[rocket]

Story here

[BDA116]

I am torn, jerkyboy. You just had to add my favorite answer to the poll, didn't you?
From reports and stories I have read and heard our crack slingers are coming across terrorists faking dead all the time. Just as they get close, here comes a weapon or a bomb.
Yes, it was justifiably self defense in the heat of war.

What I want to know is why the cowardly media is afraid to mention the fact that said crack slingers found a blonde caucasian torso in the middle of the street in front of a "Mosque". This body had all four limbs cut off, throat slit and face disfigured.
Also, why does AlQuaidaJazeera now decide it won't show an assassination? It can't be because it was an innocent woman, married to an Iraqi that had Iraqi citizenship and lived in Iraq for 20+years, can it?
Sure, the anti-American media both domestic and abroad ate it up when the American men were shown getting beheaded, but now that we are talking about women, it can't be talked about and shown? Hmmmm.......interesting.
Islamic terrorists murdering innocent civilian men prior to election = good.
Islamic terrorists murdering innocent civilian women after convincing Bush win = bad.

[thebackdraft]

I'm with BDA on this.

[Pete]

I cast my vote with BDA...guns are bad, and all gun owners are cowards.

Seriously though, until I walk a mile in that US soldier's boots, I will keep my opinions to myself.

[sheepofblue]

Waw! The terrorists just killed some of the soldiers comrades with booby trapped bodies that same day. I would have assumed he had his finger on a detonator and gave him a head tap while telling my comrades to hit the dirt myself. Kudos on the fine work being done.

Also is this the same enemy combatants that were used white flags then firing on those accepting surrender or was it the group that fired from mosques? Shooting is to good for that bunch of scum.

[ND4SPD]

Originally Posted by sheepofblue

Waw! The terrorists just killed some of the soldiers comrades with booby trapped bodies that same day. I would have assumed he had his finger on a detonator and gave him a head tap while telling my comrades to hit the dirt myself. Kudos on the fine work being done.

Also is this the same enemy combatants that were used white flags then firing on those accepting surrender or was it the group that fired from mosques? Shooting is to good for that bunch of scum.

Screw 'em.

[rocket]

Originally Posted by BDA116

I am torn, jerkyboy. You just had to add my favorite answer to the poll, didn't you?

I knew you'd like that


You know where I stand on this. If they showed a film of the entire week anyone with half a brain would be wondering why he took so long to pull the trigger.

Since when is war a pretty thing anyway?

[ER]

Originally Posted by rocket

I knew you'd like that


You know where I stand on this. If they showed a film of the entire week anyone with half a brain would be wondering why he took so long to pull the trigger.

Since when is war a pretty thing anyway?

War has never been a pretty thing and I don't think our soldiers need the rest of the population watching video clips of them having to make split-decisions while going from blown-up building to blown-up building in an urban war. Pete said it best - let's all walk a mile in the shoes of a 21-year-old kid tasked with having to clear out Falluah before we form opinions. Our media loves to question the tactics of our military over there, but perhaps they could be brave enough to grab a rifle and join the fighters and THEN come back with the right to talk.

Nothing said to take away from your thread of course...

[rocket]

Originally Posted by ER

War has never been a pretty thing and I don't think our soldiers need the rest of the population watching video clips of them having to make split-decisions while going from blown-up building to blown-up building in an urban war. Pete said it best - let's all walk a mile in the shoes of a 21-year-old kid tasked with having to clear out Falluah before we form opinions. Our media loves to question the tactics of our military over there, but perhaps they could be brave enough to grab a rifle and join the fighters and THEN come back with the right to talk.

Nothing said to take away from your thread of course...

I agree. I think having these journalists following the GIs around is ridiculous. Those guys are just itching for something they can sensationalize. Just wait until one of them is fragged...there will be memorial services for a solid month in their honor.

[thebackdraft]

Originally Posted by thebackdraft

I'm with BDA on this.

I mean I agree with BDA's comments but voted "yes"

[Heavy-Dee]

We don't know the full story. Never will. Who knows who this person was that the marine killed or what they had done. It's unfortunate that it looks as bad as it is.

HD

[sheepofblue]

Nuke 'em til they glow!

[bwhip]

Here's a link to a petition going to Congress to see that this Marine is not unfairly persecuted for his actions: Sign Petition Here

[rocket]

Originally Posted by bwhip

Here's a link to a petition going to Congress to see that this Marine is not unfairly persecuted for his actions: Sign Petition Here

Great idea...thanks !

[Johnny Diablo]

Should have shot the correspondent too. Dam Media is going to cost us lives in their pursuit of pulitzers and commercial advertising.

Shoot Dan Rather too.



OK OK maybe I took it too far. Just tell the correspondent to go in first and come back when its all clear... I am sure he will start to shoot them after a few reporters get killed.

[Cowboy1600]

And you guys stoop even lower.

You cant make excuses for a cold blooded murderer. How come everyone didnt open up if they were in such danger? What the terrorists are doing is sub-human. Heck its worse than sub-human. Doesnt mean the coalition soldiers should stoop to their level. The enemy may not be playing by the rules but that doesnt excuse us from playing by the rules. The troops are over there to do a job, and shooting someone in cold blood is not it. They are supposed to be well trained and able to deal with the situations they face. Clearly this soldier is trigger happy and a danger to the people he's meant to be protecting.

