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."
OK, if these terrorists have been hiding IEDs under dead bodies and attacking Marines after faking injury/death, then I think the Marine had every reason to suspect that the terrorist WAS armed and dangerous. He was probably thinking about saving that poor idiot camera man from being blown to bits! It sounds like this was a perfectly reasonable response to the situation after seeing, up close and personal, what previously suspected "dead" or "wounded" have done to our troops.
I think you learned the wrong lesson about Kerry.
Through lies, ambition and deception-- Yuri Andropov, the soviets, the NVA and loop heads like Kerry and Al hubbard spread media amplified propaganda, which almost caused Nixon to lose the war, until the successfull carpet bombing of Hanoi & HArbor (Linebacker II) won the war.
We are a civilized people - we are a society of laws. And I am sure this will be thoroughly investigated and handled properly.
But the MSM has already tried and convicted this young marine and will use this event to spread propoganda about our troops and place them in more danger. What's civilized, responsible and just about that?
"successfull carpet bombing of Hanoi & HArbor (Linebacker II) won the war."
I disagree that it was "carpet bombing." That's left-wing propaganda. It was aimed at military targets. We destroyed the air defense system of North Vietnam in Linebacker II. My proposition is that U.S. forces have historically followed the rules of war and should continue to do so.
In combat...things happen...and they happen FAST.
Maybe if the Marine had hesitated for just one second....he would have been the one to die.
redrock
Pray for W and Our Troops
True. If someone heard otherwise, please let me know, since I have jumped in late. But, I was on my way to the gym at 7PM local time, and I heard the CBS Radio National News. Believe it or not, the coverage of this incident was somewhat fair. They even said "military experts have commented that faking death and booby trapping dead bodies is a common tactic", or something like that. The guy who wrote that copy probably was fired and replaced with Mary Mapes writing the script. I fear that the MSM will try to turn this into Abu Ghraib II.
The bombs from b52 just were not that accurate. It took many bombs to take out a bridge for example. The capability just did not exist.
Toyko was fire bombed and more were killed than hiroshima, which wasn't a cake walk either.
Okinowa (sp) was also napalmed. Seen the footage?
We have an overly sanitized world view.
And now an admission. You do have a point in that I thought that Unfit made ROE a little too 'clean' and Brady Bunch-like.
That pushed credibility a little with me. Of course, hearing Gardner for hours on the radio and the summation of accounts killed Kerry's accountability.
ping for later
The picture painted by MSNBC and the other libs is starkly different regarding 'context' from that of FOX...IMHO -in context the 'kill' was justified...
A point maybe missed or mistakenly insuated by the 'objective' reporting:
The Marines in question did not know or consider these insurgents to be 'prisoners' let alone 'dead prisoners' -they were unfriendly unknowns and they were dealt with appropriately. The reporter is not a combatant and he declared thier 'prisoner' status after the fact -unguarded dying prisoner?
I appreciate being held to a high standard, I note with satisfaction how unusual and rare outright misconduct is. I don't appreciate politically correct policies, because they prolongue problems and ultimately get people killed.
In many cases, holding absurdly high standards fails because anything less than perfection isn't good enough for the Europeans, and anything that could be seen as weakness by the Middle East breeds resistance. We should just be ourselves, which is firm, just, merciful, and swift. Trying to be less demeans us, and trying to be more is counterproductive.
Their hand were not tie wrapped. The enemy was caught in an act of deception. The marine was prudent.
The MSM is sore and trying to impune the military because it won.
I meant that NO ONE is trying to demonize the "insurgents" for violating the Geneva Conventions by torturing and murdering civilian prisoners kidnapped off the street.
OUR SIDE is being held to a double standard in this war.
It will NEVER be enough for the Euros. They will move the goal posts until you are in the ICC because you did not use PAris approved toilet paper per their idiotic 'protocalls'
They are jealous of our influence. Where is the outrage for their war crimes (which are systemic) in the Ivory Coast.
wow awesomme video ..Thanx
Your point is a good one!
--Boot Hill
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.