Posted on 05/24/2006 7:16:58 PM PDT by kellynla
"Extra prayers will be offered for these Marines."
Thank you
I hope FReepers will keep this thread civil.
We should all focus on hoping and praying that these Marines will be exonerated.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Curious. Given the enormust damage New Week the Washington POst and others have done with wholly faudlent reporting what measure of atonement/punishment can we expect our Civil Authoriy to impose on them? They have been activly aiding enemy propaganda in a time of war for years now. "Flush the Koran" The Phony CIA Prisions story, "GI raping Iraqi women" and dozens and dozens of other fraudlent stories. Some of you are so intrested in "Justice" when do we get Justice for this that is doing FAR more harm to our war efforts?
Nope. I cry for blood whenever anyone is unjust, be they a thug in East LA or a thug wearing an American uniform.
You weren't there. You have seen NO evidence. YOU are in no position to render ANY judgment.
Oh, and you're in a position to freakin' acquit? This is a discussion forum - we talk about the news. We talk about trials, and assume for the sake of discussion that the facts are as alleged. If the facts are as alleged, the Marines should be hung out to dry. If it was an honest mistake, that's another thing entirely. The facts are not alleged to have been a stray shot in a firefight; it's alleged to be a civilian massacre. If that can be demonstrated (which, you're right, it has not) then it will damage the war effort.
How does this damage the war effort? Firstly, "hearts and minds" is a central theme of our strategy. We aren't out to be a brutal empire subjugating Iraq, but a liberating force protecting not only our own interests but those of the Iraqi people. Secondly, this damages the war effort because it turns us into the very thing we're fighting - terrorists.
I will protest the sword if it's not wielded well.
Unarmed civilians are not combatants. That ought to be elementary.
Funny how desperate some supposed Freepers are to hang these guys on NO evidence.
Marine officials and commanders have been indicating that the results of the investigation would not be good.
Translation?
Marines did things they should not have done.
If you don't like what they've been saying, take it up with them.
But, we still must be true to our MILITARY Code of ethics.
It's true that there's an exception to every rule, in my experience. It's also true that the battlefield seems uniquely able to bring up the damnedest situations that no one ever even dreamed of when they made up the rules.
At that point, we've got to trust the training of the soldier to make the best of it that he can at that time.
I'm good friends with LtCol Chessani... was stationed with Jeff in the past... went to career level school with him... bounced his little girls on my knee... his wife and my wife correspond regularly... good, strong Christian family...
Don't know how this happened... but let justice be done...
You're stating that as a fact?
Your knee doesn't need any lubrication. It's jerking just fine.
Sinky's inference is quite reasonable - but, pending a trial, cannot be taken to the bank. If they are convicted, this will confirm sinky's reasonable inference.
If it can be proved that it happened, it is unexcusable and should be punished severely.
I just go by what I've heard the Marine command saying, and it is not positive about this incident.
Here are a couple things that concern me.
While no charges have been filed yet,.....
“I think there’s a lot of pressure to do something,” the civilian attorney said.
NO, repeat, NO charges have been filed yet. However, Mu'tha has appointed himself as judge, jury and executioner in the court of "public opinion."
Where is the pressure coming from? Time magazine after their 10 week "investigation?" With the rapid decline of the old media, have they now gone into the criminal investigation business?
I am a Paramedic (Volunteer, not professional) and I assure you that getting shot at on the street by some dumbass who could'nt grab his own ass with both hands does not qualify as "combat".
In any case I was referring NOT to the JAGS but to the Freeper Arm Chair moralizers who know NOTHING about this case but have all ready appointed them selves Judge and Jury. You were not there, you have seen NO evidence but what the some highly questionable sources are claiming. Might want to keep in mind these are the SAME sources that claimed the Libby case was going to produce "25 indictments reaching into the highest levels of the White House". Pure BS.
This is the new prosecutor spin game. GO out and try to sell the guilty verdict by leaking all these "facts" to the Junk Media. They know they can counted on the usual assumption from the Public "Well gee why were they charged if they are innocent then"?
If they had a solid case they would keep it under wraps. All they are trying, and apprently succeeding, is poisoning the PR pool by trial by accusation in the Junk Media. And is seems to be working for those who WANT to believe. Which raises the question. WHY are some "Freepers" so anxious to see these Marines hung out to dry without even a trial?
I accuse you both of being DNC Activists. Prove your innocence. -
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Understand now why trial by accusation is a bad idea? Anyone can make an accusation about anything. An accusation is NOT proof.
Good night.
My guess is that it will turn out ok.
I have FAITH in those who serve.
redrock
When they are being used as shields by their fathers and brothers and husbands as they try to kill you. That is one circumstance. The fact of the matter is that there really are circumstances in which unarmed people are shot. Not all unarmed civilians are innocent bystanders. Do you remember the video where the Palestinians shot and killed a palestinian man and his child just so that they could blame the Israelies for the deed? The people we are fighting do not fight fair.
The story is that the Marines changed their story. Initially, the field reports said the Iraqis were killed in the explosion. they later changed that to, "they were killed in a firefight".
Did they, or did they not file false reports?
Find one. I want them hung out to dry at a trial.
This is the new prosecutor spin game. GO out and try to sell the guilty verdict by leaking all these "facts" to the Junk Media.
Stories like this are too explosive not to be released to the media. The military cannot afford to be accused of a coverup.
Being deployed to a Combat Zone and being in Combat are two completely different things. Claim a JAG would have "Combat experience" is utter nonsense.
I didn't. It was alleged that JAGs wouldn't understand the pressures on servicemen because they were armchair lawyers, not in combat zones. I rebutted that with the fact that they are deployed to combat zones. I was not asked if they had "combat experience."
Freeper Arm Chair moralizers who know NOTHING about this case but have all ready appointed them selves Judge and Jury.
Only in the hypothetical, and pending the outcome of a real trial.
I have spoken recently to a soldier returned from Iraq who specifically had that happen. They received fire and the shooter took up a posture behind a group of children and CONTINUED to fire.
I was asked. What could I have done?
The right answer: You must return fire to protect your own life. You must. To do otherwise is to advocate suicide. You must return fire until the threat is neutralized.
I'm not entirely convinced. Death may be preferable to killing a civilian ("I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense."). But, that's an extreme knife-edge case that, if the defense could show at trial, should result in an acquittal - if the Marines would prosecute this at all. But, as sinky rightly observed, the Marines are acting with such a gravity that it is unlikely that even this occurred.
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