Aaron M Kenefick: A Marine Who Knew Too Much

Retired General Mark Kimmitt in the U.S. State Dept. is going to have some answering to do.

(OCEANSIDE, CA) - "They knew what day we were coming. All I know is that they were already in position and waiting, and they had a ton of ammo! It was a complex ambush. There was no movement in the town or around it before the main force was engaged." - Scout Squad Leader, USMC

Chivalrous and inspiring. Those words describe a Marine named Aaron M Kenefick who was killed at the now infamous Ganjgal Ambush in Afghanistan's Pesh Valley on 8 Sept 2009. But what underscored his tragic death is the fact that by all accounts, it was a setup from the inside.

In summarizing this Marine's bravery on an impossible day to survive; it goes so far beyond his awards and citations and accomplishments; of which there were so many. It is not about the Marines he saved, or the Afghan soldiers he protected as though they were his own; it isn't about the love his fellow Marines held for him.

The oath that Aaron Kenefick held so seriously went far beyond the things that lead similar people to greatness.

He had to uphold his values against the malicious intentions of members of his own government who far outranked him. It would lead him to a mission that he would not survive, because the elimination of Aaron Kenefickt was the real objective of the ambush at Ganjgal in September 2009.

Aaron's story is about his struggle as a junior yet highly recognized young Marine, against people holding power who are treasonous, with the most counterproductive military missions; more terrible than most people could ever imagine.

Background on Mark T. Kimmitt

Mark Kimmitt specializes in advising firms on international defense matters. Until December, 2011, Mr. Kimmitt served as Executive Vice President of Advanced Technology Systems Company, a defense firm with a core focus overseas, primarily in the Middle East. His responsibilities included supplying and maintaining the militaries of US allies with system installation/integration, logistics support, technical assistance and specialized construction.

Kimmitt was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. In that capacity, he was responsible for worldwide State Department political- military issues, security assistance programs, the regulation of international arms sales, managing the Gulf-Security Dialogue process, developing US counter-piracy policy along the coast of Somalia and serving as the principal liaison between the Departments of State and Defense.

From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Kimmitt served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Near East and South Asia. In this position, he was responsible for defense policy development, planning, and guidance throughout the region. He was instrumental in key defense decisions during that period, to include operations in Afghanistan, the change in US strategy for Iraq in 2006, representing the Department of Defense in the 2008 Status of Forces negotiations with Iraq, and efforts to enhance security in the Middle East through the Gulf Security Dialogue. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Kimmitt served as Deputy Director for Plans and Strategy at Central Command. In that position he held key responsibilities, theater-wide strategic planning, military planning efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and promulgation of the “Long War” strategic concept worldwide.

While in Iraq from 2003-2004, Mr. Kimmitt served as Deputy Director for Operations and Chief Military Spokesman for US forces, handling daily press conference and the most sensitive issues confronting the coalition militaries during the early days of the war. Mr. Kimmitt served for over 30 years as an officer in the United States Army in a wide variety of command, operational, and policy positions with experience abroad in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Korea, Germany, and Belgium. He commanded soldiers, rangers and paratroopers at every echelon in the United States Army Field Artillery.

Kimmitt is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
- Source: c3-summit.com/speaker-bios^{1}

It's about the US government and movements of huge shipments of weapons that are used to start wars that lead to grave destruction in foreign lands. It is about campaign contributions from those places where the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) strikes the deals, and it is about the United States supplying both sides the weapons to fight these deadly wars.

Most directly, it is about top U.S. officials that will kill off the very best combat forces in America to cover their dirty asses.

Aaron Kenefick's story reveals that one redeeming aspects of Americanism; that some actually do what they are supposed to do, and refuse to partake in the corruption.

These U.S. government patterns of clandestine drug and weapon transportation and supply to foreign countries dates back to the Cuban crisis of the 1950's and likely even before. In fact, former CIA agent Edwin Wilson, who died this week, was one of the largest of these weapons movers and death dealers.

Avoiding the radar (most of the time) and international law (all of the time) these clandestine operators of the United States have earned enormous money from illegal weapons trading and that certainly came to the forefront during the Iran-Contra hearings and Ollie North in the 1980's.

