Posted on 02/23/2005 9:28:43 PM PST by freespirited
It was a striking -- some said chilling -- moment in the battle for Iraq, captured on videotape: a wounded, un-armed Iraqi, shot to death by a U.S. Marine.
CBS News has learned that military investigators conclude there is not enough evidence to formally charge that Marine.
As CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports, it happened during the bloody fight for Fallujah last fall. The Marines were engaged in bitter house-to-house combat with dug-in enemy fighters.
When Marines ran into a mosque seeking the source of insurgent fire, they found several Iraqis wrapped in blankets.
One Marine thought he saw one of them move.
Marine: "He's F***ing faking he's dead."
Second Marine: "And he's breathing."
Marine: "He's faking he's f***ing dead!"
Navy investigators have concluded what happened next may have been justified in the heat of battle.
In a moment too graphic to show, one of the Americans fired.
"He's dead now."
The insurgents, it turned out, were unarmed -- but investigators say the Iraqi the Marine thought he saw moving could have been going for a weapon. At the very least, Navy legal experts believe the situation is ambiguous enough that no prosecutor could get a conviction.
The original video added to popular anger over the Fallujah crackdown. Many Iraqis felt Fallujah's unarmed civilians bore the brunt of the U.S. campaign.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the battle, and months later, much of the city is still without power or water. Many Fallujans live in makeshift refugee camps far from their homes.
When news breaks that the Marine will not be prosecuted, it will not go over well here.
It's now up to Marine commanders to decide what, if any internal action to take against the Marine. And investigators are still conducting ballistics tests to determine how the other insurgents in the mosque were killed.
Good news.
Now, if Rumsfeld would kick the lawyers out of Iraq and Afghanistan and let the military do the job, those like Capt. Maynulet would not be being courtmartialled too.
>>>"..a wounded, unarmed Iraqi, shot to death by a U.S. Marine." <<<
In addition to your point, this is the first time that I have heard that it is definite that the "insurgent" was unarmed. I have never heard that confirmed - he was lying a pile of rags and could have had a concealed grenade or a short barrel AK under the pile.
I have believed and will continue to believe that the Marine's action probably saved lives, including that of the slime-ball journalist who reported it as a killing in cold blood!
They were "well killed"!! Stop second-guessing our troops. This is a fr%$g'in war we are fighting.....
Stupid Clinton appointed PC bastard Generals!
"Did it even matter?"
Well, if they were going to charge him with murder I think it would matter quite a bit.
My guess is the guy was dead already. An autpopsy confirmed it, so there was no way to charge the Marine. Thank goodness.
But they are still trying : "And investigators are still conducting ballistics tests to determine how the other insurgents in the mosque were killed."
Great job by this Marine!
I think by unarmed they mean he didn`t have a weapon "in his hand".
The reason probably was because the guy was already dead and his weapon was taken by the fleeing insurgents.
The Marines actions were justified IMO too. Once the insurgents started rigging up dead bodies with explosive devices, any non moving person is still a threat until confirmed dead. A shot to the head would confirm someone is dead.
From my own limited military experience, I'm going to kill anything that moves under those circumstances. If your chest is moving up and down...guess what? When it stops, the area is secure.
I think we are in agreement on the shooting, read my post 27.
I was just dumbfounded that they could charge the guy. I saw the video , heard the carnage , new it was a hostile situation , and felt the Marine did nothing wrong.
But the fact that they considered charging the guy, at least they could let us know if the insurgent was dead when he was shot by that Marine. I still have not heard this was or was not confirmed.
I don't think it was anything more than a media handjob to begin with. The good news is that he got a couple weeks off line. The bad news is...well, it's back to work.
Plus the FACT that I believe the previous day - the Marine had lost a pal of his from the same type of incident. The terrorist was rigged with a bomb and his friend was blown up in front of him and the guys's blood splattered on him.
In lieu of those FACTS - I'd say the Marine's reaction was not only normal .. but he was determined that no other Marine was going to get blown up the same way.
I total concur - NO CHARGES.
And .. as for the man in the mosque - even if he was not shooting at our soldiers - what the heck was he doing in the mosque with the shooters? His presence there leads me to believe he was aiding the men who were shooting - so I have no sympathy for the guy.
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