[Gondring]

My first reaction would be to toss in a grenade, then enter. Can't understand why this wasn't done.

Because there were Marines in there already who had already shot wounded who had been previously captured!:

Sites was present when a lieutenant from one of the units asked a Marine what had happened inside the mosque. The Marine replied that there were people inside.

“Did you shoot them?” the lieutenant asked.

“Roger that, sir,” the second Marine replied.

“Were they armed?” the lieutenant asked.

The second Marine shrugged in reply.

Sites saw the five wounded men left behind on Friday still in the mosque. Four of them had been shot again, apparently by members of the squad that entered the mosque moments earlier. One appeared to be dead, and the three others were severely wounded. The fifth man was lying under a blanket, apparently not having been shot a second time.

I think many people are missing something...look at what happened...

A) Five insurgents were wounded and captured on Friday, with wounds that weren't life-threatening. They were left with some Marines who were supposed to evacuate them for treatment.
B) For some reason, these wounded prisoners were not evacuated.
C) The mosque was reported reoccupied, and other Marines stormed it, encountering the insurgents wounded the day before. As noted above, the Marines didn't know if they were armed: "The second Marine shrugged in reply."
D) The Marines shot four of the five wounded insurgents again. [NOTE: AT THIS POINT, Marines have already shot wounded prisoners!]
E) Sites accompanied the lieutenant into the building, saying (whispering?!) these were the same wounded prisoners.
F) One is noted to still be moving, and Marine shoots him.
G) When told that the man shot was a wounded prisoner, the Marine indicates that he wasn't aware of that.

Sounds like there's more here than just that one Marine shooting...that might be the thing on the video that captures attention, but the reports indicate to me that there was a miscommunication about these wounded left in the mosque. It's also unclear whether there was additional fire coming from the mosque on Saturday, and also whether these wounded were abandoned by the earlier Marines because of enemy action (or whether they were bound/why not, etc.).

Speculation: Is it that these wounded prisoners were encountered by the Marines entering the mosque on Saturday figured they'd already surrendered (so there was no need to surrender again), while the Marines thought they were active combatants and shot them again? That seems likely.

I hope the investigation clears things up and that we make a reasonable response, admitting a mistake if we made one, and not just giving excuses or justifications. There are questions beyond this Marine, who was likely acting on incorrect information.

[ex 98C MI Dude]

You persist in calling them wounded prisoners. They were not. They had not been taken into custody. Their names had not been noted on any report. They had not been reported to the MPs for prisoner collection. They had only been disarmed and treated for wounds. That does NOT make them prisoners.

While you persist in repeating lies, the troops are still out there dying so you can sit behind your computer screen spouting propaganda. Which are you: Sites or Moore?

[AMDG&BVMH]

"this Marine, who was likely acting on incorrect information."

Roger that. My take, anyway.

[Henchman]

The cloud of war - no matter what, if the Marine can articulate that he was afraid for his life, case closed except to the Left.