You may be right that there was some confusion, but that seems to be beside the point as the young Marine PERCEIVED a threat and he acted on it in self defense as he thought the guy was faking death. He knew the terrorists and their SOP and he made a reasonable judgement that there was a threat and acted on it accordingly - and, to me, correctly. As Col. John Lewis said tonight on the Joe Scarborough show, the marine had an inherent right to self defense - and we cannot deny our troops that right.
But we can also admit error.
If we had captured this area previously, why did we leave behind 5 wounded men? Were they bound? Did we leave medical supplies? Were they totally hors de combat?
Were they not truly prisoners? If they were prisoners, then why weren't they bound and why was the REPORTER the only one who knew what was going on?
I'm not saying we should just hang the Marine. Au contraire (a little frog lingo for you), I'm saying we should investigate this more thoroughly, and there might be fault elsewhere. Or maybe none. But the video itself needed to be released...it's the commentary on it that is the problem.
Also, Col. John Lewis says that the Marine had an inherent right to self defense. Do Americans agree with that? If not, then our military should (much to our consternation) adjust. If they DO, then let's make sure it's out there clearly for us all...that ALL Americans have a right to self-defense. (Of course, when I go down to Philly, I can't shoot someone and call it self-defense just because I perceive a threat and have no evidence of it...but still, I should have the right to keep and bear arms there, right?)