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Shooting in Iraq Mosque Angers Muslims
Yahoo News ^ | 11/16/04 | ROBERT H. REID, AP

Posted on 11/16/2004 6:17:45 PM PST by kattracks

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine angered Sunni Muslims in Iraq (news - web sites) on Tuesday and raised questions about the protection of insurgents once they are out of action.

International legal experts said the Marine may have acted in self-defense because of a danger that a wounded combatant might try to blow up a hidden weapon; a key issue was whether the injured man was a prisoner at the time.

The shooting happened Saturday, one day after the Marine, who has not been identified, was wounded in the face and after another man in his unit was killed by the booby-trapped body of an insurgent.

However, the incident could cause major political problems for the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his U.S. backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the invasion of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

American and Iraqi authorities tried to prevent rage from spreading among Sunnis, many of whom watched dramatic footage of the shooting that aired throughout the day on Al-Jazeera television, a Qatar-based satellite station.

"Look at this old man who was slain by them," said Ahmed Khalil, 40, as he watched the video in his Baghdad shop. "Was he a fighter? Was anybody who was killed inside this mosque a fighter? Where are their weapons? I don't know what to say."

It was unclear to what extent other Iraqis, particularly the majority Shiite Muslims, cared about the shooting.

Maysoun Hirmiz, 36, a Christian merchant in Baghdad, said she was not satisfied by an announcement by the U.S. military that it had removed the Marine from the battlefield and will investigate whether he acted in self defense.

"They will say or do the same thing they did with the soldiers who committed the abuses against Iraqis detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, and they are still free, enjoying their lives while they destroyed other peoples' lives," Hirmiz said.

The central figures who allegedly carried out the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of inmates at the notorious prison west of Baghdad are currently on trial, facing trial or have already been sentenced.

The Abu Ghraib scandal, which erupted last spring when photos of the abuse became public, generated a worldwide wave of revulsion that raised questions about the treatment of Muslim prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and elsewhere as part of the Bush administration's war on terror.

The shooting in the Fallujah mosque became public Monday with the airing of the footage taken Saturday by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC News. In his report, Sites said the man who was killed didn't appear to be armed or threatening in any way, with no weapons visible in the mosque.

In a statement Tuesday, the 1st Marine Division said it launched its investigation "to determine whether the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict."

It was unclear from the statement whether the incident was reported through the chain of command Saturday or only when the pool footage became generally available two days later.

Sites said three other insurgents wounded Friday in the mosque were also shot again Saturday by the Marines.

International legal experts said protection of injured combatants once they are out of action is a basic rule in warfare but that the Marine shown in the video may have acted in self-defense.

Charles Heyman, a British infantry veteran and senior defense analyst with Jane's Consultancy Group in London, defended the Marine, saying soldiers are taught that the enemy "is at his most dangerous when he is severely injured."

 

Other experts contacted by The Associated Press were careful to avoid a public judgment because of the dangerous and uncertain situation in Fallujah, where U.S. troops were still fighting insurgents.

"It's clearly recognized that people in combat situations are under enormous strain," international Red Cross spokesman Florian Westphal said in Geneva. "Obviously, we were not on the spot so we cannot judge the precise circumstances of what was being shown here."

Westphal said the Geneva Conventions are clear: Protection of wounded combatants once they are out of action is an absolute requirement.

However, the status of the wounded man was unclear. A different Marine unit had come under fire from the mosque on Friday. Those Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five, according to Sites. He said Marines treated the wounded and left them.

The same five men were in the mosque Saturday when Marines from another unit arrived. Westphal said he couldn't say for sure from NBC's account whether the man was a prisoner.

Heyman said there is a danger that a wounded enemy may try to detonate a hidden firearm or a grenade, and if the man made the slightest move "in my estimation they would be justified in shooting him."

However, legal distinctions are unlikely to carry much weight among many Iraqis, especially Sunnis already angry over the Fallujah offensive. Allawi said he ordered the assault after Fallujah's leaders refused to hand over Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other foreign fighters.

