You don't shoot your enemy in the back.- Monday morning
quarterbacking is always 100% right on, though. - It
would be interesting to know why the other "insurgent" in
the room wasn't killed. Maybe it's alarming when an
"insurgent" is given an order to surrender and there's no
response. The Marine had already been shot in the face the
day before; his buddies blown up by an "insurgent" playing
possum on the floor. The fortunes of war are hard.
Again, when your enemy is retreating, you don't shoot him
in the back.
Hey Kevin Sites! Now that your actions have made Marines hesitant to shoot, You go stand next to them when the terrorists come out waving a white flag with one hand behind their backs!
As the cameraman said, these wounded had already surrendered 24 hours before.
In fact, if a prisoner is severely wounded or unconcious, then there's no need for him to indicate surrender to be considered hors de combat. Breathing is allowed...shooting for that is not justified.
Part of me suspects the Marines did not pay any attention to the cameraman (who had been there the day before and was telling the Marines that these insurgents were wounded and previously captured) and didn't realize that these insurgents had already been captured (and searched?).
The Marine probably did not realize that the one he shot had already been captured, and therefore thought he was playing dead to attack him. I'm betting it was a mistake born of confusion. That doesn't mean we should try to justify it.