Sickening: The grinning soldier holds the puppy aloft
and then throws it off a hillside
Posted on 03/04/2008 6:36:57 AM PST by yankeedame
Last updated at 13:49pm on 4th March 2008
The U.S. military are investigating a shocking video of a smiling Marine throwing a puppy off the top of a steep hillside in Iraq into a gully below.
The video gained widespread attention and condemnation after appearing on the web site YouTube, where it has been viewed over 8,000 times.
The footage shows two Marines, in combat gear and smiling, as one holds a white-and-black puppy by the scruff of its neck.
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Sickening: The grinning soldier holds the puppy aloft
and then throws it off a hillside
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The small dog seems to be about eight weeks old and is motionless as it is held.
"Cute little puppy, huh?" says one Marine as he smiles broadly.
"Oh so cute, so cute, little puppy," says another in a child-like voice.
The Marine holding the puppy then turns and hurls the animal overhand into a desert-like gully below.
The puppy can be heard yelping in terror until it thuds to the ground at the bottom of the gully.
"That's mean," one Marine says after, in a sickening understatement.
"The video is shocking and deplorable and is contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine," a spokesperson revealed.
Marine spokesman Major Chris Perrine believed the culprit is based in Hawaii.
"We do not tolerate this type of behaviour and will take appropriate action," he said.
The 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment of about 1,000 Hawaii Marines recently replaced a sister unit in Iraq, the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii said the vast majority of Marines "conduct their duties in an honourable manner that brings great credit upon the Marine Corps and the United States."
"There have been numerous stories of Marines adopting pets and bringing them home from Iraq or helping to arrange life-saving medical care for Iraqi children," said Major Chris Perrine.
"Those are the stories that exemplify what we stand for and how most Marines behave."
I'd say that I agree with you.
When my mother was dying (arteriosclorotic cardiovascular disease and hypertension), she was forbidden (by her physicians) to eat high-salt, high-cholesterol foods. I ate them with her. I bought her ice-cream and potato chips, and we ate them together. I spent one Sunday afternoon going from store to store until I found the very ice cream that she wanted. What good was prolonging her life for a few weeks or even months if she had to worry so much about diet, regimen, et al.?
has it been pulled off of youtube for being a fake yet?
I agree, I've set and read all the indicated posts and it's still not proven to me that this is a hoax. I see a lot of 'could bes' and 'looks like' but not facts. Don't know why the mod changed the title to the article like that. The military is still investigating this. I'll check on this thread later.
It was pulled off of YouTube yesterday and the reason given was that it was in violation of their terms of service, or something along those lines.
I haven't checked to see if it was put back up today.
One of the posters said “4000 dead ha ha”
Disgusting. They were immediately passing judgement on all soldiers, this thing is probably fake.
If someone tries to harm or kill MY dog, wellllll they better be wearin’ Kevlar.
I have one of those sleeping (breathing really) toy dogs. You can’t change the position, so it’s not one of them.
susie
I may read further and find something that changes my mind, but I did watch the video and the puppy looked typical of a young puppy being held by the scruff. They tend to relax and stay still if they are fairly young. It’s a reflex thing. The puppy looked very much alive to me. I have no idea if the guys were really Marines, and frankly, as the DIL of a now deceased retired Marine fighter pilot I KNOW that is not typical of the guys who serve. God bless our men and women in uniform, and if those really were Marines tossing a puppy off a cliff as entertainment, then they deserve our anger if for no other reason than that they give the enemy fodder.
susie
It is said that this is all an illusion created by the three poisons of the mind, ignorance, anger and desire (also translated as attachment). That is all self-deception. It is the ego-clinging that attaches to the idea that the self has some substantial existence, some kind of permanence, an existence apart from everything else.
The observation that compassion can be a trap is a good one.
The teachings say that the path itself can be the biggest trap (usually described as an obstacle, obstruction or downfall). It is not compassion but the ego-clinging of identification of self as compassionate that is the trap. If you think of yourself as special because you have developed compassion, loving kindness and other virtues you are solidifying the notion of self on the basis of those things that are supposed to help you let go of that idea. It's a sticky wicket and is said to have the potential to lead to a downfall faster and further than anything else.
"How can you learn compassion when your mouth is filled with blood?"
An interesting provocation indeed. I'll bet they were drinking tea when they made that challenge. ; )
Having very little PCness left in me I might have responded "How can you learn compassion believing you exist apart from Samsara?"
It seems that the path to enlightenment may involve more release than anything else.
"Letting go" is how it has been presented to me. Same thing. Letting go of ego-clinging, letting go of conceptualization.
If my understanding is correct, at the moment of death there is a flash of brilliant light, the seizure of which, by the deceased, if he can hold on to it, will provide release from the samsara.
That is close but not exactly correct in my understanding. I don't know if that's really important to you or for you right now but if you want my thoughts on that FReep-mail me and I will try to describe it as taught in Tibetan Buddhism.
Truth can be found everywhere.
Truth is truth. It has no brand name on it, no one has cornered the market. It is right in front of our noses and always has been. Yet almost no one grasps it. I am as certain of that as I have ever been of anything yet I still haven't been able to put my finger on it. When I am able to let go of trying to put my finger on it another obstacle will dissolve.
I found more than I expected to when I poked you with a stick. Whatever you are doing it seems to be working so keep doing it. If I drew you into revealing more than you wanted to I'm sorry about that but if flames arise let them and let them dissolve back into the vast expanse of mind they came from. They have no more substantial existence than the reflection of the moon on water.
So since the story is probably not true, who should we throw off a cliff?
But it "feels" better for some to think that the puppy was dead (in which case it should have been buried)... Whatever melts their butter.
If it was a Hoax, (doubtful) it was a CRUEL hoax.
sw
My marine father in law would have been disgusted by it if he were still alive. He may have been a crusty fighter pilot, but he loved animals, and he hated when people were wantonly cruel.
susie
All those who have not can pick up their halo in the mess hall where donut holes and Kool-Aid will be served.
"Hi. Welcome to the mess hall. Halo? heh heh No, he meant HALO, as in 'high altitude low opening' parachute drop. heh heh We're all out of parachutes but grab a donut hole and some Kool-Aid and these guys will get you loaded up for the drop. heh heh. You never hurt another living thing eh? heh heh, that's a good one. Don't you guys think that's a good one?"
Well, since it very likely didn’t happen, your FIL would have been getting worked up over nothing.
Thanks for your heartfelt post. I’ll keep it simple - I agree.
I’ll let you know when I find out if the story is true.
Did you write that quote? It sounds just like the prez...heh, heh.
We’ll see....
I haven’t seen anything convincing that suggests that it’s not a real live puppy. I see a lot of people who don’t want to believe it is, but I have a lot of experience with puppies, and it looks like a real live one to me in the video.
Whether the guys are marines or not, I can’t say.
susie
If I'm not mistaken, it goes way beyond what he looks like -- the other guy in the video called him by his last name near the end of the video.
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