UPDATE: I discovered Kevin Sites, the man who filmed the video of the Marine shooting an Iraqi, has his own blog. There are some amazing photos you will find there. Another amazing thing is his own words. I find them to be strangly sympathetic to those fighting against US troops. If you would like to form you own opinion you can find his site here: http://www.kevinsites.net/
If you liked Abu Ghraib you'll love the sequel.....
The U.S. military is investigating the videotaped fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed Iraqi man by a U.S. Marine in a mosque in Fallujah. Isn't it just great that we all get to go to the instant replay on this one? From the comfort of your living room you can decide if this shooting was justified. Pardon me, but there are a few facts missing from this story.
First, these men were hiding and shooting at our troops from a supposed "holy site". These men would just love to KILL as many American troops as they can. Our Marines were fired upon from the mosque! Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five. The fighters in the mosque had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles. The wounded Iraqis were not killed. In fact, they were given medical attention and left there. Don't forget our guys are in the middle of a WAR so it's a bit tough to pull up an ambulance to care for the guy who just tried to kill you!
The Marines 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, returned to that mosque the next day. The same five wounded men were still in the mosque. On the video, 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 a prisoner lying on the floor of the mosque. A a rifle shot could be heard. "He's dead now," a Marine is heard saying.
To put things in perspective, a Marine in the same unit had been killed just a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent. The Marine who shot the man in the video had been shot in the face the day before, yet returned to the battlefield. The footage you don't see on the news is two Americans pointing weapons at another Iraqi lying motionless. But one of the Marines steps back as the man stretches out his hand, motioning that he is alive. The other Marine stands his ground, but neither of them fires.
Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed the unabridged version of the Fallujah mosque shooting tape, complete with one name visible on a backpack and the faces of the Marines, which were not shown on U.S. networks.
So here we go again. The "investigation" is underway. Those that already hate us will now have some new footage to add to their library and the Marine is now under the microscope of those who are more concerned with rules then reality. This Marine is doing a job none of us should ever have to do. He is tired, dirty, wounded and he has not slept in days. His family is on the other side if the world. He has watched his friends die inches away from him and he wonders if the next man he sees with be the one to kill him. Does that man propped against the wall have the ability to kill you? You only guess wrong once. That Marine represents every one of our soldiers. They are not criminals, they are brave and terrified men doing what most of us don't even want to think about.
If you liked Abu Ghraib you'll love the sequel.....
The U.S. military is investigating the videotaped fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed Iraqi man by a U.S. Marine in a mosque in Fallujah. Isn't it just great that we all get to go to the instant replay on this one? From the comfort of your living room you can decide if this shooting was justified. Pardon me, but there are a few facts missing from this story.
First, these men were hiding and shooting at our troops from a supposed "holy site". These men would just love to KILL as many American troops as they can. Our Marines were fired upon from the mosque! Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five. The fighters in the mosque had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles. The wounded Iraqis were not killed. In fact, they were given medical attention and left there. Don't forget our guys are in the middle of a WAR so it's a bit tough to pull up an ambulance to care for the guy who just tried to kill you!
The Marines 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, returned to that mosque the next day. The same five wounded men were still in the mosque. On the video, 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 a prisoner lying on the floor of the mosque. A a rifle shot could be heard. "He's dead now," a Marine is heard saying.
To put things in perspective, a Marine in the same unit had been killed just a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent. The Marine who shot the man in the video had been shot in the face the day before, yet returned to the battlefield. The footage you don't see on the news is two Americans pointing weapons at another Iraqi lying motionless. But one of the Marines steps back as the man stretches out his hand, motioning that he is alive. The other Marine stands his ground, but neither of them fires.
Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed the unabridged version of the Fallujah mosque shooting tape, complete with one name visible on a backpack and the faces of the Marines, which were not shown on U.S. networks.
So here we go again. The "investigation" is underway. Those that already hate us will now have some new footage to add to their library and the Marine is now under the microscope of those who are more concerned with rules then reality. This Marine is doing a job none of us should ever have to do. He is tired, dirty, wounded and he has not slept in days. His family is on the other side if the world. He has watched his friends die inches away from him and he wonders if the next man he sees with be the one to kill him. Does that man propped against the wall have the ability to kill you? You only guess wrong once. That Marine represents every one of our soldiers. They are not criminals, they are brave and terrified men doing what most of us don't even want to think about.
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