Also this cant be related to what they did recently to Margaret Hassan. That was the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of. Clearly she was an incredible human being who gave her life to help as many people as was humanly possible. She was a real hero, someone who identifies a serious risk in doing good for others, but acts anyway. This also doesnt excuse the actions of the soldier in question.

[bwhip]

I would say it's very easy for any of us that aren't out there on the front line to play Monday morning quarterback (sorry if that term is somewhat lost on you non-Americans), and say that a Marine or soldier "should have done this" or "shouldn't have done that." But I would say that if you haven't been in that situation, it's best not to criticize.

There certainly is a way we'd all like to feel that we would act in such a situation, but when fighting in an urban environment against people that hide in mosques, schools and hospitals, often behind women and children, and against those that wave a white flag only to come out firing once your guard is let down, it certainly leads one to shoot first and ask questions later.

[Cowboy1600]

Originally Posted by bwhip

I would say it's very easy for any of us that aren't out there on the front line to play Monday morning quarterback (sorry if that term is somewhat lost on you non-Americans), and say that a Marine or soldier "should have done this" or "shouldn't have done that." But I would say that if you haven't been in that situation, it's best not to criticize.

There certainly is a way we'd all like to feel that we would act in such a situation, but when fighting in an urban environment against people that hide in mosques, schools and hospitals, often behind women and children, and against those that wave a white flag only to come out firing once your guard is let down, it certainly leads one to shoot first and ask questions later.

I agree with to an extent. Until ur put in the situation its hard to know how to react. Going off soley what happened in the footage, which is all we have to make a judgement on, it appears that he has done a pretty awful thing. Its easy to say "what if", but apparently he has gunned down an unarmed man in cold blood. Even if that man was the enemy, he still should not have been executed, atleast not until the law called for it.

[colryn]

Originally Posted by Tombstone

Should have shot the correspondent too. Dam Media is going to cost us lives in their pursuit of pulitzers and commercial advertising.

Shoot Dan Rather too.



.

I don't think you went to far. War is is not patty cake. These guys have their lives on the line 24/7. It has been proven that those SOBs(iraq terrorists) over there have no regard to human life. That same person that the soldier shot, was the same person that was lobbing bombs at this soldiers minutes ago. Sorry, there is no pity for him in my book. Right, wrong or indifferent about this war, we need to support our troops and get them home as fast as we can. Killing the rebels is the only way this will be accomplished. We are not going to change the minds of the rebels through words. They only understand death.

BTW: Dan Rather needs to go as well.

[Duke]

Originally Posted by Cowboy1600

And you guys stoop even lower.

You cant make excuses for a cold blooded murderer. How come everyone didnt open up if they were in such danger? What the terrorists are doing is sub-human. Heck its worse than sub-human. Doesnt mean the coalition soldiers should stoop to their level. The enemy may not be playing by the rules but that doesnt excuse us from playing by the rules. The troops are over there to do a job, and shooting someone in cold blood is not it. They are supposed to be well trained and able to deal with the situations they face. Clearly this soldier is trigger happy and a danger to the people he's meant to be protecting.......

As a Soldier in the middle east we are trained and know what is right from wrong, you f*ck up..you pay the consequences. My fellow soldiers in the marines have mixed view as well but say the video shows only one dude opening fire while others stood there and watched. This brings back the memory of that vietnam POW that got shot in the head by a marine execution style. Yes war is bad and I thank God I am in support rather than front lines, but we have to abide by OUR MILITARY law, PERIOD. I believe this soldier is going to jail, just like the soldiers in the prisoner abuse scandal.

[oldfogey]

I vote don't know, because I don't. I cannot put myself in the shoes of that young man and do not know the circumstances, so no personal judgement.

But, I would have thought by now that you understand this is not a declared war between countries. This is a military occupation of a country with occupants who are mostly innocent civilians whose good will we are trying to win in order that they, without our presence, can put together a constitutional, capitalist democracy. It is a country whose population is mostly muslim and serious about their religion. In Fallujah, due warning was given to the populace first to give up the terrorists (how could they, it was the terrorists who had the guns) and then to remove themselves from their homes so we (as a Brit I include myself in that we) could make war on those declared terrorists who had occupied parts of this city and its mosques, and were using innocent civilians to shield them and the mosques to protect them. Not because we are afraid of mosques, but because destruction of mosques is very upsetting to the population of Iraq.

So here we have film of a young US soldier killing an injured man inside a mosque. That's a reality, but it is a priceless win for the opposition to show that on TV. How stupid to allow that to be filmed and shown. It's the US army that decides to allow the cameraman the opportunity and the unit he's attached to who didn't prevent his being there. The locals are not stupid, but they aren't used to media focus on "the story" either. We won't get the shots of the times a similar situation might have caused the death of soldiers and inncocent civilians either. Hearts and minds.

[ER]

As usual, Thomas Sowell nails the issue...

[vader56]

A shot in the face.
A bomb from 10 miles up.
A plane thrown into a building.

There is no real difference. Someone dies.

The difference is of importance only to the viewer.