Shocking as it was, the real story is that the activity never stopped; and in this event I mean weapons for drug trade shipments between the CIA and Nicaragua, as we have so painfully revealed in our reports about Marine Colonel James Sabow who was 'suicided' in his back yard at the El Toro Marine Air Station in 1991.

A Marine sergeant who worked overnight shifts on the flightline revealed to Col Sabow that planes were landing in the middle of the night and offloading shipments - large quantities of drugs. The planes were coming in from Nicaragua and they were not being listed in base records. The Marine Colonel blew the whistle on this and then died unexpectedly at his own home.

A simple review of the case shows that Col Sabow received blunt trauma to the back of the head and upper shoulder. When the shotgun blast went off in his mouth, Col Sabow lost less than an ounce of blood.

This is because he was already dead, as his brother David, a medical doctor, has conclusively demonstrated.

This senior Marine whistleblower Colonel was like Aaron M Kenefick; a strikingly perfect Marine of impeccable standards by every definition or review, who had been awarded so many medals for his wartime service that they would barely fit on his uniform.

Jim Sabow helped usher the 'Harrier' jump jet program into the Marine Corps, and completed more than 224 combat flight missions in Vietnam.

Col Sabow had received 27 perfect fitness reports and was serving his 28th year in the Marines when he died because he knew too much. Jim Sabow was not going to go along with the illegal activity, so he was murdered.

As a Marine staff non-commissioned officer, Aaron Kenefick had a top security clearance and he came to learn much about the illegal and thus unacceptable nature of Mark Kimmitt when he became his aid. He left information behind that was only to be used and released in the event of his death.

This story is intended to be the match that lights the fuse that will blow the protective walls back while exposing in the most sure fire and irreversible way, the utterly treasonous behaviors and actions of a pack of current and former generals and other officers who used the Afghanistan and Iraq wars for their own agendas and took many innocent lives from all sides in the process.

One of those lives was Aaron Kenefick. I can't accept that and I suspect almost all Americans feel the same way. This is the ugly and dirty side of war that the mainstream press used to pay attention to and seems to gloss over today.

Through a list of sources, none of which will be identified at this point, I have learned things about this young Marine's life and death that will absolutely make your skin crawl.

His death was called for by a system of corruption within the U.S. military and State Dept. and while we know of several people that are involved in this terrible and tragic story of government dereliction of duty and dishonor that left several men dead in addition to Gunnery Sergeant Keneflck, we know there is one name that is found consistently over and over again in this story and that names is Kimmitt.

Mark Kimmitt. He was the general during Iraq who was always on camera trying to account for the unpredictable bad behaviors of the U.S. military.

He's more than bad news, this is the man who orchestrated purely illegal actions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the brain behind the Bedouin wedding attack famously recreated in the Turkish film 'Valley of the Wolves'. He had his hands deep in the Abu Ghraib incident which left a scar and a dirty stain on the American conscience.

February 2004: Red Cross Says Up to 90 Percent of Detainees in Abu Ghraib Are Innocent of Any Crimes

In February 2004, a confidential report by the International Committee of the Red Cross says that “military intelligence officers told [us] that in their estimate between 70 percent and 90 percent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.” Half or more of all prisoners in Iraq are held at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. This report echoes the conclusions of an unpublished US Army report by Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder given to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top US commander in Iraq, on November 5, 2003 (see November 5, 2003). Ryder, the US Army’s provost marshal, reported that some Iraqis had been held for several months for nothing more than expressing “displeasure or ill will” towards US troops. And it said the process for deciding which arrested Iraqis posed security risks and which should be released violated the military’s own policies. It also complains that the continuing influx of new prisoners detained despite little evidence against them threatens to strain the prison system. Senior officers claim that Brig. Gen. Barbara Fast, the top Army intelligence officer in Iraq, often ruled last against the release of prisoners, even vetoing the recommendations of a military police commander and military intelligence officers. (Jehl and Zernike 5/30/2004) Similarly, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who investigates abuses at Abu Ghraib prison around this time (see February 26, 2004), will later say very few prisoners there were affiliated with any terrorist group. Taguba saw classified documents revealing that there were only “one or two” suspected al-Qaeda prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Most of the detainees were not even connected to the Iraqi insurgency. (Hersh 6/17/2007) Despite this evidence, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt will later claim, “If they were innocent, they wouldn’t be at Abu Ghraib.… The number that were released because they were innocent? That number… is zero. Persons are held at Abu Ghraib because they are determined to be security threats, imminent security threats here in [Iraq].” (Jehl and Zernike 5/30/2004) - Source: historycommons.org^{2}

