[Girlene]

According to Tony Perry's piece, LA Times,

"Marine snipers were never given clear rules about when they could kill a suspected insurgent at long range, a platoon commander testified today at a hearing for a sniper charged with manslaughter and assault in the killing of two Syrians and the wounding of two others.

Lt. Dominic Corabi said that as he and his Marines deployed to Iraq, he tried and failed to get clarification from senior officers about what constitutes "positive identification" and "hostile intent," terms in the official rules of engagement that dictate when Marines can use deadly force.

Enlisted Marines, Corabi said, were worried that their combat decisions could be second-guessed later and that, like the Marines involved in the Haditha killings of 2005, they could find themselves facing criminal charges.

"Their main message was, 'I don't want to ruin my career doing something I think is right and the Marine Corps doesn't,' " Corabi said."

[lilycicero]

can the middle finger be used as a trigger finger....

[RedRover]

If Perry’s there, too, this is definitely getting more coverage than I expected!

I haven’t seen anything yet that leads me to think there’s a real case here. But that’ll be up to Capt King and Gen Helland.

BTW, I mentioned somewhere else that Capt King is also part of the Chessani defense team. That gives me more confidence that he’ll be impartial and just look at the evidence.

[4woodenboats]

Enlisted Marines, Corabi said, were worried that their combat decisions could be second-guessed later and that, like the Marines involved in the Haditha killings of 2005, they could find themselves facing criminal charges.

Haditha'd, like Nifonged is now a verb.

[Tallguy]

"Marine snipers were never given clear rules about when they could kill a suspected insurgent at long range, a platoon commander testified today at a hearing for a sniper charged with manslaughter and assault in the killing of two Syrians and the wounding of two others.

Moral of the Story: Next time, call in an airstrike. You get them all & who's to say if they were/weren't insurgents when they're just a greasey spot along an empty stretch of desert road.