Take That You Wacky Moonbats!
I love seeing stories like this one. Anyone remember our assault on Fallujah late last year? OK, do you remember the incident regarding a US Marine smoking the Iraqi that was playing dead? The Star Tribune picked up the story of the man’s fate. (Hat-Tip: Powerline)
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Marine videotaped shooting man in Iraq mosque did not break rules of engagement, Corps says
Seth Hettena, Associated Press
May 5, 2005
SAN DIEGO -— A Marine corporal captured on video shooting an apparently injured and unarmed Iraqi did not violate the rules of engagement and will not face a court-martial, the Marine Corps announced.
A review of the evidence showed the Marine's actions in a Fallujah mosque last year were "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict,'' Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said in a statement Wednesday.
The corporal was not identified in the two-page statement issued by Camp Pendleton, the headquarters of the expeditionary force north of San Diego.
In sworn statements, the corporal said he shot three insurgents in self-defense in the mosque Nov. 13, believing they posed a threat to him and his fellow Marines, the statement said. Autopsy results showed that all three died of multiple wounds from gunshots fired from the corporal's M-16.
One of the shootings was recorded by Kevin Sites, an NBC cameraman embedded with the Marines, and the dramatic footage prompted outrage among Iraqis and an immediate investigation by the Marine Corps.
In the video, as the cameraman moved into the mosque, a Marine in the background could be heard shouting obscenities and yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead. The Marine then raised his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque and shot him.
The incident played out as the division's 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, returned to the unidentified Fallujah mosque. While Marines had secured the mosque complex on the previous day, intelligence reports indicated that the mosque had since been reoccupied by insurgents.
The Camp Pendleton statement said the corporal "could have reasonably believed that the AIF (anti-Iraq forces) shown in the videotape posed a hostile threat justifying his use of deadly force.''
Before the opening of the Nov. 8 assault on rebel-held Fallujah, Marine commanders told infantrymen that the rules of engagement allowed the use of deadly force against men of military age deemed to be holding hostile intent, even if they didn't fire on the Marines first.
According to the Marine Corps, an enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded Iraqi was concealing his left arm behind his head. Although the Marines said it was unclear from the video whether the Iraqi made any overtly threatening gestures, enemy forces commonly feigned death.
The Marine was brought back from Iraq following the shooting. He remains at Camp Pendleton, said Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson, a Marine spokesman.
HOO-AHH! And yet one more soldier is cleared of any wrongdoing in this incident. Thus far, the only soldiers to have been prosecuted in this war, and have it stick surround the soldiers of the Abu Ghraib, media-driven scandal. And even those people should not have been prosecuted. The Abu Ghraib incident, which is now at the forefront of the news again on the heels of Pfc. Lynndie England’s tossed out guilty plea yesterday. The MSM loves to hype this scandal; a scandal which is nothing of the sort.
The truth surrounding Abu Ghraib is that the DoD was already investigating the claims made about mistreatment at Saddam’s old prison. The MSM didn’t bring a damn thing to the American people that they couldn’t have found, on their own, on the Internet. Remember, that’s where the photos were found. Are a few of them guilty? Depends on your definition. Situational ethics in such a case dictate that you do what you must to break your enemy. As a close friend of mine is fond of saying, "If hooking up some terrorists b**ls to a battery will save a serviceman’s life, then red is positive, black is negative, and throw the switch." (Um, yes, I do believe I condone a level of torture against these animals; they have no protections under the law, and in my opinion, the anti-American groups howling about this can shove their "Human Rights" complaints. When they clean up their house, we'll be more than happy to address our own.)
But the good news today is that another Marine has been cleared of a shooting incident. It was retarded of the military to even make the inquiries into the young Marine doing his job. It’s a distinct possibility that he saved the lives of every Marine in that building, and the cameraman’s life, as well. And isn’t it ironic that the first person to jump to this Marine’s defense after the incident occurred was the cameraman? I’ll bet you that fact sticks in the MSM’s craw.
