Let's Hope the MSM doesn't Abu Ghraib this one
NBC news has footage of a U.S. Marine fatally shooting an apparently severely wounded and non-threatening insurgent inside a Fallujah mosque. While I would never condone the murder of a wounded enemy in violation of the Geneva Convention guidelines, the circumstances surrounding this incident could indicate that this shooting may be justified as an act of self-defense. Here's the gist of the story as provided by AP:
A day earlier, a different Marine unit came under fire from the same mosque. Those Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five, Sites said. The Marines said the fighters in the mosque Friday were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles. The Marines treated the wounded, he reported, left them behind and continued on Friday with their drive to retake Fallujah.
The same five wounded men were still in the mosque on Saturday, when a another Marine unit accompanied by Sites came to the mosque, Sites said.
On the video, as the camera moved into the mosque Saturday, a Marine can be heard shouting obscenities in the background, yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead.
"He's (expletive) faking he's dead!"
"Yeah, he's breathing," another Marine is heard saying.
"He's faking he's (expletive) dead!" the first Marine says.
The video then showed a Marine raising his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque. The video shown by NBC and provided to the network pool was blacked out at that point and did not show the bullet hitting the man. But a rifle shot could be heard.
"He's dead now," a Marine is heard saying.
Upon reading this, I must say that I found the act to be despicable and in no way justifiable until I read further into this story and came upon this:
Sites (the NBC correspondent) reported that a Marine in the same unit had been killed a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent.
NBC reported that the Marine seen shooting the wounded combatant had himself been shot in the face the day before, but quickly returned to duty.
With an investigation now underway, let's let that investigation take its course and see what comes of it. If this Marine is determined to have engaged in a cold-blooded killing, then let him pay the consequences. If, however, it is determined that he merely acted in the frantic anxiety of the moment and a reflexive fear to protect himself in the horrific wake of his fallen comrade's fate and his recent brush with death in having been shot in the face, then let him alone.
My hope is that the media, with the rabid pack mentality of defeating George W. Bush now behind them, will be able to temper this tale according to its facts; that it will not once again feed the venom of the murdering insurgents and anti-American world community as it did with Abu Ghraib.
Silly hope, I know.
Update: For outrage on this issue, please visit Hugh Hewitt and Rick Brady at Stones Cry Out.
A day earlier, a different Marine unit came under fire from the same mosque. Those Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five, Sites said. The Marines said the fighters in the mosque Friday were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles. The Marines treated the wounded, he reported, left them behind and continued on Friday with their drive to retake Fallujah.
The same five wounded men were still in the mosque on Saturday, when a another Marine unit accompanied by Sites came to the mosque, Sites said.
On the video, as the camera moved into the mosque Saturday, a Marine can be heard shouting obscenities in the background, yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead.
"He's (expletive) faking he's dead!"
"Yeah, he's breathing," another Marine is heard saying.
"He's faking he's (expletive) dead!" the first Marine says.
The video then showed a Marine raising his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque. The video shown by NBC and provided to the network pool was blacked out at that point and did not show the bullet hitting the man. But a rifle shot could be heard.
"He's dead now," a Marine is heard saying.
Upon reading this, I must say that I found the act to be despicable and in no way justifiable until I read further into this story and came upon this:
Sites (the NBC correspondent) reported that a Marine in the same unit had been killed a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent.
NBC reported that the Marine seen shooting the wounded combatant had himself been shot in the face the day before, but quickly returned to duty.
With an investigation now underway, let's let that investigation take its course and see what comes of it. If this Marine is determined to have engaged in a cold-blooded killing, then let him pay the consequences. If, however, it is determined that he merely acted in the frantic anxiety of the moment and a reflexive fear to protect himself in the horrific wake of his fallen comrade's fate and his recent brush with death in having been shot in the face, then let him alone.
My hope is that the media, with the rabid pack mentality of defeating George W. Bush now behind them, will be able to temper this tale according to its facts; that it will not once again feed the venom of the murdering insurgents and anti-American world community as it did with Abu Ghraib.
Silly hope, I know.
Update: For outrage on this issue, please visit Hugh Hewitt and Rick Brady at Stones Cry Out.
posted by Wonderdog | 11:44 AM | Permalink
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3 comments
3 Comments:
Don't get your hopes up Wonderdog. This story is raw red meat for the Blame America First Crowd, proving that we are all immoral infidels who provoked this unjust war. I expect Chris Matthews, Dan Rather, Peter Jennigs, Tom Brokaw, Maureen Loud, Michael Moore and the rest of the cabal to have the guy hung by Noon tomorrow.
"The troops not only violated our mosques with their sins and their boots but they stepped on our brothers' blood," said Khalil, the shop owner. "They are criminals and mercenaries. I feel guilty standing here and not doing anything."
- From an independent news source.
Notice that the mosque was not violated by their brothers' using it as cover in the first place. My advice to you, Khalil, is to hurry to the local terror recruiter and sign up to the same fate.
- Dirtbiker for W
I hear ya, DB.
I can't believe we're still tiptoeing around these mosques. These boys have signed up to put their life on the line for America, not for some brick and mortar in Fallujah.
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