But Sunni militants saw the invasion of the city 40 miles west of Baghdad as a plot by the Americans and the Shiites, such as Allawi, against religious Sunnis — an allegation both governments deny.

"The troops not only violated our mosques with their sins and their boots but they stepped on our brothers' blood," said Khalil, the shop owner. "They are criminals and mercenaries. I feel guilty standing here and not doing anything."

At a news conference Tuesday, Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib, himself a Sunni, said that although "killing a wounded person is rejected by us," Fallujah militants were "killers and criminals" who committed brutal acts.

That meant little to Hameed Farhan, 51, who works for the Transportation Ministry in Baghdad.

"I did not see it because there was no electricity at home, but my wife was at her parents and she described it for me," Farhan said. "She was crying. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to scream."

___

Associated Press reporters Omar Sinan in Baghdad and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.



TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: fallujah; fallujahmarine; iraq
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To: kattracks

SHOOTING UNARMED BRITON MARRIED TO IRAQI OUTRAGES ALL


21 posted on 11/16/2004 6:24:36 PM PST by gotmatt
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To: kattracks

Angry, are they? Well, in all fairness, we should invite them to a conference to air their concerns... then kill them.


22 posted on 11/16/2004 6:25:06 PM PST by broadsword (When Islam creeps into a human society, oppression, misogyny and terror come hard on its heels.)
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To: kattracks

Gee--I wonder how long it took to find someone who give a care about the one who was dispatched to his 76 virgins.


23 posted on 11/16/2004 6:25:35 PM PST by Ramonan (Honor does not go out of style.)
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To: kattracks
"Look at this old man who was slain by them," said Ahmed Khalil, 40, as he watched the video in his Baghdad shop. "Was he a fighter? Was anybody who was killed inside this mosque a fighter? Where are their weapons? I don't know what to say."

Ok, we need to make a gruesome catalog of all those that have been put before the Zaqarwi slaughterers , and pose that same question "was he a fighter? where are their weapons?"
and get this to run on every Iraqi TV.
Allawi needs to pull out all stops and start to win this
media/propaganda war. F*** al Jizzera ! Make them see and consider our side of these stories . Make them see what animals are trying to take over their country. Make them see that these sub-human beasts do not deserve the same mercies
accorded to normal human beings.
24 posted on 11/16/2004 6:26:11 PM PST by injin
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To: kattracks
Shooting in Iraq Mosque Angers Muslims

shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man

I have seen the video. Did I miss a tattoo or something that identified the man as a muslim?

25 posted on 11/16/2004 6:27:55 PM PST by Flyer (Prosecute Vote Fraud!)
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To: austinaero
What DOESN't anger Muslims

Let's see

woman driving cars?... Noooo

writers asking tough questions about islam?....Nope

Western society?...Nada

Beating woman senseless in the name of family order?

AHA.. there is something that does not anger a Muslim!

26 posted on 11/16/2004 6:28:14 PM PST by BRL (( making the world a better place to live - one terrorist at a time))
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To: kattracks

Mission accomplished. Terrorist neutralized.

The media wants to make this war look like a failure.

We kicked ass, lost some good soldiers in the process.
Did the photographer roll footage of American troops "buying it"? Hell no...... his sympathys are for the muslim terrorist murderers who kill women and children and cut off the heads of hostages.

I say ......take no prisoners. A threat is a threat.


27 posted on 11/16/2004 6:28:30 PM PST by o_zarkman44
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To: jimbo123

I'm not defending Sites, but there was a post earlier where he stated that the Marines he's been with have behaved very professionally and with great restraint, and that this particular situation was very confusing.


28 posted on 11/16/2004 6:29:22 PM PST by TexasTaysor
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To: kattracks

Excuse me .. MUSLIMS KILLING 3000 AMERICANS ANGERS ME!


