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.
Good.
Thank god. I still think it is going to affect recruiting if one has to be investigated for doing one's job.
Has the MSM declared this to be a coverup yet?
Great news!
Thank God and thank God we aren't a member to the ICC or this Marine would have been tried, convicted and sentenced before even being heard....
Any comments yet from the schmuck journalist that filmed the incident?
AMEN
Super Schmuck
Praise God!!!
This young man was on my prayer list! This one's answered!
I am surprised it is not on DU yet with the accompanying posts that it is a Bush conspiracy and coverup that go the soldier off the hook for "murdering innocent iraqis."
I don't care about the reporter,this young Marine is alive and the terrorist is dead,that's a good thing.
So am I. The reporter whose name I believe is Sites was briefed with the Marines about the insurgents feigning their death. If I remember correctly, this Marine had lost a buddy a day or 2 before this incident. The reporter was well aware of the situation and filmed the process and had given the film to the Arabic news media without the US Military seeing it first.
Such gratitude was displayed by this reporter because the Marine probably saved the reporters life/scarcasm
Hallelujah! Message to our troops...let the other sonofabitch die for his country/cause/virgins in the sky, whatever. Stay safe and strong.
Send the journalists in first.
As it should be! This young man should have been found innocent months ago!
From what I've seen he didn't report anything. He jus shot the video and allowed the MSM to twist it into a smear campaign against the Marines invovled.
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