Posted on 11/16/2004 7:01:14 AM PST by areafiftyone
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines rallied round a comrade under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive in Falluja, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances.
Marines interviewed on Tuesday said they didn't see the shooting as a scandal, rather the act of a comrade who faced intense pressure during the effort to quell the insurgency in the city.
"I can see why he would do it. He was probably running around being shot at for days on end in Falluja. There should be an investigation but they should look into the circumstances," said Lance Corporal Christopher Hanson.
"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the head," said Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You can't trust these people. He should not be investigated. He did nothing wrong."
The military command launched an investigation after video footage showed a U.S. Marine shooting a wounded and unarmed man in a mosque in the city on Saturday. The man was one of five wounded and left in the mosque after Marines fought their way through the area.
A pool report by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites said the mosque had been used by insurgents to attack U.S. forces, who stormed it, killing 10 militants and wounding the five. Sites said the wounded had been left for others to pick up.
A second group of Marines entered the mosque on Saturday after reports it had been reoccupied. Footage from the embedded television crew showed the five still in the mosque, although several appeared to be close to death, Sites said.
He said a Marine noticed one prisoner was still breathing.
A Marine can be heard saying on the pool footage provided to Reuters Television: "He's fucking faking he's dead."
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's head," Sites said.
NBC said the Marine, who had reportedly been shot in the face himself the previous day, said immediately after the shooting: "Well, he's dead now."
THOROUGH PROBE PROMISED
The Marine commander in Falluja, Lieutenant General John Sattler, said his men followed the law of conflict and held themselves to a high standard of accountability.
"The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved," he said.
Marines have repeatedly described the rebels they fought against in Falluja as ruthless fighters who didn't play by the rules. They say the investigation is politically motivated.
"It's all political. This Marine has been under attack for days. It has nothing to do with what he did," said Corporal Keith Hoy, 23.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday both sides in the Falluja fighting had broken the rules of war governing the protection of civilians and wounded combatants.
Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Garza, 30, favored an investigation but like other Marines said the Pentagon should weigh its decision carefully.
"He should have captured him. Maybe the insurgent had some valuable information. There may have been mitigating circumstances. Maybe his two buddies died in Falluja," he said.
Sites said: "I have witnessed the Marines behaving as a disciplined and professional force throughout this offensive. In this particular case, it certainly was a confusing situation to say the least."
The U.S. military has been embarrassed by scandals in Iraq, most prominently the Abu Ghraib affair in which at least eight U.S. soldiers have been tried or face courts-martial over the abuse of prisoners at the jail outside Baghdad.
There have also been several cases in which soldiers have been charged with wrongfully killing Iraqis during operations.
I JUST DID!!!!!
Time to frag the imbedded reporters.
As opposed to fragging them, why not just yank them out?
Exactly.
And as far as the other argument going on: As long as people fighting do not have uniforms it can no longer be assumed that non-uniformed people are non-combatants. It is the non-uniformed fighters that are responsible for the deaths of civilians, which is one of many reasons that they are not protected under the Geneva Conventions.
You had it explained to you ... if you can't figure it out by now you are either incredibly stupid and / or a DU troll
The American news media has been tarnished ever since Cronkite returned from Vietnam in 1968 after Tet and delivered his infamous stalemate address to the American people during his unchallenged evening news program. I remember it well.
If they want to win back my trust they need to sit down and think about where they've placed their loyalties.
I think the labeling of troll should be done with careful forethought. Have you looked over Sittin Yonder's previous posts?
Right on. How best can we show our support for this young man?
I don't even see why this is any kind of deal whatsoever.
The guy was a terrorist. They've been completely ignoring every 'rule in the book' as a matter of practice FOREVER.
They hide behind civilians, pretend to surrender and then fight, boobytrap corpses, target innocent Iraqi's and everyone else, they behead people for gods sake.
And now we are supposed to believe that if one of these disgusting pukes, skum of the earth get injured while trying to kill our guys, and one of them that was shot in the face a day earlier doesn't want to "trust" that he is just a good guy that somehow ended up in Fallujah after months of telegraphing the attack, after getting 'injuried' in the battle, wants to 'fake play dead'... he is supposed to be afforded all these 'rights'.
Give me a fuggen' break.. I'm with the Marine from Pittsburg, I would have shot the puke terrorits in the head... twice as well... and not even thought twice about it.
"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."
- Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman
The solution is simple, use the same tactic General Santa Anna did at the Alamo. Take no prisoners. Or perhaps, take no reporters.
One other thought is when you call your local station, don't talk to news people. Talk to the people in advertising and on the business side. The news people don't usually care about money. You take away the commission from their sales people and there will be war at the station.
I'm calling my local affiliate too, and their advertisers.
One local affiliate just refused to air Saving Private Ryan on Veteran's Day! If they can assume that kind of responsibility to censor what is seen, they can easily assume the same responsibility by refusing to air this Sites report.
GOTCHA, Morons.
Many are trying, but they too are having a time getting past the MSM bias too.
Yes, this reporter does seem to have a personal objectivity problem. But he needs to either a) spend some time at this Marine's home base or b) be forced out of his embedding by pressure from Americans/Military.
Maybe the military should google the names of the reporters they are embedding, before they embed them.
---as usual, Sherman had it right---
No. I asked why the reporter needs to be beaten or killed. No one explained to me what he did - all I know that he did was shoot some video, release it and make a statement praising Marines in general and saying this incident was strange. The responses I have received have largely bashed the reporter w/o specific reason or, now, me personally. BTW, thanks for that. My question is specific - WHAT DID THE REPORTER DO? Has he made other statements? Has he said the Marine committed murder? WHAT DID HE DO? Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the actions of the Marine. Under the circumstances I surely would have done the same. But I also don't understand why people are angry at the reporter. The closest thing to an answer is that he didn't turn the video over to the Marines, he turned it over to NBC. Maybe I can understand that he made a mistake there, but was that enough to call for his death or a severe beating? Perhaps he's made other statements or committed some act that would make me agree that he needs to be beaten. But as of yet, no one has pointed that out to me.
"And WHERE is the LIST of ALL THE MOSQUES used as Weapon bases??"
This and all other facts of this battle need to emerge.
No I have not BUT given that persons posts on this thread ... it's hard not to think that. BUT ok maybe he / she's not a troll ... then the other label must be true ... it's either or ... or both.
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