Semper Fi
Posted on 05/05/2005 11:19:31 AM PDT by mdittmar
A US marine who was videotaped shooting to death a wounded unarmed Iraqi inside a mosque during an attack on Fallujah last year has been cleared of any wrongdoing after investigators determined that he acted in self-defence, the Marine Corps said.
Major General Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, ruled that the unidentified marine corporal would not face court martial because he fired his weapon in self-defence.
"He has determined that the actions of the Marine in question were consistent with the established rules of engagement, the law of armed conflict and the Marine's inherent right of self-defence," the Marine Corps said in a statement.
The November 13, 2004 shooting was caught on videotape by a television news cameramen who was embedded with the marines in Fallujah.
The corporal was heard on the video suddenly shouting that the wounded Iraq, who was lying propped up against a wall inside the mosque, was "faking he's dead." He was then seen raising his rifle and firing point blank at the Iraqi's head.
The videotape, which caused a sensation when they were aired on US television, triggered the investigation.
The Marine Corps said investigators reviewed the video tape, interviewed more than 22 marines who participated in the operation around the mosque, and examined ballistic and forensic evidence.
"Careful consideration was also given to the impact of the enemy's known tactic of feigning death or surrender before attacking Marines," it said.
According to the Marine Corps account, the area had been secured the day before by members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine regiment but intelligence reports said the mosque had been reoccupied by insurgents.
The three who were killed had been wounded the day before in fighting with marines who disarmed them, cleared the building and then pushed on, abandoning the mosque and leaving the wounded Iraqis behind.
"That whole night and into the next day, marines were not near the mosque," said 1st Lieutenant Nathan Braden, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, California where the unit is based.
The next day a second line of marines moving through the area had "contact" with insurgents leading up to and away from the mosque, according to the investigation.
"Because of that gap between the two lines, the second line had to assume that there could have been new insurgents in every building, that insurgents were rearmed. It was almost like they were going through it for the first time," Braden said.
The corporal moved into the main mosque building to clear it. Once inside he shot the three wounded Iraqi insurgents, the Marine Corps said. The body of a fourth Iraqi who died of gunshot wounds also was found in the mosque but the bullets did not come from the corporal's weapon.
The shooting of the third Iraqi was captured on videotape by television cameraman Kevin Sites.
The three Iraqis turned out to be unarmed.
"The enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded AIF (anti-Iraqi forces) was concealing his left arm behind his head," the Marine Corps statement said.
"While it is not clear whether the AIF in the videotape made any overtly threatening gestures, it is clear that the Marines of 3/1, to include the corporal, were aware that feigning death was a common enemy TTP (tactics, techniques and procedures)," it said.
"Accordingly, it was reasonable to believe that the corporal fired on the AIF after reasonably believing that the individual was committing a hostile act by exhibiting a known enemy TTP (feigning death and subsequently moving his concealed arm)," it said.
"Based on all the evidence in the case, and the rules of engagement that were in effect at the time, it is clear that the corporal could have reasonably believed that the AIF shown in the videotape posed a hostile threat justifying his use of deadly force," it said.
A very reasonable decision by the Commander.
Halalujah! Thank You! Thank You!!
This US soldier did the right thing under the circumstances. The incident did not warrant an investigation in the first place. I wonder, how many of our guys did this terrorist kill or wound before he was finally shot to death? No one in the mainstream media asks that question.
Semper Fi
Good news indeed. Our Military men & women shoud not be hindered & be put at greater peril by the media.
Good news. Now - what about Pantano?
Kevin Sites.
http://www.kevinsites.net/bio.php
I quit watching Dennis Miller because he had this piece-of-crap pretender journalist on as a guest.
He has a lot of simiarities to the idiot that addressed the offensive comment to Ann Coulter.
http://www.partycampus.com/writerprofile.php?id=18
Very good news!
I missed this item when it first came out back in early May, but this was very good news indeed.
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