And so we are forced to confront the truth... that the war and the situation within that prison were all designed to terrorize the Iraqi people and as I have been told so many times, all one needed to do was approach U.S. soldiers and say some person in their area was a 'terrorist' to instantly see them arrested. Therefore the Americans were frequently used without their knowledge, to settle personal scores and debts between Iraqi people.

According to many independent sources, Kimmitt is connected with every incident that beats on our American conscience. I have been going over this material for three years, since right after the ambush took place, and while I think many Americans know Kimmitt's name, they do not understand the full impact of what this man means to our dark legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Again, according to information gleaned from many sources, it appears that Kimmitt is behind the Ganjagal Ambush that left four Marines (One was a Navy Corpsman, as I said 'Marines') dead for no reason other than the fact that Aaron Kenefick; who had a top security clearance, was Marine Force Recon (Marine Corps's special forces like Green Berets and Navy SEAL's) and had been Kimmitt's aide and through that experience, knew too much to remain alive.

Kenefick Couldn't Stand Kimmitt

As a top army commander, Kimmitt used this Marine to conduct his dirty work and, knowing that Kenefick was a Marine's Marine with honor connected to his every move, Kimmitt knew he was a direct threat.

Kimmitt sent Aaron Kenefick to Iraq once for questioning a directive, another time Kenefick was sent to Africa because Kimmitt was frustrated with him.

A pattern developed where Aaron Kenefick began receiving packages in the middle of the night that he had to then deliver to his 'boss', Kimmitt.

Two times quite famously, Aaron Kenefick, as a Marine Staff Sergeant, absolutely berated General Kimmitt in front of a decent number of fellow Americans.

This proves that the Marine not only knew Kimmitt was dirty, very dirty; it also demonstrates that Kimmitt was scared to death of what this Marine could do to his career.

So in the end, he had Kenefick sent to a village in Afghanistan called 'Ganjgal' which is a short distance from Camp Joyce; a forward operating base in Afghanistan's Kunar Province (Pesh Valley) that I reported from in 2007.

This village was 'hot' and firmly established as a Taliban stronghold. The Russians learned about Ganjgal during their recent war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.

Mothers of Russian soldiers sojourned here to make deals and get their prisoner of war sons back. The place is virtually impenetrable. Kimmitt knew this. It was the second event in three days Kenefick was sent on that led to a major deadly attack. Two days earlier, on 06 September 2009, an Afghan soldier right next to Aaron was killed, Aaron received a shrapnel injury. All of this contact, particularly Ganjgal, was avoidable.

Early Morning Ambush

(The following account of the battle at Ganjgal village in Afghanistan's Pesh Valley is from: Bing West's book, "The Wrong War: Grit, Stratedy, and the Way out of Afghanistan"

The different accounts outlined by Bing West in his book paints a clear picture of the army's refusal to support these men:

"The f----- won't shoot the arty."

The U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division did not assist the Marines when they became pinned down. Artillery from a nearby base was not utilized, and a pair of helicopters which came to their aid, were sent back and not allowed to help.

A Marine in the news right now who was awarded the Medal of Honor, Dakota Meyers, and others did what they could but they failed to reach the four pinned-down Marines who were all killed, in a ditch, out of ammunition.

The article mentions about the fact that General David Rodriguez as well as McChrystal should be held accountable for the deaths of the Marines at Ganjgal. Now we learn that Rodriguez has been tagged for the African Mission. General Mark T Kimmitt and General David Rodriguez are friends as well as Army Associates. You can Google them to see how they are connected. Check out General Mark T Kimmitts - Wikipedia, as well as his brother Robert and deceased father Stanley and you will get a whole other picture of what is going on. They are deep inside government and Military/Political arenas and Kimmitt is involved with every major military complex in the world. It is also important to note that Mark T Kimmitt was under suspicion for war crimes related to Abu Ghraib, and he got out of the war crimes of Abu Ghraib only to be transferred to J5 Plans and Policys at US. CENTCOM TAMPA FL, where Aaron Kenefick was his enlisted aide...

