Posted on 11/19/2004 5:34:42 PM PST by X-USAF
The Marine was right.
He was, after all, in a war.
I’m talking about that deal Saturday in Fallujah. What you’ve heard is that a United States Marine shot a wounded, unarmed enemy in the head and killed him.
Some NBC guy caught the whole thing on videotape.
And people have been screaming since.
They’ve said that the Marine was a butcher, that he violated the Geneva Conventions, that he needs to be court-martialed, that this is an example of the evil America is doing in Iraq.
There has been all sorts of crap like that.
And that’s what it is – crap.
Because that Marine did the right thing. And instead of selling him down the river, we should be defending him. We should be sticking up for him the same way he stuck up for us.
They shouldn’t be investigating this guy, they should be giving him a medal. We shouldn’t be condemning him, we should be understanding what he and his comrades face in Iraq.
And we should remember what war is. It’s about killing the other guy before he can kill you. It’s not an episode of “COPS” where everybody gets read their Miranda rights, it’s an all-or-nothing gamble we ask our military men and women to face.
To better understand what happened and why, it’s necessary to know a little bit of how the enemy has been fighting in Iraq.
Like the booby-traps being set on the remains of enemy fighters. The same day this Marine killed the wounded enemy, another Marine in Fallujah was killed – and five of his buddies were hurt – by an explosive rigged to a dead fighter. Some of the enemy wounded have been fitted with suicide vests, to detonate when American troops come to their aid. And some able-bodied enemy fighters have hidden among their wounded comrades in order to attack our soldiers and Marines.
Think that through.
What that means is that what appears to be a bunch of dead and wounded guys to us, is a very real threat to a GI.
The training and experience of that Marine told him that those enemy combatants lying on the ground were a potential threat to him.
That’s why he yelled what he yelled.
He’s faking! He’s not dead!
That’s a paraphrase, the original language was a little strong, but that’s what he said.
He felt it necessary to yell to his buddies that one of the enemy combatants was pretending to be dead, but was really alive.
He shouted it as a warning.
And he immediately shouldered his rifle and fired. He struck the man in the head, killing him instantly.
Why?
Sadism? Cruelty?
No. Neither his words nor his actions indicate that. He did it to protect himself and his buddies.
That’s his job. He’s a warrior.
He didn’t know this man’s intentions. He didn’t know if in the next moment he would detonate a suicide bomb or set off a hand grenade. He didn’t know if he had just stepped into a trap.
All he knew was that the man was pretending to be dead. And other such men, pretending the same thing, had tried to kill Americans.
So the Marine fired.
He fired to stay alive. He fired to come home to his wife and child. He fired because he had to keep his buddies and the NBC photographer alive. He fired because it was his duty.
And if he didn’t, he could have been dead.
So who was that man on the floor?
He was an enemy fighter who had been holed up in a mosque from which sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on United States Marines.
He was a bad guy.
He was a man who had tried to kill Americans.
One way of looking at it is that this Marine just finished the job that hadn’t gotten done the day before.
Another way to look at it is that the American media can’t be playing a game of “gotcha” with our military. Imbedded reporters have to serve some purpose other than to be waiting to catch GIs in a hiccup in order to broadcast it around the world and embarrass the American cause and the American people. The imbedded reporters have to be working for American broadcasters, not Al Jazeera.
The bottom line is we’ve asked this Marine and hundreds of thousands of others to go fight for our freedom and safety. We owe it to him and them to support them as they do what they have to do to come home safely to their families.
We are not impartial in this.
We have a stake.
Those troops are fighting for us. And fighting a war isn’t about being nicey-nice. Fighting a war is about erring on the side of making it home safely.
The Marine in that mosque Saturday didn’t know the man he shot was unarmed and wounded. He just knew that, in the various explanations for the man’s actions, there was the real possibility he meant the Americans harm.
At that point you don’t ask questions.
You don’t get politically correct.
You do what you have to do.
This Marine did that.
And for that he should be supported and praised, not attacked and punished.
No charges should be brought against this Marine. No punishment should be administered against him.
He was only doing his duty.
And America supports him.
- by Bob Lonsberry © 2004
It would be a very lousy day in hell for me to say if.
As always, Bob has hit this nail right on the head.
Give the man a Silver Star.
Yes, Bob is right with one exception. The incident does need to be investigated to learn why the wounded bad guys were not picked up after the action on Friday. Not that I'm particularly concerned that they get to the hospital, but so as that they are id'd & aren't left laying around to give away any intelligence to their buddies in case the buddies come around AND to collect intelligence from them.
http://www.globalissuesgroup.com/geneva/convention1.html
Art. 13. The present Convention shall apply to the wounded and sick belonging to the following categories:
(1) Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict, as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces. (2) Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions: (a) that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; (b) that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance; (c) that of carrying arms openly; (d) that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. (3) Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a Government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power. (4) Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civil members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany. (5) Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favourable treatment under any other provisions in international law. (6) Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
Bump for a good read.
This Marine deserves a medal!
I pray he gets in no trouble whatsoever.
Yes, I agree. I'm not losing any sleep over these piles of puss being eliminated. As far as I'm concerned, the Marine was tidying up the mess that got left from the day before. Counter-productive to patch 'em up so they can jihadi another day.
YUP.......War is hell........i hear they are autopsying the body at Dover right now........he may have already been dead.......either way, he is now. One less headache for the Marines and Soldiers
Agreed!
I know these innocent civilians were warned we were coming in, they dropped leaflets telling them to get the hell out if they were innocents. We screened the people leaving as best we could, allowing women and children to leave, the males if they passed thorough checks. I've seen some video on a UK news site which shows the Marines clearly warning the occupants before blasting them with the terrorist yelling back "Allah Akbar" or some crap, just before throwing grenades. This Marine did the right thing, and the wounded terrorist had plenty of opportunities to surrender.
I think of the soldier in the movie "Saving Private Ryan," which talks Hank's character into letting the captured German go and later he is the one that kills Hank's character (Miller?). Quite probable that this scenario has been played out in real life over there in Iraq and frankly the good news is the dead scumbag terrorist won't get that chance.
And America supports him.
Amen!
Great idea. Let the reporters check the dead and wounded.
Piss off, fruitcup.
That would be the only reason I might fault him is speaking first. They are still alive. I'm with this Marine no matter what.
I smell a ZOT coming...
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