Posted on 11/15/2004 3:56:58 PM PST by Kaslin
LONDON (Reuters) - A television pool report by U.S. network NBC said on Monday that a U.S. Marine had shot dead an unarmed and wounded Iraqi prisoner in a mosque in Falluja.
The Iraqi was one of five wounded prisoners left in the mosque after Marines had fought their way in on Friday and Saturday. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon (news - web sites) on the report.
U.S. forces launched an offensive one week ago on Falluja, and have gained overall control of the formerly rebel-held city, although scattered resistance remains.
The pool report by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites said the mosque had been used by insurgents to attack U.S. forces, who stormed it and an adjacent building, killing 10 militants and wounding the five.
Sites said the wounded had been left in the mosque for others to pick up and move to the rear for treatment. No reason was given why that had not happened.
A second group of Marines entered the mosque on Saturday after reports it had been reoccupied. Footage from the embedded television crew showed the five still in the mosque, although several appeared to be already close to death, Sites said.
He said one Marine noticed one of the prisoners was still breathing.
A Marine can be heard saying on the pool footage provided to Reuters Television: "He's fucking faking he's dead. He faking he's fucking dead."
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's head. The pictures are too graphic for us to broadcast," Sites said. No images of the shooting were shown in the footage provided to Reuters.
The report said the Marine, who had returned to duty after being shot in the face a day earlier, had been removed from the field and was being questioned by the U.S. military.
Sites said the shot prisoner "did not appear to be armed or threatening in any way."
One thing's for sure. I'd bet $100 Kevin Sites is not embedded with Marines tonight. :)
Well it certainly is a war. Now, there is a propaganda compenent to it, but it is a war.
Yeah, those burned corpses hanging on the bridge, WAS the picture in the mind when one thought of Fallujah.
Then, this last week, seeing the Marines going through the town quickly kicking butt. That replaced the image of burned corpses.
Now, Oliver North just said that this incident will become wallpaper on the screens of the MSM and the story of Fallujah in the MSM and the Arab TV. Therefore, this incident will probably become THE story of Fallujah instead of the bravery of our Marines.
It is a shame, but I'm afraid he is right--Chrissy Mathews had Abu Ghraib as his main topic for at least a month or 6 weeks.
the MSM is doing what we expect, they are scum. I'm watching to see what the administration does, that's what important to me. when I hear Sean Hannity saying "this looks bad" just now on his show, I'm sensing a possible cave in here.
Agreed.
Get a grip.
BTTT
I'm gripped just fine.
Sean now covering the booby trap angle.
An investigation with possible prosecution if warranted hardly sounds like caving. It sounds like a responsible way to maintain discipline, ROE amd run a military.
I agree.
Those that trust the MSM are already US-haters. The rest of us (the majority) don't give a crap what they report.
Sorry, we won't dishonor our brave by cutting & running thereby losing this war & endangering us all.
no way this warrants any kind of prosecution. US soldiers lined up and shot nazi death camp guards when liberating those locations - seeing what had gone on there. any of them court marshalled?
? you must be talking to someone else.
We went through this in the 70s.
I really wish that was the case. I'd still like to go back, don't get me wrong, but it hasn't been a 'war' in well over a year. At least not by any definition that history would recognize.
You shouldn't start the Monday morning thing now. You have no idea what the Marine in question knew at the time. How do you know whether the terrorist in question had been lying there for 24hours or 2 minutes? The Marine may have been told everyone in there was dead. They certainly looked dead. Then one starts to move. You obviously don't need a lecture from me about combat situations. I just want to remind you that a video clip tells very little of a story and certainly isn't enough to pass final judgement.
"Well, I'm all broken up about that man's rights."
Just listened to Ollie North. He handled it very well. I also agree with your post and the implications you shared.
This is when we must support our troops even more! The MSM will just blow this up and as Ollie said, make it all so exaggerated that all the good our troops do in sacrificing for our country and the honorable and difficult way they have had to fight will be minimized or negated.
This is war. Al jazeera is going to lie anyways, and I am so disgusted that our MSM is right behind them. But we showed the world we support our troops by putting Bush back in office and making sure that Traitor Kerry was exposed!
I think the idea of contacting our representatives to say we support our troops and support this young Marine for what he has given is a good one.
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