Posted on 11/16/2004 4:34:34 AM PST by Atlanta
I'm going to start with a communication of support of this young Marine, to the Commandant of the Marine Corps himself. Then, President Bush and my Senator/Congressman.They are going to hear from me and I have all friggin day to do it. I am so livid about this that words cannot describe. As a former Marine myself, this young "Leather" was doing what he was trained to do, adapting to unreasonable circumstances (enemy tricks) and he did exactly what I would have done and what has always been done with a fanatical enemy. If authorities hang this Marine out to dry, I will never stop raising hell and will become a point man for pulling these guys out of theater entirely...MSM is SICK. Other suggestions?
Maybe the networks should face war crimes for undermining our troops. I know we have freedom of the press, but sometimes the freedom of the press goes too far. The press should air the enemey cutting off heads and killing our troops. Noooooo, the press wants to side with the terrorists.
I'll lay ya dollars to donuts that "quote " came from the DU and they used the FR logo.
See #735..
Our troops there are fighting subhuman scum who butcher innocent women and saw the heads off of truck drivers!
They ought to shoot each and every one of the scum they catch and send them straight to hell where they belong!
thanks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1281411/posts
(Breaker Morant)
I'm shamelessly posting this link trying to show correlations between then and now in regard to this soldier. It has become MY rallying cry in his defense.
Kevin Sites belongs in front of a firing squad for aiding and abetting the enemy during time of war. Hell, I'm in a good mood...throw Chris Matthews up against the wall with him, as well.
You can add Howard Fineman and Dana Priest to the squad wall. They were discussing Condi Rice and the changes Bush is making, and they were practically calling them an evil gang, kicking out all of the good guys in CIA and State, getting rid of Powell.
The acted like this is all so sinister, and that Bush, Cheney, Rice and most of all ROVE are down in the dungeon making plans to take over the earth!! Truly black helicopter discussion.
It's no coincidence she was killed so soon after the airing of the video again and again all over Arab TV. The media never thinks of the consequences.
I agree, and I hope we don't forget about those two Army officers who got life without parole in the death of an Iraqi general who had a heart attack while they were questioning him-they were sentenced about 2 months ago, so you are right when you say "wouldn't have a chance"...
Freedom of the press does not include sedition.
Bill ORielly defending the marine again!!
Great rant.
*snicker and write congress critters (even though it doesn't do any good to write Chris Dodd)
No I must have missed that part, but maybe will catch the replay later tonight and will also post the transcript.
I don't like Chris Mathews, but I watch his show to find out what the "enemy" is thinking. This man is like a pit bull when there is something he can "gig" the President with. He led his show with Abu Ghraib for a month to 6 weeks.
He gets testy though if he has on guests that don't feed his opinion. Whenever they contradict his line of thinking, he overtalks them and then dismisses them quickly.
He had on the Cia guy that has been making the rounds later in tonights show. I just watched closed caption while posting, and Chris was trying to get the guy to admit that the war was wrong and that Tenent and Powell both knew it was wrong but that Bush pushed them into giving him the WRONG information.
They both agreed they couldn't wait until Tenets and Powells tell-all books come out. Juicy!!!!! Bleech!!
will stand with the Marine bump
BTTT
What can be done to make this man's life miserable?
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine angered Sunni Muslims in Iraq on Tuesday and raised questions about the protection of insurgents once they are out of action.
International legal experts said the Marine may have acted in self-defense because of a danger that a wounded combatant might try to blow up a hidden weapon; a key issue was whether the injured man was a prisoner at the time.
The shooting happened Saturday, one day after the Marine, who has not been identified, was wounded in the face and after another man in his unit was killed by the booby-trapped body of an insurgent.
However, the incident could cause major political problems for the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his U.S. backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the invasion of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
American and Iraqi authorities tried to prevent rage from spreading among Sunnis, many of whom watched dramatic footage of the shooting that aired throughout the day on Al-Jazeera television, a Qatar-based satellite station.
"Look at this old man who was slain by them," said Ahmed Khalil, 40, as he watched the video in his Baghdad shop. "Was he a fighter? Was anybody who was killed inside this mosque a fighter? Where are their weapons? I don't know what to say."