Publius II
I love seeing stories like this one. Anyone remember our assault on Fallujah late last year? OK, do you remember the incident regarding a US Marine smoking the Iraqi that was playing dead? The Star Tribune picked up the story of the man’s fate. (Hat-Tip: Powerline)
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Marine videotaped shooting man in Iraq mosque did not break rules of engagement, Corps says
Seth Hettena, Associated Press
May 5, 2005
SAN DIEGO -— A Marine corporal captured on video shooting an apparently injured and unarmed Iraqi did not violate the rules of engagement and will not face a court-martial, the Marine Corps announced.
A review of the evidence showed the Marine's actions in a Fallujah mosque last year were "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict,'' Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said in a statement Wednesday.
The corporal was not identified in the two-page statement issued by Camp Pendleton, the headquarters of the expeditionary force north of San Diego.
In sworn statements, the corporal said he shot three insurgents in self-defense in the mosque Nov. 13, believing they posed a threat to him and his fellow Marines, the statement said. Autopsy results showed that all three died of multiple wounds from gunshots fired from the corporal's M-16.
One of the shootings was recorded by Kevin Sites, an NBC cameraman embedded with the Marines, and the dramatic footage prompted outrage among Iraqis and an immediate investigation by the Marine Corps.
In the video, as the cameraman moved into the mosque, a Marine in the background could be heard shouting obscenities and yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead. The Marine then raised his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque and shot him.
The incident played out as the division's 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, returned to the unidentified Fallujah mosque. While Marines had secured the mosque complex on the previous day, intelligence reports indicated that the mosque had since been reoccupied by insurgents.
The Camp Pendleton statement said the corporal "could have reasonably believed that the AIF (anti-Iraq forces) shown in the videotape posed a hostile threat justifying his use of deadly force.''
Before the opening of the Nov. 8 assault on rebel-held Fallujah, Marine commanders told infantrymen that the rules of engagement allowed the use of deadly force against men of military age deemed to be holding hostile intent, even if they didn't fire on the Marines first.
According to the Marine Corps, an enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded Iraqi was concealing his left arm behind his head. Although the Marines said it was unclear from the video whether the Iraqi made any overtly threatening gestures, enemy forces commonly feigned death.
The Marine was brought back from Iraq following the shooting. He remains at Camp Pendleton, said Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson, a Marine spokesman.
HOO-AHH! And yet one more soldier is cleared of any wrongdoing in this incident. Thus far, the only soldiers to have been prosecuted in this war, and have it stick surround the soldiers of the Abu Ghraib, media-driven scandal. And even those people should not have been prosecuted. The Abu Ghraib incident, which is now at the forefront of the news again on the heels of Pfc. Lynndie England’s tossed out guilty plea yesterday. The MSM loves to hype this scandal; a scandal which is nothing of the sort.
The truth surrounding Abu Ghraib is that the DoD was already investigating the claims made about mistreatment at Saddam’s old prison. The MSM didn’t bring a damn thing to the American people that they couldn’t have found, on their own, on the Internet. Remember, that’s where the photos were found. Are a few of them guilty? Depends on your definition. Situational ethics in such a case dictate that you do what you must to break your enemy. As a close friend of mine is fond of saying, "If hooking up some terrorists b**ls to a battery will save a serviceman’s life, then red is positive, black is negative, and throw the switch." (Um, yes, I do believe I condone a level of torture against these animals; they have no protections under the law, and in my opinion, the anti-American groups howling about this can shove their "Human Rights" complaints. When they clean up their house, we'll be more than happy to address our own.)
But the good news today is that another Marine has been cleared of a shooting incident. It was retarded of the military to even make the inquiries into the young Marine doing his job. It’s a distinct possibility that he saved the lives of every Marine in that building, and the cameraman’s life, as well. And isn’t it ironic that the first person to jump to this Marine’s defense after the incident occurred was the cameraman? I’ll bet you that fact sticks in the MSM’s craw.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 8:32 AM
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