Major Peter Granger of 10th Mountain Division knew Mark T Kimmitt and was in his Division artillery camp in Baumholder Germany back in the early 1990s. Peter Granger was the kiss of death to Kenefick and the others that day....and Kimmitt was the general that Kenefick told off a few years earlier.....

General David Rodriguez

Another key person in this story, General David Rodriguez, had a hand in the operation that went to badly at Ganjgal. From what we can determine, the order to clear the air field apparently came from General Rodriguez/at CENTRAL COMMAND, and the question is who gave General Rodriguez the order....Someone from the Defense Dept? Mark Kimmitt? After all he was friends with Peter Granger who denied the orders of Air and Artillery Support that day...and as luck would have it the Battalion Cpt was on Leave....and the 1st Lt under him was transferred to another unit... leaving Major Peter Granger in charge of the base. It is important to note that at this time, Granger had 27 out of 30 yrs EXPERIENCE of Artillery Expertise. The fact that shots broke out at 5:30 a.m., means that Lt O'Donnell would have still been on base at this time. Those those who have been watching this case, it also sounds like components for a set up.

Aaron Kenefick was a target on Sept 6 2009, and the original mission was supposed to be on the 7th and yet it was put off to the 8th when there were intelligence reports stating that there would be heavy Taliban activity this day...

Certainly Peter Granger and Mark O'Donnell knew this. Situational awareness for small arms fires? Wait, this was not small this was 150 Taliban against 3 Marines and 1 Navy Corpsman... Peter Granger who was a major was never reprimanded and allowed to retire after 30 yrs.

As revealed by Herschel Smith, who wrote in 'Reprimands in Marine's Death at Ganjgal Engagement'

Marine Bonds- Unbreakable

Though my time as a U.S. Marine was just one enlistment during a peaceful (somewhat) time in the early 1980's, it left an indelible impression and ignited an interest that has only grown over time.

I have had a genuinely passionate desire to follow these warriors from the sunny skies of California, to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan; and to far out places full of ghosts like Belleau Wood in France where Marines earned the nickname from the Germans, 'Teufel Heinden' which translates to Devil Dog; a name that stuck glue to these sharpest of military heroes.

As I continue to discover so much more about this story every day, I realize how succinctly my own travels intersect and overlap with those of Aaron Kenefick on his final mission, and the one left by the former general officer Mark Kimmitt.

The base that the operation was launched from, Forward Operation Base Camp Joyce, is a place that I reported from in Kunar Province in early 2007. This is a hotly contested region in Pesh Valley close to Pakistan. In fact I visited several bases in this area. Ganjgal village is about four miles from Camp Joyce. I covered the heart defects of Fallujah children, which now connects directly to Kimmitt. I also know the mother of one of the murdered Blackwater contractors

Pinning the Tail on the Donkey

Mark Kimmitt is known in public and private circles for his involvement in U.S. operations that are shady at best, and in reality more like treasonous. His fingerprints are on all of the darkest moments in our recent war history.

Using donkeys to transport weapons and guns shipments in deals with the Taliban.

Serving as both the orchestrator and spokesman/defender of the notorious Bedouin Wedding attack by U.S. forces during the Iraq War in Makr al-Deeb, a desert hamlet near the town of Qaim, that left more than 40 members of a wedding party dead and riddled with bullets. Brig Gen Kimmitt suggested the site had been "somewhat of a dormitory" housing "military-aged" men. Source: The BBC ^[8]

The set-up of four U.S. Blackwater contractors who were sent to Fallujah without a map, told to turn on a particular street, where they were overwhelmed and murdered, their bodies dragged through the street and two of the four, were hung from the bridge in Fallujah. The mother of one of those men, Scott Helvenston, (who had been the youngest Navy SEAL in history prior to joining Blackwater) told me it was a setup and it sure played out like one, even replicating the feeling of the U.S. soldiers' bodies being drug through the streets of Mogadishu. This attack was used to justify sending the Marines to Fallujah for a harrowing series of battles that drew insurgent fighters from many places.

