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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
In the immortal words of Neil Boortz, "Oh, you're offended? Let me see if I have a hanky."
81 posted on 11/16/2004 7:07:29 PM PST by Uncle Vlad
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To: Rome2000
Can you imagine during WWII, some limp wristed libs going around taking pictures of us killing japs and krauts, and then whining the sht through the media. They would have faced firing squads!

The lib mentality absolutely baffles me, after what is daily news that the ragheads do to us, and innocents including children.

82 posted on 11/16/2004 7:07:41 PM PST by oldtimer
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To: kattracks

What would they say to a NUKE. The MSM is putting our Marines in danger once again.


83 posted on 11/16/2004 7:08:10 PM PST by Brimack34
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To: msnimje

Why do we care if they're happy on the Arab street? Do you know anyone on the Arab street? Do you want to? Me, neither.


84 posted on 11/16/2004 7:08:24 PM PST by Uncle Vlad
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To: kattracks

Poor muslims. Not! If they are angry they should go to Falluja, or Mosul, and fight the infidel. Alas, they are cowards, and they will continue to hide behind their women's burkhas.


85 posted on 11/16/2004 7:08:47 PM PST by 68 grunt (3/1 India, 3rd, 68-69, 0311)
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To: philo

To all angered muslims...eat a MOAB.


86 posted on 11/16/2004 7:09:22 PM PST by oldtimer
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To: patso
sounds like a new candidate for the Dems in a few years! ;)
GET SOME MORE! Hoo-Rah! Semper Fi!

Yep, "War is all hell" - Gen. W.T. Sherman

87 posted on 11/16/2004 7:14:11 PM PST by castlebrew
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To: kattracks
Insurgents holed up in a holy Mosque, guarded by holey wardens, who received their holeyness defending the holy Mosque with holy weapons of Jihad. These keepers of the holy RPGs and AKs were laid low by infidels before they could complete their holy tasks of ritual sacrifice and decapitation of infidels and apostates to the greater glory of Allah.

Marines arrived and made the holy defenders really holey.

NO PROBLEM!

88 posted on 11/16/2004 7:15:11 PM PST by BIGLOOK (I once opposed keelhauling but have recently come to my senses.)
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To: kattracks

Kerry shot and killed a fleeing, wounded, unarmed VC in the back (or so the story goes)? For that Kerry received a Silver Star? How is this so different?


89 posted on 11/16/2004 7:16:43 PM PST by eeriegeno
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To: kattracks
Associated Press reporters Omar Sinan in Baghdad and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.

All angry Muslims have permission to join Mr. Higgins in Geneva. Tell him you're there for the Geneva Conventions and to put everything on Arafat's tab.

90 posted on 11/16/2004 7:18:48 PM PST by auboy (Dishonesty is NOT a virtue.)
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To: Brimack34
Whoa. Mooslimes are gonna get mad?
3000 Dead NYC Civilians arent proof enough that they are MAD as hatters to begin with?
Americans are the ones who are starting to get angry again. You Blue B(&(&*^*rd states can bow down and die, but US Red staters will NEVER Surrender our Liberty or Independence to ANYONE!

Shut down the Alphabet Channels (ABJazerra & Her Sister Stations)!
Vote with your Remote!

But, I Have A Plan
Zippo Hero
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes
91 posted on 11/16/2004 7:19:19 PM PST by rawcatslyentist (Man, You should have seen them, kickin Edgar Allen Poe! Koo Koo Kachoo)
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To: mlmr
I believe the term was "combatants". This would presume that the adversary is playing by the rules as well ( e.g., wearing a uniform, honoring flag of surrender, etc.). As they are not, then it's time for the gloves to come off and the Marquis of Queensbury be d**ned.

It sounds like the shootee was pretending to be dead -if so, to what end? A bit more mayhem, perhaps? This Marine did the right thing, and probably save d himself and his buddies.

A bit of a shame there wasn't a ricochet.

92 posted on 11/16/2004 7:20:33 PM PST by castlebrew
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To: kattracks
If Yahoo was the least-bit even-handed, you'd see headlines like:

Muslims Ho-Hum on Beheadings

or,

Muslims Undisturbed by Rape and Child-Murder

93 posted on 11/16/2004 7:29:04 PM PST by cookcounty (-It's THE WHITE HOUSE, not THE WAFFLE HOUSE.)
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To: kattracks

Tell the Sunni's to clean up the mess or they are out of the political process... If they do not hand over the terrorists, they do not get the vote... Tell Sadr that his thugs have to leave while we are at it...


94 posted on 11/16/2004 7:32:18 PM PST by sixstringer
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To: highlandbreeze

check. if a "sanctuary' (church, hospital, school, etc.) is used for war-like purposes, it loses the protected status. They're lucky we're only taking ut the minarets and not flattening the entire grid square.


95 posted on 11/16/2004 7:33:15 PM PST by castlebrew
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To: castlebrew

And if we did, I'd be okay with that.

=0)


96 posted on 11/16/2004 7:35:19 PM PST by highlandbreeze
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To: BIGLOOK

anyone seen the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch laying around here?


97 posted on 11/16/2004 7:37:17 PM PST by castlebrew
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To: True-Stu
Third paragraph of the article:

"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.

Guess you missed it...... "

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.

98 posted on 11/16/2004 7:39:41 PM PST by Ready4Freddy (Carpe Sharpei !)
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To: highlandbreeze
I think it would be a lot more efficient. Not to mention much more statesman-like, viz. WJC in Bosnia and Sudan. In the end, it's the ground-pounder who has to take and hold the territory.
99 posted on 11/16/2004 7:41:22 PM PST by castlebrew
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To: kattracks

F'em and then nuke em.


100 posted on 11/16/2004 7:42:18 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ ( Where's my Marlboros? NSDQ)
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