Posted on 11/17/2004 9:02:43 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON -- The Marine who shot and apparently killed a wounded Iraqi prisoner in a mosque in Fallujah on Saturday has been removed from the battlefield for questioning, and U.S. commanders in Iraq said they were bracing for a wave of outrage in the Middle East after the airing of the videotaped shooting.
Senior military officials and human rights advocates, including those often critical of the armed services, cautioned that the graphic videotape of the shooting, taken by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC News, left many questions unanswered and underscored the confusion of urban warfare.
Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have taken over the inquiry, a senior Pentagon official said, and will determine whether the Marine believed he was acting in self-defense when he yelled that the Iraqi was only pretending to be dead and fired at the body.
It is unclear from watching an unedited version of the video tape whether the prisoner was moving before the shot. A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday that an autopsy might be required to help determine whether the man was dead or alive when the Marine shot him.
The inquiry will also have to determine what happened to the other Iraqis in the room. Some of them, according to the initial NBC report, appeared to be dead or dying when Sites entered with a group of Marines, joining other Marines who were already there. He has suggested that the other Iraqis may have been shot just before he entered, according to The Associated Press.
On Tuesday, Sites declined to elaborate on what he had seen.
After the on-camera shooting, Marines pointed their guns at another prone Iraqi who was reaching out weakly with one hand, but they backed off without shooting at him, the videotape showed.
The initial NBC report said that the Iraqis, all of whom had been wounded in fighting on Friday and then had been disarmed and left in the mosque, did not appear to be threatening, and that there were no weapons visible in the room.
The incident captured in the NBC report unfolded as members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the 1st Marine Division entered the unidentified mosque in Fallujah on Saturday. Sites reported that Marines from a different unit had attacked the building Friday after coming under fire, killing 10 insurgents and wounding five others.
The Marines treated the wounded Friday, took their weapons and then left, Sites reported. On Saturday, another group of Marines, accompanied by Sites, entered the mosque, but it is unclear how many of the Iraqis were still alive then.
"Obviously, the shooting of an incapacitated detainee is a fundamental violation of the Law of Armed Conflict," said James D. Ross, senior legal adviser to Human Rights Watch. "But if someone feigns being incapacitated or killed, and then uses that to trick someone and shoot them, that's a war crime, and might justify the shooting."
Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, the top Marine officer in Iraq, promised a thorough investigation.
saying in a statement, "We follow the Law of Armed Conflict and hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability."
Other senior officers, while not defending the Marine's actions, said that there had been instances in Fallujah in which insurgent corpses had been booby-trapped and that some fighters wore vests with explosives for possible suicide attacks if they came into contact with Americans.
"It is hard for anyone to imagine the stress of urban combat -- the fatigue, the threat, the noise, the filth, the death," a senior Marine officer said Tuesday. "But if the incident turns out to have occurred as it appeared in the video, then it is inexcusable. Understandable perhaps, but not excusable."
Florian Westphal, a spokesman for the International Committee for the Red Cross, said it was not clear what had happened in the mosque, based solely on the videotape.
"We cannot, on the basis of TV images, no matter how disturbing and disconcerting they are, arrive at a judgment about an incident," Westphal told AP "We were not on the spot, so we cannot be aware of all the circumstances."
As Marine commanders in Iraq rushed to learn details of the shooting incident, Al-Jazeera broadcast the unedited version of the footage, complete with a name visible on one Marine's backpack and the faces of the Marines, which were not shown on American networks.
Several commanders voiced concern that no matter what the inquiry determines, the incident had handed the Iraqi insurgency a huge propaganda victory, and this after commanders said they had gone to extraordinary lengths in the battle of Fallujah to avoid civilian casualties.
The situation in the videotape appears to resemble two earlier incidents in Iraq. One, in Kufa last May, resulted in charges of murder and dereliction of duty against an officer in the Army's 1st Armored Division.
