SAS ace defends trooper (“Every soldier has a right to defend himself")

thesun.co.uk ^ | 11/17/04 | MARTIN PHILLIPS

[notkerry]

A WOUNDED US soldier seen on TV shooting dead an Iraqi prisoner was defended last night by SAS hero Andy McNab.

The US marine — shot in the cheek earlier — machine-gunned the man in the head as he lay bleeding in a mosque in Fallujah.

The soldier feared the Iraqi was pretending to be dead to draw him into a trap.

Just before the killing, a fellow GI yells: “He’s f***ing faking he’s dead!”

Walking away ... victim is obscured by fellow captive after burst of gunfire

The marine faces a murder probe.

But McNab — who has stared death in the face — said: “It’s easy for people sitting comfortably in their armchairs in front of the TV to take the moral high ground.

“They are not there in Fallujah, in that killing environment.

“We don’t know what is going through that marine’s head. The Iraqi could have been hiding a weapon or explosives.

Grisly ... the shot prisoner - on the left - lies dead in Fallujah mosque

“Troops are fighting an enemy that doesn’t stick to any rules.

“The insurgents use mosques to launch attacks. They come out under cover of a white flag, then attack the Americans. They plant booby-trap bombs on dead bodies.

“Every soldier has a right to defend himself, and if that is a grey area — then so be it.”

[Tom Bombadil]

Combat photography is nowhere near a spectator event.

Point made...These network guys with video cameras still represent a danger to the troops and they are not the ones opening the doors.

The classic combat photographers you mention did not have anti-war web sites.

[MinstrelBoy]

Who dares wins-SAS motto.

[SuziQ]

“Troops are fighting an enemy that doesn’t stick to any rules.

Andy McNab knows of what he speaks. He was held prisoner by the Iraqis for six weeks during the first Gulf War. There was a movie about the situation, based on McNab's book, a few years ago; Bravo Two Zero, that starred the yummy (a little editorial comment, there!) Sean Bean as McNab.

[ohioWfan]

You're exactly right, yooling.

This bozo used the footage for publicity and leftist propaganda. He didn't do what a responsible journalist would do by giving it to the appropriate authorities.

ray........blaming the Bush administration is absurd. Think it over.

[MarshallDillon]

ditto the cameraman - who I would not want to be today.

[izzatzo]

Express your support for this young Marine by calling HQMC at 703-614-1492/4080/8010, or fax 703-697-5362. This is CMC Public Affairs telephone and fax . The enlisted Marine with whom I spoke says they are receiving numerous calls.

[Teacher317]

Don't you think that blaming the guy who just happened to be there with a camera is a little bit crazy? He didn't for the marine to shoot him. What was he supposed to do? Not report it?

Since the reporter thought that he might have captured a murder committed by a soldier, he has a duty to report it to the proper authorities, and not to turn over key evidence to be broadcast to the entire planet. He IS in the wrong, by both journalistic and military ethics rules. The fact that the US military is being EXCEEDINGLY generous in allowing the reporters to be embedded just makes it that much more offensive for him to rush to report an anti-soldier story.

[XJarhead]

Overall, the embeds have been a huge positive for the military. A few bad experiences, but a hell of a lot more photos about our guys that make them look good, and remind people back home about the quality of our troops.

Plus, its a huge bonus in terms of eliminating bogus rumors. With all the embeds out there, its difficult for anyone to accuse our guys of committing widespread atrocities because the "witnesses" are right there. And even after this story, a lot of embeds have spoken up to defend the way our troops generally behave.

This is one bad embed experience, but its more than outweighed not only by the positive experiences, but by the speculative negative stories that don't get printed.

[daybreakcoming]

*** What was he supposed to do? Not report it?***

Has it occurred to you he should have just turned the film over to the DOD/Pentagon? OH? He wouldn't become a household name if he had done that? He knew full well as did NBC aka Al Jezeera what he was doing.

[killjoy]

Are these enlisted men who are designated the task that our embeds do now? Does the military still have combat trained soldiers who are responsible for also acquiring a photographic testimony of their activities in the combat zone.

Yes, most definitely. All of the photos on Department of Defense websites are taken by military photographers. Check out the DefenseLink website http://www.defenselink.mil/multimedia/ for some incredible pictures from them.

Are civilian photographers also referred to as combat photographers?

Yes, they are. The designation 'combat' has to do with the type of photography they are doing. Some of the most memorable photographs from our past wars have been done by civilians. For example the D-Day photographs of Robert Capa and the pictures of the fighting in Hue during the Vietnam War taken by Don McCullin.

[killjoy]

The classic combat photographers you mention did not have anti-war web sites.

Of course not, but they did manage to enrage a large number of people with the pictures they took. The classic example is the Don McCullin photo of the dead Vietnamese soldier taken during the Tet Offensive. For the photo, Don McCullin had taken the soldiers personal effects and placed them in front of the body in order to show that the body was more than just dead flesh, but also a person.

I can't find that particular photo online, but here is one of his most famous shots of a Marine in Hue. It is not exactly a gung-ho pro-US shot.

[RetiredArmy]

The left considers any weapon that does not fire like a revolutionary war era musket to be a "machine gun."

[VRWCmember]

The time for these insurgents/terrorists/scum to surrender and/or receive medical attention is long past. They have had plenty of opportunities to give up and turn themselves in. They have chosen to dig in and fight to the death, and our boys should accommodate them in that regard. It would be perfectly fine with me if we took no prisoners at this point and simply killed every insurgent/terrorist/scum still holding out in these "pockets of resistance".

There should be no "prisoners of war" here since they do not fight for any country's military and they do not wear uniforms. Under the traditional rules of war they could be shot on sight as spies/terrorists.

[WifeMotherDaughterSister]

Thank you sooo much for the link and clarification.

Those images are awesome!! Everyone should go take a look.

[mikeus_maximus]

3 thoughts:

1) This guy will be investigated and possibly tried (if it gets that far) by combat vets.

2) GWB needs to let the USMC brass know he stands behind them and they should not feel any pressure to give this kid up as a sacrificial lamb to the media.

3) If it's a close call, Bush should issue a presidebtial pardon and publicly proclaim it's for troop morale.

[DBeers]

Before this is over we will probably refer to these type incidents as a "Kerry killing".

Thats a good concept -but IMHO the phrase not catchy enough...

[TexanByBirth]

This is what happens when we don't eliminate all our enemies in these buildings.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/world/10186261.htm

Gig Em

[Rakkasan1]

if the alleged captive was from a country of origin that signed the Geneva Convention rules (doubtful), and was part of an organized militia (he wasn't) , then this shooting may have been wrong. Seeing how the terrorists have been faking death only to jump up and kill, booby trapping bodies, waving surrender flags then shooting ,and shooting from "houses of worship" (all against 'rules'), I think the alleged victim got what he had coming.Oddly enough the other alleged wounded terrorist managed to put up his hand(s) to surrender after the 1st got shot. My guess is he saw what happens if you don't make your intentions clear to surrender.
The Arab media is as good as the American media at manipulating the "street".

[BushisTheMan]

I find it interesting that the Marines before entering were discussing that the terrorists hadn't come in and removed their wounded from the mosque, as they normally do.

That says a lot to me...means there's not enough terrorists left to help remove bodies or they are too busy finding their own hidey-holes. That man would probably have bled to death anyway...regardless he's dead and deservedly so.

[finnman69]

it would be a shame fo Kevin Sites got fragged in a firefight