Alternet quotes Kimmitt in the wake of the attack on the Blackwater contractors:

It is Fallujah where UK Doctor Chris Busby's research now shows levels of radiation in the city's children being born with abnormalities and defects nearly unparalleled. I wrote and produced a report in Iraq in 2008 dealing with children born there with congenital heart defects. Source: Salem-News ^[10]

The four contractors are Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague.

Heart Defect patients in Anbar Province

My connection to this story on a personal level is small, but significant in my opinion. While covering the war in Iraq in 2008, I was only in Fallujah for a short period, however I was able to spend a few days at the al Asad air base in Anbar, located about 58 miles from Fallujah, the capitol of Anbar province. It is here I had a chance to meet a woman trying to save several Iraqi children with congenital heart defects.

I can't say for sure that the families of these kids were from Fallujah, but it is the same province and not very far away, and the kids were all very young and as I recall, they all were probably born in 2003 or later.

There are two messages in that story; one is that the U.S. led war on Iraq created an environment where more or less routine heart surgeries were a total impossibility, as the infrastructure of an otherwise modern city, Baghdad, had long been gutted by war by that point. The second major point is that an incredible Navy doctor attached to the U.S. Marine base at al Asad went through considerable effort to get these children both to Jordan for pre-surgery care, and to Israel where they would receive surgery to repair their defective hearts.

It is painfully clear that Kimmitt strenuously called the U.S. to engage militarily with the residents of Fallujah in the most violent way. Now that work from a UK scientist suggests that children suffering from birth defects were contaminated with radiation from an unknown device used by the U.S. in Fallujah, it suggests Fallujah was set up to be a testing bed for a weapon which the military has to this day, failed to disclose.

To the last Marine standing...

The saying is, 'Once a Marine Always a Marine' and that is absolutely the crucial feeling that puts all who served this Corps on a single page. Many Marines are different, but all know many of the same exact things.

In light of that, there are some Marines that stand above others; check that... they tower above others. These are the purest examples who developed their love of Corps in context with their own personal journeys toward physical, mental, and spiritual excellence. They are people who do not possess compromising values. This is the story of Aaron Kenefick, who was the best and who died under completely avoidable circumstances. Those in power know that Marines follow orders, while Dakota Meyer broke his orders in his heroic rescue attempt, there was never a doubt that SSgt Kenefick would follow his.

Unquestionably, Marines like this man take the hardest course on themselves. In discussing the life of Aaron Kenefic, you are evaluating a Marine who in his 12 years of extraordinarily honorable service, was 'Marine of the Year' not once, but twice.

'They' want you to believe that a couple of officers who were in dereliction of their duty and negligent for abandoning these men while they were radioing for back up air and artillery support. The govt. wants the public to believe that was the extent of the problem on the command/TOC side. They tell us two were reprimanded, however as we reveal later in this article, that is not necessarily true. In reviewing the evidence it is clear that a higher echelon called the rescue off. Why?

In reading over the 500 redacted pages of this Investigation Report called the 15-6, it seems clear that those calls for support were somehow funny to the 6 Officers that were in the Air Conditioned TOC that day. They are said to have LAUGHED at the calls over the radio, asking the pinned-down Marines 20 questions, such as "is this for the Marines or the Army?" and "Who is on your ETT roster?"

