This is war - these people were trying to kill our guys.
No, they had previously been trying to kill our guys. These people were lying on the ground, inactive (indeed, too inactive, it seems!).
And, yes, there should be an inherent right to self defense in a war zone - to deny our soldiers that right is immoral.
Agreed, 100%.
The video CLEARS the Marine as the words prove it was done in self defense as he thought the guy was "faking death."
No, that doesn't. We can't go around shooting anyone whom we think is "faking death" and calling that "self-defense." (I.e., "Drop the gun or I'll fake death!" is a pretty absurd threat, obviously.) The problem is that the Marine treated this person as an active combatant, when it seems the man was actually wounded and considering himself hors de combat.
And errors are made in war - best to err on the side of caution when faced with a possible life and death decision.
Errors are easily made in war, because it is such a high-stress, poorly constrained environment! So let's call a spade a spade, and have military reporters and Pentagon commentators illustrate how difficult a position the troops are in, and show that we take responsibility for our actions and admit mistakes when they occur. Use this as an opportunity to point out the behaviour of the opposition and how it makes things difficult on them, while accepting that a misunderstanding might have occurred.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of first-order thinkers, those who don't look at secondary consequences, crying out that it is perfectly acceptable to act like low-life scum just because our opponents do.
Also, and I have not heard anyone comment on this, but I would be very curious to know the nature and extent of the young marine's head injury the day before and the circumstances around that incident - that might have great bearing on all this as that would be very traumatizing.
Again, this is something that might exonerate the Marine who pulled the trigger, but not the commander who allowed an unfit Marine into action. And that's my point...something went wrong, and kneejerk unconditional support without acknowledging that we MIGHT have blame, is a mistake, IMHO.
And you are right - this should be investigated and all the facts, all the extenuating circumstances should be revealed. Then I hope and pray this young marine is exonerated - he should be.
I hope and pray that this Marine is exonerated rightfully, and that the world sees it as the proper end result...and respects our honesty at investigating this without prejudice in either direction.
Reasoned and tentative support for this Marine is admirable. Blind support for shooting an unarmed prisoner--an act that shouldn't have occurred--is disturbing.
My support for this young marine is not blind support - it is reasoned and I have spelled out those reasons repeatedly. These terrorists were known to boobytrap bodies, to fake death and use other means of trickery to kill our marines - fact of the war that the marines deal with every moment they are in combat.
The audio of the tape proves the motive behind the shooting - the young marine PERCEIVED the guy to be a threat - that is a fact born out by the video which shows the motive behind the shooting - self defense. To assume anything otherwise it to attribute a malicious motive to the shooting and there is NOTHING that indicates in any way, shape or form that this was a malicious act - but EVERYTHING points to the marine seeing this as an act of self defense. Would it have been a mistake if the guy WAS faking death? And how do you know he wasn't? And how do we even know if he was alive when he was shot?
Whether it was an actual threat is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT as it was PERCEIVED as a real threat - and by the circumstances of the shooting, by the knowlege of how these terrorists fight - I believe the actions of the marine were justified. I think when all shakes out, every reasonable, fair-minded person will conclude that this was a justified act of self defense because the young marine PERCEIVED it as a threat. Hindsight is always perfect, and armchair quarterbacks always know the right moves - but dealing with the realities of war in real time is what these young marines are dealing with and we cannot begin to put ourselves in their shoes.
We may just have to agree to disagree on some things, but I do agree with you that I want the young marine exonerated, and I believe he will be, rightfully. There is no evidence of malice in this shooting. It was a reasoned judgement call that this young marine made and it is obvious he did it to save the lives of himself and those around him. We must tread very lightly when we begin to second guess his judgement in what could have been a life and death situation in a war zone. We owe it to him to give him the benefit of the doubt.
One more thing on this young marine - his name has not been broadcast yet here - but it has been broadcast on Al Jazeera. How long before his family will be targeted by the terrorists?