In that incident, Capt. Rogelio M. Maynulet shot the wounded driver of the militant Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Maynulet then told a fellow officer that the man was so badly wounded, with part of his skull blown away, that he had shot him out of compassion.
On Monday, the Army's 1st Cavalry Division announced that 2nd Lt. Erick J. Anderson of the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, had been charged with murder in the death of a 16-year-old Iraqi, who had been badly wounded in Baghdad on Aug. 18.
If that kid moved to my town, he's never pay for his own drinks again.
I hate the media even more, too. I called the DOD (703.428.0711) (among others)and told the PR person -- "I am mad as a hornet at the News Media about this. If I hadn't quit watching them already, I would quit now." She LAUGHED and thanked me for calling.
Any less than that, and no person in combat is liable to hold their lives over yours. Period.
Liberals are hypochondriac exaggerating pu**ies that will say whatever it takes to sap military morale to get us out of Iraq. They've been using this same tired tactic for years now. Thankfully, the American people saw through it on Election day.
I have a feeling though that we are going to see an Abu Gharib-like response from the shrills at the Slimes and the rest of the lamestream media about this over the next few weeks.
I wonder what potential recruits contemplating joining up are thinking when they see marines in the field receiving this kind of support from their 'sr officers'?
Not actually being on the scene, a simple statement of confidence in the decision made by your man would be more useful, all things considered.
At least don't legitimize the media witchhunt, jeez.
AND, if there's still any question of what constitutes surrender, just ask the experts - the French.
(Happy workers in textile factories busily sewing white flags to a background of accordian music. - Chirac's idea of industry.)
Let Kevin Sites know how you feel.
kevin@kevinsites.net
The "incident" did not hand the "insurgency" (i.e. terrorists) anything except one more dead terrorist.
However, the videotaping and widespread public dissemination of a run-of-the-mill urban warfare incident, by a willing member of the U.S. media, provided the enemy with propaganda. It's an important distinction.
Yep...dont scream about these same terrorists who raped tortured murdered disembowled and dismemberd a woman then threw her corpse out into the street ahead of advancing Marines
Dont consider that a Navy Corpsman had just been killed by a terrorists pretending to be wounded and crying out for help...or that a Marine grunt had also been killed by a terrorist
pretending to surrender
Or that every one of these so called people in Fallujah are terrorists...the innocents were given ample opportunity to leave...knowing full well what was about to happen...
Also dont forget that this same Marine had been shot in the face the day before by a terrorist who was pretending to surrender and who the Marine had shown mercy...this same Marine..after having been shot in the face requested to be RETURNED TO DUTY...HE INSISTED UPON IT....HE COULD NOT BEAR TO LEAVE HIS FRIENDS...
The Marine felt his life was in danger. The body moved - as if for a pistol, etc. I would LOVE to defend him. If President, I would make it clear he had my blessing and move on.
DO NOT HAMSTRING OUR MARINES. THEY ARE KILLING BAD GUYS.
LOL also be sure to inquire with the French on what to do if your enemy is running away. Or what to do if adversary is hiding beneath an Eiffel Tower. Or what to do if enemy wants to hand over weapons the minute your tank reaches their border. Etc...
the MSM is behaving as we expect, they hate the military along with the rest of the left.
The real question is - is the administration going to fry this young man? last time I looked, Bush was just re-elected as command in chief.
Send Marine regards here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1281701/posts
Pardon me...but since when are Combat Marine Assault Troops supposed to act in self defense They are agressive...Gung Ho...take the fight to the enemy....Find Them...Fix Them...and Waste Them...
Self defense is for civilians facing criminals...
Not Warriors going after terrorists...
Self defense my ___
What's the uproar about? Are wounded dogs not out of their misery? Was he not done a favour by being dispatched to his 72 virgins early? They should have cut all their heads off and planted 'em on stakes in the town square.
That is correct. Believe nothing seen or heard on the mainstream media. All that is of the lowest mode of truth value.
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