Background on Aaron Kenefick: Recon Marine

Aaron's previous assignments include high profile missions that put him in the every day working arena with the highest echelons who were in charge of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Again... the highest echelons of U.S.CENTRAL COMMAND and the sister HEADQUARTERS SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND OF EUROPE, RECON/Special Ops, as the Administrative NCOIC for the Operations Directorate, Primary Security Manager, Deployed on many sensitive missions throughout

Africa and the Ivory Coast, where he was a KEY operator. Aaron had 12 years of service and was twice awarded "Marine of the Year". He was also awarded: "Marine of the Quarter", "Honor Grad at Army Jump School" "Enlisted Aide to a General at U.S.CENTRAL COMMAND in Plans and Policy's, from 2004 to 2007, and he was the Attendee for former President George W Bush at the RNC in Sarasota Fl, Aaron served as the SNCOIC for Counter -Intelligence and Human Intelligence Operations Support Branch in J2, and was also responsible for Joint command taskers supporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

Other responsibilities assigned to this Marine included involvement with all intelligence tasks within the Operations Support and personnel management including Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Civilian Contractor Personnel. He served as the U.S. Marine Corps Administrative Chief for the Intelligence Directorate, Liaison between USCENTCOM and MARCENT for all annual training and Marine Corps personnel; and on Aug 1 2007, reported to Combat Assault Bn, 3rd Marine Division, Okinawa Japan as the Administrative Chief for 2 years before deploying for this tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Everything from the very start of the mission was messed up. It is actually strange that this mission was scheduled for Sept 7 2009, yet the day before on the 6th of Sept 2009, Aaron Kenefick had taken shrapnel in his arm as the Afghan soldier next to him was killed.

It was between 2004 thru 2007, when Aaron worked at U.S.CENTCOM as the "ENLISTED AIDE" to the General of J5 Plans and Policy's, this general was the spokesperson during the Abu Ghraib incident. Then SSgt Kenefick. Aaron ended up working for Peterus' boss in J2 until he was transferred to Okinawa- from where he ended up in Japan, and then Afghanistan a couple years later.

Aaron was RECON/Special Ops. As earlier mentioned, he was awarded "Marine of the Year" twice in his over 12 yr Career. He possessed the highest security clearance and was always chosen to be the driver for all the dignitaries when they met with the important generals.

Captain Will Swenson, the Army Cpt who worked closely with Kenefick's ETT team and Dakota Meyer; who was also put up for the Medal of Honor (MOH). Yet like many unexplainable events that transpired during this ambush, Cpt Swenson's merits disappeared 3 times. General Allen put this matter before the President to sign and again, however the MOH citations fell into a dimension of void to where there are no answers, this entire TRAGEDY renders so many questions.

Captain Will Swenson needs to receive his Medal of Honor which has been held up repeatedly, at least three times that we know of, and that is because the government fears his words. This young captain was noted for his extremely precise skills in directing artillery fire. Meyer says the knowledge tha Capt. Swenson was there for the trip to Ganjgal village was reassuring.

New Book

The release of Dakota Meyer's book this week is key to what this story contains and while it is clear that a large amount of indisputable events tie the charges in this report together, it is Dakota, the extremely humble Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role that day; who reveals that the Americans knew Taliban were moving into the area to set up the ambush.

The Army immediately tried to turn the blame for the murder of Gy Sgt Kenefick and the others on problems that the dead themselves and their surviving teammates were responsible for, such as not having taken all the steps to advise artillery crews of their needs, which is a preposterous claim. These soldiers and Marines were the ones whose lives were at risk, not the men in the air conditioned TOC, and Marines don't forget the most important elements of mission preparation, and neither do experienced combat soldiers.

There is also a large discrepancy as to who was in charge that day, and Meyers reveals that many believed the officer commanding the mission was an Afghan major named Talib. I have never heard of Marine Special Forces ETT's (embedded training teams) tasked specifically with training Afghan soldiers, being under an ANA (Afghan National Army) officer, ever.

Thus it is all the more puzzling because it involves a group of experienced Americans and their Afghan counterparts approaching a village that has been considered impenetrable by both our current forces and also notably by the Soviet forces who fought here in the 1980's.

On page 85 of his book, Meyer explains that information arrived prior to the mission's onset stating that forces under regional Taliban commander Quri Zia Ur-Rahman, were observed moving toward Ganjgal early that morning by a U.S. drone which he refers to as 'eye in the sky' and it was clear that the group was trying to avoid detection, moving carefully from one covered area to the next.

A Taliban fighter named Khadim was part of the group guiding 15 fighters into the area, along with a Taliban called Rhaman. 20 additional fighters under a Taliban named Faqir, set up in 5 positions for the well-planned ambush.