29 posted on 11/16/2004 6:30:29 PM PST by CyberAnt (Where are the dem supporters? - try the trash cans in back of the abortion clinics.)
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To: kattracks

Our Marine just hastened the terrorists meeting of his 72 virgins. He did him a favor.


30 posted on 11/16/2004 6:31:17 PM PST by TexasTaysor
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To: CyberAnt

And Muslims murdering 2,000,000 Christians in the Sudan angers me.


31 posted on 11/16/2004 6:31:24 PM PST by broadsword (When Islam creeps into a human society, oppression, misogyny and terror come hard on its heels.)
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To: yooper

The most likely reason the Iraqi was pretending to be dead - especially if he had been lying there since the previous day and should have by then been more than ready for some help - was that he wanted to entice the Marines to come closer.

And what would be the most likely reason for that?


32 posted on 11/16/2004 6:31:31 PM PST by Let's Roll (For a guy who shirked his own job, Kerry sure was eager to tell others how to do theirs ...)
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To: kattracks

Now there's one helluva double standard for ya.


33 posted on 11/16/2004 6:31:47 PM PST by SolutionsOnly
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To: kattracks
What they don't say in this article was that another soldier in the same unit as the one who allegedly killed the injured insurgent was killed by a booby trapped body. These raghead mujes have pulled every dirty trick in the book, including waiving white flags and then opening fire when we approach them. I have no patience for this crap and i'm sitting here comfortably in my home in the USA. Just imagine what these soldiers are going through.

Where was the outrage when these ass***** were mutilating and stringing up the bodies of Americans, cutting off heads and storing weapons and shooting at us out of these same mosques! Tell these crybabies to go F*** themselves.

There, I feel better now. Well, truthfully, I won't feel better until all our boys are safe and each one of these so called "insugents" have been sent to visit Satan, aka Allah.

34 posted on 11/16/2004 6:34:14 PM PST by True-Stu
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To: kattracks

The fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine angered Sunni Muslims in Iraq (news - web sites) on Tuesday and raised questions about the protection of insurgents once they are out of action.

One down and another 3000 to go, then we will be even for 9/11.


35 posted on 11/16/2004 6:34:24 PM PST by hadaclueonce (shoot low, they are riding Shetlands.....)
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To: kattracks

I believe the guy that was shot could not legally be called a lawful combatant under the Geneva Convention, nor could be be considered a Prisoner of War.

Live by the sword and die by the sword.


36 posted on 11/16/2004 6:34:28 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Got Wood?)
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To: True-Stu

Ragheads are really asking for it.

They are going to get more than they bargained for.

If we can bomb hundreds of thousands of German civilians into smithereens and nuke japs, annihlating a race of uluating subhuman beasts seems more of a public service to the human race than anything else.

Islamonazis living on borrowed time.

And so is the leftist media.


37 posted on 11/16/2004 6:35:15 PM PST by Rome2000 (Democrats are perverted socialist crooks)
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To: Army Air Corps

Oh the poor Muslim street. Get real press "embeds".The terrorists are already attacking police stations in other cities.Please desist from defending these animals because of Geneva convention "rules". The terrorists have already decided not to honor civilized measures.They use civilization as a shield.They therefore waive the rules as the rules must be reciprocal. The only people in Fallujah the time of the fighting were terrorists who would stop at nothing to disembowel an American soldier.(They just beheaded a saintly aid worker).The fact that the media wants the US to lose and our soldiers to appear as inhumane is the real story.


38 posted on 11/16/2004 6:35:30 PM PST by patso
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To: True-Stu
Satan, aka Allah.

Beelzallah
39 posted on 11/16/2004 6:35:46 PM PST by broadsword (When Islam creeps into a human society, oppression, misogyny and terror come hard on its heels.)
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To: kattracks

Maybe they shoot stop boobie trapping their wounden then.


40 posted on 11/16/2004 6:36:21 PM PST by Reagan79 (Ralph Stanley Rocks!)
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