Posted on 11/15/2004 4:49:43 PM PST by Cornpone
The US military is looking into whether an American marine in Falluja shot dead a severely wounded Iraqi insurgent at point-blank range. Television footage shows US soldiers entering a building as injured prisoners lie on the floor.
The soldier, from the 3rd battalion of the US marines, has been removed from the field and faces possible charges.
The images were taken by an NBC reporter embedded with the US troops in the Sunni city under assault.
The BBC's James Robbins says the incident could prove highly damaging and that the US military will need to answer key questions about whether the rules of engagement were broken during the incident.
It must explain, he says, whether wounded combatants were abandoned, or killed, illegally.
Mosque stormed
US marines have been battling with sporadic but fierce pockets of resistance inside the city. They say they have already killed 1,200 insurgents.
The images show a group of marines, armed with rifles, entering a building near a mosque.
The mosque had been used by insurgents to attack US forces, who had stormed it, killing 10 militants and wounding five.
At least three severely wounded men are seen in a room inside the building - two are slumped against one of the walls, partially covered with a blanket.
The NBC's Kevin Sites says the wounded men had been left in the mosque after marines had fought their way in on Friday and Saturday.
According to Mr Sites, one of the soldiers points his rifle at the head of one of the injured, an old man. The sound of a shot is then heard.
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the report.
Pictures of dead people. Do you have a nice little scrap-book at home full of same?
Better be safe than sorry... in addition, the Marine just made him a favor: The terrorist was sent straight to Allah's side. (Of course, there's no Allah, but hey, Mustafa doesn't know that)
I don't care what Sites said. As far as I am concerned, he does not have the right to arbitrate what is and is not acceptable behaviour by the marines during war just because he has a camera. Perception and context is everything. This issue can get other marines killed!!
Fuc%k the MSM. next time Sites should go up and check and see if an injured insurgent needs help before the marines shoot the insurgent. Maybe Sites will watch what he reports.
This MARINE is my BROTHER and this AIRMAN will stand by him. He was already wounded and was still in combat. If he gets a Court Martial put me beside him and Court Martial me too.
Note how they don;t mention the fact that the marine shouted "he's faking it" before he shot him. It's very likely that the marine was startled by the movement, did not see an obvious injury, and had to make a decision. This is astonishingly dangerous journalism.
Exactly. Shoot them!
After being let off he should be awarded a medal in a quiet ceremony.
Next, any media other than FoxNews should be banned from embeds.
Too bad it wasn't an Al-Jezera sponsored beheading, then the world would ignore it.
Where is the mention of all the arms/munitions found in mosques? Where are their uniforms? Where are the breakdowns of foreign vs. domestic terrorists captured or killed for the course of the war?
F*&k the BBC!!!
US never signed the Geneva Convention treaty actually. Technically, we don't have to abide by it, but anyways we do. Also, it only applies to sovereign soldiers, not terrorists.
Solution: from now on, the reporters get to check the bodies for signs of death. (then they can explode)
The animal muslim bast**** that dismember and gut western women to death or the MSM that cover up and defend the scum?
Terrorists that stayed at Gitmo for 3 years and were released are going right back to the terrorist organizations that they came from and are starting up their same activities. The only way to deal with terrorists is to kill them. Give the Marine an atta-boy and send him back to duty. The media is just trying to create another Abu Gharaib.
I say Kill 'em all! That soldier should be rewarded! The wounded enemy will heal up and come back to kill again!
Right on Jack. You took the words right out of my keyboard!
KILL THESE TERRORIST SCUM!
"Like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500..."
"Note how they don;t mention the fact that the marine shouted "he's faking it" before he shot him"
I heard the marine say that on the tape played on fox. The embeds shouldn't be around when this house to house stuff is going on.
If the Marine was just evil, Why didn't he brutally kill all of the terrorists and only one?
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.