First of all, these wounded terrorists were NOT prisoners - they were not restrained, confined under guard, or secured in any way from the time they were shot the day before until the Marines came back on them the next day. Someone could have come, during that time, and boobytrapped the bodies, as the terrorists had been known to do, as they had not been secured under guard.
Secondly, I don't have a problem with what the Marine did as the video proves that he reasonably perceived a real threat. And, also, I now know the context and the extenuating circumstances involved, and I believe the young Marine was acting in self defense to protect himself and his fellow Marines - and even the sorry arse reporter with them. And, BTW, there was another wounded terrorist there who was not seen as a threat and he was NOT shot as he appeared to be cooperating with them.
Malicious motives should not be applied to this young Marine. The video proves that he thought the guy was faking death - he perceived that as a threat and acted accordingly - and correctly. Period.
First of all, these wounded terrorists were NOT prisoners - they were not restrained, confined under guard, or secured in any way from the time they were shot the day before until the Marines came back on them the next day. Someone could have come, during that time, and boobytrapped the bodies, as the terrorists had been known to do, as they had not been secured under guard.
This is the best argument for why I think there was a horrid misunderstanding.
And, BTW, there was another wounded terrorist there who was not seen as a threat and he was NOT shot as he appeared to be cooperating with them.
There were SEVERAL wounded insurgents (not sure if they were terrorists or not), not just one. The conversation on the video clip seems to indicate that these Marines didn't realize these insurgents were known to be alive...as the cameraman said. Else why would the one say "playing dead"? A severely wounded man might not be able to "surrender" (especially if he thinks he already did, the day before), yet is still hors de combat...and it doesn't make him more of a target than a less wounded man who can surrender again.
Again, it seems to be a misunderstanding.
Malicious motives should not be applied to this young Marine.
And as I have indicated repeatedly, I suspect a mistake, rather than malicious motives. However, there's too little information available to conclusively (a) Hang the Reporter, or (b) Hang the Marine.