Yikes…just the kind of bad press the US doesn’t need. This story is unconfirmed btw, but I KNOW there will be a thead about it so I thought I’d get one started.
Obviously a bad thing. Things like this happen in war unfortunately, but this one was appearently captured on video tape. The soldier is obviously being investigated…as he should be. If found guilty I assume he will face a courts martial and prison time.
I really don’t have anything specific to debate here. Feel free to talk about what effect you think this will have on the war, what this will (or won’t) do to our image in the area, and what you think should (or shouldn’t) be done to the marine in question if he’s found guilty.
If the tables were turned, and an Iraqi insurgent was filmed shooting an unarmed, wounded American soldier, have you any doubt what the result would be?
Well, if this is true it is certainly far from good. Shoots our image in the region all to heck. Gives the insurgents another reason. Generally bad for morale…Basically this is the last thing we needed to happen.
IMHO, this guy needs to be punished to the farthest extent possible, simply for regional damage control. We can’t appear soft on this sort of thing or we risk losing the hearts and minds of the Iraqi and really making a mess back home.
Unfortunately, I think this kind of crap is inevitable when you’re fighting against guerilla tactics. You get conditioned to think everything that moves is a threat, including wounded insurgents.
Not just guerilla tactics - war in general. I’ve no doubt that this occured in WWI and WWII, too.
Very terrible. Unfortunately, there’s not many of us here who can say that they definitely wouldn’t do something similar in a similar situation. That doesn’t excuse it, of course, and the soldier needs to face the appropriate punishment.
I saw the videotape on ABC this evening. The soldier in question shouts that a wounded insurgent is just pretending to be dead, and then shoots and kills the prone Iraqi from a distance of about 3 feet. I’m not about to pass judgement on the soldier, because I don’t know what he has been going through over the past few days, but I do know the name of the bastard that ordered this young man to Iraq in the first place, and I have definitely passed judgement on that fool.
I’ll pass judgement on him: Guilty. I don’t care what he’s been through. You don’t shoot an unarmed, wounded prisoner. It says so right in the Geneva Convention.
That’s not what he said at all. I don’t even see how you could possibly mistake it for that. He said that helping putting a stop to the holocaust was a good thing.
I’m not so sure the situation is this cut-and-dried. I’ve seen the tape. The soldier sounds very stressed, and suddenly he yells, “He’s not dead! He’s faking!” or words to that effect, and shoots the guy.
Now, what would I think if an Iraqi shot an American like that? Well… If the Americans had a habit of strapping explosives to themselves and blowing up the enemy, I might just understand. Since the Americans don’t, then the only reason to do it would be sheer cold-blooded murder. Because you know an injured American with his arms up is no threat. Americans don’t have that luxury.
Now, I’m not saying the guy is innocent, I’m just saying their may be a self-defense motivation here. At least, that may be the position his lawyer takes.
Okay, please explain how people can defend this soldier. He should be tried in an international court. He did a horrible thing defined by law, still people will come out to defend him.
Apparently you did not see both pieces of film. The two Iraqis had been wounded the day before, disarmed & treated by US forces, and left behind as our troops moved on. When they returned, one Iraqi had died, but the other was still alive, though severely wounded. What possible self-defense motive can you concoct from that scenario?
