Corps reported that Cpl. Birchfield was killed by “enemy forces” in the Helmand Province during combat operations, and would be granted a Purple Heart.
Eventually, however, emails from other Marines emerged indicated that Birchfield had not been killed in combat, but was killed by local security contractors, who were reportedly high on opium at the time.
The exact details of the killing remain in dispute and the investigation is still ongoing, however one column indicated that the contractors ambushed Birchfield’s patrol team and killed him.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell indicated that during a raid on the contractors’ compound they seized weapons, rocket propelled grenade equipment, and a 5 oz. bag of opium. Marines indicated that the shooter had large amounts of opium on him after the shooting.
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