You can defend yourself if you feel threatened and can show cause for it. For instance, had I not been specifically warned that Iraqis could bear AK-47s and stand on their roofs watching our convoys, I guarentee I'd be up on charges. It sure looks threatening. A lot of stuff Iraqis do is unnerving and seems hostile, BUT, unless they point a weapon at you, you CAN NOT engage with lethal force. The military will prosecute you to hell and back if you disobey, and they're very clear on that.
The Marine, by his own words, states that he thinks the man is faking death, and then shot him. That simply doesn't meet the criteria to engage.
I'd be scared of booby traps and fake surrenders. I've entered strange houses in the middle of the night, and had to make split second decisions on whether or not to shoot someone suddenly appearing 3 feet away from me. It's stressful as hell, and $h#t happens.
That having been said, engaging a prone detainee who's been laying wounded in the same spot for 24 hours because 'he's playing dead' while an NBC cameraman is standing 10 feet away from you is an all around bad move. I'm normally 100% against Monday morning quarterbacking, especially from my now cozy armchair, but they've got the guy dead to rights on video. There definitely still needs to be an investigation, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence so far that this guy was justified in engaging the detainee.
I know a lot of people think 'this is war', but it ain't. It's a heavily armed PR campaign, and the military isn't looking to fall on the sword for anyone who screws up on camera.
I still think he did nothing wrong. It is not worth dead americans.
Its great that we hold ourselves to such high standards, but there were booby trapped bodies all over the place.
It will get hundreds, if not thousands of our countrymen killed if the media is allowed to run with this.
It will also ecourage more bombing, innocents be damned....
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.
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.
Can we be sure the prone "insurgent" was alive before being shot?