The Ganjgal Ambush September 8, 2009 is proof that the U.S. Army has the power to force officers to the Dereliction of Duties, Abandonment, & Negligence of those they are charged to oversee, in this case the political maneuvering claimed the lives of 3 Marines, 1 Navy Corpsman. The 5th man, an army soldier who was injured died 1 month later.

Marine 1st Lt Michael Johnson
Marine Gunnery Sgt Edwin Johnson
Marine SSgt Aaron M Kenefick (Gunnery Sgt)
Navy/Corpsman James R Layton
Army Sgt Kenneth Westbrook

What is the lesson for those who possess the same skill sets as Aaron Kenefick? He was elected as USCENTCOM Senior Marine of the Year above 42 eligible Marine SNCO's. His dedication to duty has been second to none as he has worked and established himself as a top performer and fearless leader. I suggest that we pay a different type of attention to the deaths of those involved in special forces operations, and that includes others who worked with Mr. Kimmitt.

So much of the army's defence of itself is extremely predictable. In its review of the event the Army talked about the 'mistake' the men made by leaving their vehicles up the road and not having them on scene. That is interesting, since a U.S. Army MRAP truck rolled over on the very road they were criticized for not driving down, that day!

Surely even these army commanders who are almost always isolated from combat themselves, can imagine that any Marine or soldier is more secure when inside of an armored vehicle, and doesn't need that explained in a lame post mortem examination of this event. Those who have survived combat rarely need remedial lessons from brass who probably haven't even seen action in their career.

In making this point against the Marines and soldiers at Ganjgal that day, the army is completely discounting the established knowledge that it was not possible to drive the last mile or so on the road that leads up to the village. There is a great deal of additional information that substantiates the assertions made in this article.

^[4} APZC-BCT-AD SUBJECT: AR 15-6 Investigation into the Combat Deaths of 1st Lt. Michael E. Johnson, GySgt Edwin W. Johnson, SSgt Aaron M. Kenefick and PO3 James R. Layton

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Anonymous October 23, 2017 9:43 pm (Pacific time)

Aaron is my cousin and mr kimmitt single handley got my big cousin killed he is a a piece of Sh*t! The fact that they use perfect marines for there despose is billshit

Jim May 23, 2013 10:12 pm (Pacific time)

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. I met Aaron almost 12 years ago. We went to a school together - he was in the USMC, and I was in the Army, but we were fast friends. He was a good guy, and we kept in touch over the years. I was saddened to learn of his death. Your article does little to further any real discussion of Afghanistan or the broader GWOT, doesn't remember Aaron in any positive way, but does show that you completely lack judgment. You should stop consuming whatever substance it is you depend on for happiness, come into the real world, and stop clouding the memory of a great guy with such foolishness. It's incredibly sad that a search of Aaron's name yields your stupid article almost immediately.

Tim King: Wow, I harshly disagree, this article is the result of much research, you want me to cover up what is really going on so you feel better about it? I have incredible respect for Aaron Kenefick and have spent hundreds of hours researching the story, I've been to the very base he last checked out of, Camp Joyce deep in the Pesh. You sound less like a friend of Aaron's as you do a stooge for Mark Kimmitt. You claim to know so much but anything less than the truth is a dishonor to his legacy.

The Grange October 18, 2012 8:55 pm (Pacific time)

To Whom it may concern, I have not sent in my opinion before, but after hearing on the news that the Grange Project has dropped all it’s promotional ads because the Confederated Indian Tribes Casino’s are out spending them; that makes me angry. I would like to ask, what happen to free trade and the right to pursue happiness?...this is America right?. The Confederated Indian Tribes did not have a care in America’s revolution nor in it’s constitution, so why are they dictating to us now for a project that will have little competition with them? It’s not like the “Grange” is asking to build another “StarBucks” across the street from a existing one. In this terrible static time of economic growth; here is a bunch of foreigners telling us not to have job growth! Yes, I said foreigners, remember the Confederated Indian Tribes proclaim themselves as a sovereign nation above our laws! When the Confederated Indian Tribes built there Casino’s it was just suppose to be a place of gambling but then they add gifts shops, lounges, restaurants etc.;... does this not give competition to existing business in the area too? We all know that at all Confederated Indian Tribes casinos, you can smoke indoors while the rest of Oregon can’t...I say yes to the Grange and no to the unfair attacks by the Confederated Indian Tribes. Thank you for time.

