What the hell is going on here? It seems that the “war” is being taken with all the levity yet determination of a frat party beer bong (if you follow). I don’t know whether this sort of behavior is a) typical, b) frowned upon c) encouraged/allowed to continue.
It’s kind of funny that the Information Clearing House’s motto is, “News You Won’t Find on CNN,” while this clip is taken from that very same CNN…
Before I get flamed for daring to post something that is essentially contextualess and draw conclusions from it, let’s admit upfront that there very well could have been something immediately before or after this clip that may or may not affect our judgements of what we see in the clip.
Also, to head off flames of another sort, I have no military experience, so no, I don’t know what happens to the mind of someone who is in a situation as awful as being in a war.
I was trying to think about the opposite side of this argument, that maybe this clip (that’s obviously edited to emphasize certain reactions from our soldier interviewee) is somehow trying for a positive message (however you want to defince that), or show the toll that the war is taking on soldiers and maybe the clip, as presented by the Information Clearing House is trying to incite outrage for no good reason, but I wasn’t able to come up with anything. How do you take this?
That clip is pretty short and clearly edited. If the wounded Iraqi was still deemed a threat (i.e. refused to get away from his rifle, refused to put his hands in plain view, etc) he was a threat and had to be dealt with severely – period – no matter how ‘unsporting’ it looked. The reactions of the soldiers, while unappealing, is understandable. They are in a weird situation. They are in a totally foreign part of the world, under relentless deadly attack from enemies unknown, lacking in sleep, lacking security, doing a job they are totally untrained in (urban peacekeeping) and totally cranked up on adrenaline. Don’t look for stoic, scholarly soldering ala “Saving Private Ryan”. Real life is more like: “He had a rife. He tried to kill me. I killed him first! Whoo hoo!!!”
As a soldier currently deployed to Iraq and a member of the Jag Corp, I see nothing wrong with this video. It appears the Iraqi in question is a combatant, and it looks as if that is a weapon lying next to him on the ground. According the geneva conventions his status as a combatant will allow the soldiers to kill him. It was completley necessary as well.
Just my take on the matter . . .
It could be a weapon. But that guy sure as hell doesn’t look like a threat from that position. The cheering in the heat of the moment, assuming these Iraqis ambushed the Americans, I can understand to an extent. But don’t these marines get SOME PR training? I mean, bloody hell, edited or not, that interviewed marine is a fucking moron, and ought to be fired for his ignorance alone. The fact that he’s allowed to walk with a gun scares the hell out of me.
I could put some cheering over that clip and edit the interview out of context in about 3 minutes. If I didn’t have to dash out the door in 2 minutes I’d do it.
I’m absolutely positive that this sort of thing happened on a daily basis in Viet Nam – Korea – World War II – World War I – etc.
I’m not excusing it, but I’m not surprised by it. These are young men, full of beans, who have been told to go out and kill … and that’s what they’re doing.
I wish they weren’t there and put in that position, but they are and they have been … and as I said, this footage does not surprise me in the least.
Actually even in Saving Private Ryan there were several scenes in which American soldiers killed Germans who had thrown down their weapons and surrendered. When you’re watching the movie and its gruesome footage it’s easy to understand how that sort of thing happens. I think it’s safe to say that this sort of thing happens a lot.
For a Marine, he had suspiciously long hair. Stinks of clever edit work. But assuming that it is not, huzzah for the jarheads! They killed an enemy, and avoided being killed themselves;The very essence of good soldiering.
One thing that troubles me quite a bit is that they did it right in front of a camera; apart from the cynical remarks as to what may them be doing when not in front of a camera, the moment I saw that wounded guy being killed I could almost hear a “Ca-ching!!” sound and the Al Qaeda ranks rising by one or two thousand more men.