US marines rally around comrade

[Bonnie]

reuters.myway.com/article/20041116/2004-11-16T142730Z_01_N16187653_RTRI...

Falluja, Iraq (Reuters)- U.S. Marines rallied around 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 inot the circumstances," said Lance Corpral Christopher Hanson.

"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the heads," said Seargeant Nicholas Graham, 24 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You can't trust these people. he should not be investigated. He did nothing wrong."

 

[CSM]

reuters.myway.com/article/20041116/2004-11-16T142730Z_01_N16187653_RTRI...

Falluja, Iraq (Reuters)- U.S. Marines rallied around 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 inot the circumstances," said Lance Corpral Christopher Hanson.

"I would have shot the insurgent too. Two shots to the heads," said Seargeant Nicholas Graham, 24 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "You can't trust these people. he should not be investigated. He did nothing wrong."

"Probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances??????" Do they think they were sending this kid to a high school dance? *sheesh*

 

[Mr. P]

I heard a tape of this event this morning...Taped by an imbedded reporter...It didn't sound good at all
for this young man. Of course it was only an audio tape, and not a very good one, we'll see.

 

[no1tovote4]

How often have they run into "unarmed" insurgents who flinch then blow up and kill several of our Marines or Soldiers? How can they trust that this person was unarmed when they often make themselves into the very weapon needed to be neutralized?

 

[Mr. P]

How often have they run into "unarmed" insurgents who flinch then blow up and kill several of our Marines or Soldiers? How can they trust that this person was unarmed when they often make themselves into the very weapon needed to be neutralized?

True.

 

[Bonnie]

I don't know what to make of this, except to say that in a perfect world we would do everything right under the worst of circumstances....Being in combat for days getting shot at from all sides, not sleeping or eating well, seeing your fellow Marines getting killed can play on anyones mind!!

 

[CSM]

I don't know what to make of this, except to say that in a perfect world we would do everything right under the worst of circumstances....Being in combat for days getting shot at from all sides, not sleeping or eating well, seeing your fellow Marines getting killed can play on anyones mind!!

Not to mention the fact that this kid had been slightly wounded only hours before. I know jarheads are tough hombres, but you would think they would pull him out for a day or two at least.

 

[drac]

This is war, what a hell is all this deal with invistigation. Now all those radical pricks will use it to kill bunch of unarmed civilians.

yes we should follow the "higher" moral ground, but you know usually after long and hard fight the moral ground tends to go away especially in the live/death situation where it is either me or my opponent.

Perhapse the terrorists should not be hiding b/n civilians and use mosque as attack ground.

I just do not know, the whole situtaion makes me feel

 

[Bonnie]

This is war, what a hell is all this deal with invistigation. Now all those radical pricks will use it to kill bunch of unarmed civilians.

yes we should follow the "higher" moral ground, but you know usually after long and hard fight the moral ground tends to go away especially in the live/death situation where it is either me or my opponent.

Perhapse the terrorists should not be hiding b/n civilians and use mosque as attack ground.

I just do not know, the whole situtaion makes me feel

Agreed!! Also I would add the soldiers there did one hell of a job, all the terrorists are either dead or running and we are on their trails :2guns:

 

[Merlin1047]

I have to agree that the shooting seems legit. The damn terrorists have booby-trapped dead bodies. Plus the issue of human bombs. I can certainly see why someone in the heat of the situation would assume that the wounded terrorist's movements were an effort to detonate some explosive device.

These are soldiers, they're not cops. They are not obliged to yell "freeze" nor to read terrorists their rights. This young man had to make a split second decision and decide if the terrorist presented a threat. He decided that there was a threat. If he was wrong, sorry about that. That's the way it goes sometimes. If this raghead had not been there trying to kill our guys in the first place, he would still be alive.

 

[freeandfun1]

as an infantry grunt, we called what he did a "double-tap". As you took over a position, you "double-tapped" any of the bodies laying around with a couple of rounds just to make sure they were dead.

Oh well, I guess things have changed.

 

[Patriot]

I have to agree that the shooting seems legit. The damn terrorists have booby-trapped dead bodies. Plus the issue of human bombs. I can certainly see why someone in the heat of the situation would assume that the wounded terrorist's movements were an effort to detonate some explosive device.

These are soldiers, they're not cops. They are not obliged to yell "freeze" nor to read terrorists their rights. This young man had to make a split second decision and decide if the terrorist presented a threat. He decided that there was a threat. If he was wrong, sorry about that. That's the way it goes sometimes. If this raghead had not been there trying to kill our guys in the first place, he would still be alive.

I would like to add one more thing to your wonderful post. Why the hell should anyone care about the IRAQI INSURGANT? I mean if you let them live they go back out into the world to kill more humans! That Marine deserves a fuckin medal for saving a few more lives!