Coral Anika Theill October 3, 2012 9:31 am (Pacific time)

Thank you, Tim, for giving voice to SSgt Aaron M. Kenefick's life, commitment, struggles and sacrifices. I appreciate your continued coverage of the war and the horrific epidemic of post-traumatic stress and other psychological wounds among our returning warriors. Among the grim repercussions of a decade of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan - the dead, the battle-injured, the wreckage, the wasted billions - is this: while most military personnel return from war and resume a somewhat normal life, many do not. We need to inspire the nation to rally around those who are suffering as a result of their sacrifices. Great work, keep it up.

Vic October 2, 2012 10:07 am (Pacific time)

Incredible !! Thanks for this story !

Anonymous October 1, 2012 3:53 pm (Pacific time)

Hey Tim..here is the interview with the former CNN journalist whistle blower that I think you will find interesting..Its an hour long, and I know you are busy, but listen to a bit see what ya think..good stuff especially for other journalists such as yourself to hear.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJUyNCNfs4k

Anonymous October 1, 2012 8:00 am (Pacific time)

Tim, I commend you on your Bravery for this story as well INVITE every American Patriot to get involved and together we can unite and stop the unthinkable from happening anymore!!!! Spread the Word!!!

Anonymous September 30, 2012 5:10 pm (Pacific time)

My major apologies for being somewhat off topic, but this article is as close as I could find to something I think is very important..It is of my opinion that there will be a false flag on bank computer hacking to blame on Iran. This will give them power to invade Iran, then blame Iran on the economic collapse that the bankers caused and are running out of time before total catastrophe. They will also be able to take over/censor the internet, something they have wanted to do for quite some time...Listen, I wrote similar things about 6 weeks before 911. I know how they work, and I also know if enough of us become aware of it, we can stop it from happening. Thank you for letting me post this, and again, sorry if a bit off topic. But I thought it was important enough to stretch the rules.

Dr. David Sabow September 30, 2012 1:57 pm (Pacific time)

Tim,
I am so grateful for your uncompromising efforts to expose the sins of our government officials. It saddens me to the depth of my soul that I have lost my love and respect for the country that my entire family has faithfully served on many battlefields.

Tim King: Dr. Sabow, it is the largest honor to work on these stories; they are the most pronounced and simultaneously tragic stories of official corruption in modern U.S. history. Thanks to all of you who have offered supportive comments.

Christian Petersen September 29, 2012 6:40 am (Pacific time)

This makes me wonder how many of the suicides by servicemen lately, aren't really suicides, and how many could actually be murders.

Calvin Frye September 29, 2012 5:32 am (Pacific time)

I was familiar with a lot of this going on up to the Col. Sabow murder. I did not know this was continuing. I shouldn't be surprised since it seems that a lot of our military leaders and civilian leaders seem to relish the idea of making money and power off of wars and military conflicts. Thanks Tim King for keeping us informed and shedding a light on the devious dealings of unscrupulous elements of our government and military.

Christian Petersen September 28, 2012 7:12 pm (Pacific time)

This story is amazing there's so much there. Tons of really intriguing points. I'm gonna have to read this a few times to let it all soak in. This story really boils my blood dude.

AgronBelica September 28, 2012 7:09 pm (Pacific time)

@Tim King: Great work!!!

Anonymous September 28, 2012 6:26 pm (Pacific time)

Dang that is some scary sh*t. I am amazed that you were able to bring that together, I think the release of these facts will force unexpected change, no question.

[Return to Top]

Aaron M Kenefick: A Marine Who Knew Too Much

Background on Mark T. Kimmitt

Kenefick Couldn't Stand Kimmitt

Early Morning Ambush

"The f----- won't shoot the arty."

General David Rodriguez

Marine Bonds- Unbreakable

Pinning the Tail on the Donkey

Heart Defect patients in Anbar Province

To the last Marine standing...

Background on Aaron Kenefick: Recon Marine

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