It was unclear to what extent other Iraqis, particularly the majority Shiite Muslims, cared about the shooting.
Maysoun Hirmiz, 36, a Christian merchant in Baghdad, said she was not satisfied by an announcement by the U.S. military that it had removed the Marine from the battlefield and will investigate whether he acted in self defense.
"They will say or do the same thing they did with the soldiers who committed the abuses against Iraqis detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, and they are still free, enjoying their lives while they destroyed other peoples' lives," Hirmiz said.
The central figures who allegedly carried out the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of inmates at the notorious prison west of Baghdad are currently on trial, facing trial or have already been sentenced.
The Abu Ghraib scandal, which erupted last spring when photos of the abuse became public, generated a worldwide wave of revulsion that raised questions about the treatment of Muslim prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere as part of the Bush administration's war on terror.
The shooting in the Fallujah mosque became public Monday with the airing of the footage taken Saturday by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC News. In his report, Sites said the man who was killed didn't appear to be armed or threatening in any way, with no weapons visible in the mosque.
In a statement Tuesday, the 1st Marine Division said it launched its investigation "to determine whether the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict."
It was unclear from the statement whether the incident was reported through the chain of command Saturday or only when the pool footage became generally available two days later.
Sites said three other insurgents wounded Friday in the mosque were also shot again Saturday by the Marines.
International legal experts said protection of injured combatants once they are out of action is a basic rule in warfare but that the Marine shown in the video may have acted in self-defense.
Charles Heyman, a British infantry veteran and senior defense analyst with Jane's Consultancy Group in London, defended the Marine, saying soldiers are taught that the enemy "is at his most dangerous when he is severely injured."
Other experts contacted by The Associated Press were careful to avoid a public judgment because of the dangerous and uncertain situation in Fallujah, where U.S. troops were still fighting insurgents.
"It's clearly recognized that people in combat situations are under enormous strain," international Red Cross spokesman Florian Westphal said in Geneva. "Obviously, we were not on the spot so we cannot judge the precise circumstances of what was being shown here."
Westphal said the Geneva Conventions are clear: Protection of wounded combatants once they are out of action is an absolute requirement.
However, the status of the wounded man was unclear. A different Marine unit had come under fire from the mosque on Friday. Those Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five, according to Sites. He said Marines treated the wounded and left them.
The same five men were in the mosque Saturday when Marines from another unit arrived. Westphal said he couldn't say for sure from NBC's account whether the man was a prisoner.
Heyman said there is a danger that a wounded enemy may try to detonate a hidden firearm or a grenade, and if the man made the slightest move "in my estimation they would be justified in shooting him."
However, legal distinctions are unlikely to carry much weight among many Iraqis, especially Sunnis already angry over the Fallujah offensive. Allawi said he ordered the assault after Fallujah's leaders refused to hand over Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other foreign fighters.
But Sunni militants saw the invasion of the city 40 miles west of Baghdad as a plot by the Americans and the Shiites, such as Allawi, against religious Sunnis an allegation both governments deny.
"The troops not only violated our mosques with their sins and their boots but they stepped on our brothers' blood," said Khalil, the shop owner. "They are criminals and mercenaries. I feel guilty standing here and not doing anything."
At a news conference Tuesday, Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib, himself a Sunni, said that although "killing a wounded person is rejected by us," Fallujah militants were "killers and criminals" who committed brutal acts.
That meant little to Hameed Farhan, 51, who works for the Transportation Ministry in Baghdad.
"I did not see it because there was no electricity at home, but my wife was at her parents and she described it for me," Farhan said. "She was crying. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to scream."
___
Associated Press reporters Omar Sinan in Baghdad and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.
I was listening to a local talk show in the Dallas area that is a Fox station. The host had on Colonel Hunt, that is usually on Fox. He was standing totally behind the Marine and he said that it was a shame that the video went out before the action in Fallujah was still going on.
He expressed the same fear that some on this thread have, that now some other Marine may hesitate one second too long because of fear of this happening to him. That extra second could cost him and/or his fellow soldiers their lives.
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