 

[dilloduck]

I don't know what to make of this, except to say that in a perfect world we would do everything right under the worst of circumstances....Being in combat for days getting shot at from all sides, not sleeping or eating well, seeing your fellow Marines getting killed can play on anyones mind!!

Recent history tell us that this is an attempt to get Americans (maybe foreigners too) all emotionally riled up so the responsibilty for this act can be thrown at the higher ups in the pentagon and the Bush administration.
On aside note, I would also like to thank our vets for killing the enemy in addition to putting their lives on the line. Killing another person, enemy or not, is something that can haunt a soldier for the rest of his life and must be a silent nightmare for many of our vets. Again-my thanks to you!

 

[-Cp]

Go to this website and view the whole video. Strangely at the end you will note an Iraqi prisoner on the ground. Unlike the body shot in the corner, he is visibly alive. If, as the left wing biased media would have us believe, US Marines entered this building and committed murder, why then leave this guy unharmed?

I didn't see the end of this footage on TV. It would seem its a case of clever editing again.

Watch and decide for yourself.


http://207.115.70.82/files/fallujah_shooting.zip

 

[theim]

Any of you see O'reilly yesterday?

Apparently, the SAME SQUAD, just ONE DAY EARLIER, had a man KILLED, by a BOMB HIDDEN BY A CORPSE.

When the soldier saw the sudden movement from the "dead" terrorist, he reacted quickly and shot him.

I agree with Bill, the man should be praised for his quick and decisive action defending his squad against a possible trick instead of being imprisoned.

 

[Bonnie]

I had heard today that this particular marine had witnessed his fellow soldier getting killed by a dead terrorist who was booby trapped with explosives just the day before this incident.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I would like to add one more thing to your wonderful post. Why the hell should anyone care about the IRAQI INSURGANT? I mean if you let them live they go back out into the world to kill more humans! That Marine deserves a fuckin medal for saving a few more lives!

My thoughts exactly!

It's time to arrest the seditious liberal media hacks instead.

 

[freeandfun1]

Here is my take on things.....

I am a naturally sensitive and compassionate person and it pains me to have to see ANY person killed or suffering, no matter how much they might deserve it. That is just me.

Having said that, I have been in war myself and I have seen and been in some pretty horrific situations. Did the guy on the ground deserve to be shot at that moment and killed? Who knows and who cares? Soldiers do what they think is right in a split moment and they don't need to sit around pondering their actions. If they do, it WILL get them killed. Cameras should not be allowed to follow troops around like that as it creates the opportunity for troops to start second guessing themselves and that is not good.

From what I could see in the video, nobody can make any determination as to "if" the soldier acted in an "inappropriate" manner. As I indicated earlier in another thread, as an infantryman, we were taught that when you entered a room, bunker, etc., you "double-tapped" every body just to make sure they were dead and didn't pose a threat. It is of my opinion that the others were lucky that the soldiers didn't double-tap every single one of them.

JMHO!

 

[Bonnie]

Here is my take on things.....

I am a naturally sensitive and compassionate person and it pains me to have to see ANY person killed or suffering, no matter how much they might deserve it. That is just me.

Having said that, I have been in war myself and I have seen and been in some pretty horrific situations. Did the guy on the ground deserve to be shot at that moment and killed? Who knows and who cares? Soldiers do what they think is right in a split moment and they don't need to sit around pondering their actions. If they do, it WILL get them killed. Cameras should not be allowed to follow troops around like that as it creates the opportunity for troops to start second guessing themselves and that is not good.

From what I could see in the video, nobody can make any determination as to "if" the soldier acted in an "inappropriate" manner. As I indicated earlier in another thread, as an infantryman, we were taught that when you entered a room, bunker, etc., you "double-tapped" every body just to make sure they were dead and didn't pose a threat. It is of my opinion that the others were lucky that the soldiers didn't double-tap every single one of them.

JMHO!

He was following command training,and protocol...end of story!!

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Totally agree with this sentence:

Cameras should not be allowed to follow troops around like that as it creates the opportunity for troops to start second guessing themselves and that is not good.

All it is going to do is demoralize our troops and wind up killing our troops in the future. A parallel example is what the liberal press has done to our cops. They tied their hands in the field and are now not as effective against criminals. Cops get sued for doing their job, so they don't do the job as well as they could.

Granted, mistakes in war are always made - perhaps on both sides, one might think? Funny thing though, the other side doesn't follow any "rules".

BUT to have OUR press out there, watching and filming OUR guys, in order to NAIL them with a possible misstep in the middle of combat is just the epitome of Anti-American liberal press attack. GWB needs to stop this seditous activity dead in its tracks! Maybe it's time to declare war???