Posted on 11/16/2004 7:01:14 AM PST by areafiftyone
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Marines rallied round a comrade under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive in Falluja, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances.
Marines interviewed on Tuesday said they didn't see the shooting as a scandal, rather the act of a comrade who faced intense pressure during the effort to quell the insurgency in the city.
"I can see why he would do it. He was probably running around being shot at for days on end in Falluja. There should be an investigation but they should look into the circumstances," said Lance Corporal Christopher Hanson.
"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the head," said Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You can't trust these people. He should not be investigated. He did nothing wrong."
The military command launched an investigation after video footage showed a U.S. Marine shooting a wounded and unarmed man in a mosque in the city on Saturday. The man was one of five wounded and left in the mosque after Marines fought their way through the area.
A pool report by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites said the mosque had been used by insurgents to attack U.S. forces, who stormed it, killing 10 militants and wounding the five. Sites said the wounded had been left for others to pick up.
A second group of Marines entered the mosque on Saturday after reports it had been reoccupied. Footage from the embedded television crew showed the five still in the mosque, although several appeared to be close to death, Sites said.
He said a Marine noticed one prisoner was still breathing.
A Marine can be heard saying on the pool footage provided to Reuters Television: "He's fucking faking he's dead."
"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the man's head," Sites said.
NBC said the Marine, who had reportedly been shot in the face himself the previous day, said immediately after the shooting: "Well, he's dead now."
THOROUGH PROBE PROMISED
The Marine commander in Falluja, Lieutenant General John Sattler, said his men followed the law of conflict and held themselves to a high standard of accountability.
"The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved," he said.
Marines have repeatedly described the rebels they fought against in Falluja as ruthless fighters who didn't play by the rules. They say the investigation is politically motivated.
"It's all political. This Marine has been under attack for days. It has nothing to do with what he did," said Corporal Keith Hoy, 23.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday both sides in the Falluja fighting had broken the rules of war governing the protection of civilians and wounded combatants.
Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Garza, 30, favored an investigation but like other Marines said the Pentagon should weigh its decision carefully.
"He should have captured him. Maybe the insurgent had some valuable information. There may have been mitigating circumstances. Maybe his two buddies died in Falluja," he said.
Sites said: "I have witnessed the Marines behaving as a disciplined and professional force throughout this offensive. In this particular case, it certainly was a confusing situation to say the least."
The U.S. military has been embarrassed by scandals in Iraq, most prominently the Abu Ghraib affair in which at least eight U.S. soldiers have been tried or face courts-martial over the abuse of prisoners at the jail outside Baghdad.
There have also been several cases in which soldiers have been charged with wrongfully killing Iraqis during operations.
My local affiliates pull the same crapola on me sometimes. I just remind them that my next call was to xxxx Ford dealership to let them know why they will never get my business. Call a few local advertisers, they don't like being told their advertising dollars are costing them sales.
The Marines are operating with liberal rules of engagement.
"Everything to the west is weapons free," radios Staff Sgt. Sam Mortimer of Seattle, Washington. Weapons Free means the marines can shoot whatever they see -- it's all considered hostile.
...so what's the problem? The enemy is dead, our boy is alive to come back home. On to Mosul.
Yeah, it's pretty hard, getting that much that wrong, all the time. And some of them even have to create their own "documents" when the facts don't match the propaganda story.
The problem is that sKerry didnt (allegedly) shoot his opponent in front of a camera.
Get the MSM camera crews out of Iraq!
Thanks for that link, I hadn't seen that.
The PRESS and people like Ernie Pyle SHOWED AMERICA at home that WW2 WAS a WAR.
The Liberal Press TODAY---is trying to paint everything as a
" Conflict "...being faced by " Insurgents ".....
where WE have to "play fair " but THEY can hide Ammo in Schools and Mosques...
and now a thread here states they are building the BIGGEST
MOSQUE on the eastern coast up in Boston for them...tax free...to hide weapons in..over here on our shores.
Airborne
I need a cigerette
Didn't John Kerry do this same thing...shoot an unarmed fleeing kid?? He got an acccomodation.....this guy will get a court martial. This pressitude needs to be shipped home....asap.
Going at the advertisers is the most effective tool we have. IMO.
"Why didn't the reporter speak up and tell the Marines what he knew?"
Did he stick around 24hrs to know they weren't being picked up?
Chris Matthews, Rick Kaplan, the reporter, and the entire staff of "Hardball" at MSNBC should be arrested and charged with treason. Matthews is a traitor!!! End of story!!! God bless our troops, they have a very tough, challenging and fearful job. They don't need the scum of the "traitor" Democrat Party bad mouthing them!!! I say send Matthews and his sons over to Iraq, and let's see what they do in the same predicament!!! What low life vermin the whole Matthews family is!!!
*@%&#%@& the media!
A buddy of mine from Nam lost 2 medics to booby trapped wounded VC. After that, there were no wounded VC/NVA.
If you stop to think through every dangerous situation, you will get yourself and your brothers killed. You have to react or die. You see someone on the ground who is moving, you do what is necessary.
The MSM and the left do not want to 'get it'. Tabloid journalism is the norm. Trashing the US and our troops is standard.
Nothing worse than a champagne liberal who's combat exposure is limited to bouts with Laura Croft from his leather arm chair in the suburbs.
I have not read all of the replys and this may have already been said.
I would, in the future, allow the embeded press the opportunity to clear, and make safe all, "wounded, incapacitated, or surrendering", insurgents.
I bet they don't want that job!
I'm not sure I understand your point, but what Mr. Sites perpetrated here was an act of treachery against a fellow American. The Marine in question would have given his life to protect the life of Mr. Sites because that is what he was trained to do.
Your calm objectivity and sympathy for the media is out of place. If you want to get a taste for who Mr. Sites is, go to his self-promoting blog (www.kevinsites.net) In the upper left hand corner of his homepage is a posed picture of the reporter with the dramatic caption: Dispatches from a life in conflict.
Makes me want to wretch. If the guy wasn't such a dangerous leech and opportunist he'd be laughable.
GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't have a problem with releasing the video. What happened happened. I also don't have a problem with what the Marine did. Some people may, but I don't. The video doesn't accuse the Marine of murder and I haven't seen a quote from the reporter where he accuses him of murder. He may have, in which case I would have a problem with the reporter. But someone on another thread seriously suggested that after shooting the terrorist the Marine should have shot and killed the reporter. Someone on this thread has suggested the reporter deserves a severe beating. Personally, I strongly believe in the First Amendment protection of freedom of the press, and I think government soldiers beating or killing a reporter borders on an infringement of that right. Particularly where the reporter was invited to come along.
MAKE THAT A DOZEN CASES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LEST WE FORGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry, do you know any reporters, or are you lumping them all together? Do you think, oh, Bret Baeir gets its all wrong all the time? Or Greg Palkot?
While much of the MSM is wrong, you are negating many reporters, at small papers and on up, who do do a good job. In fact, you may be personally insulting FReepers who are reporters.
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