Don't Question The Troops

Captain's Quarters and LGF are all over this one as well.

Update: Froggy has a no BS look at this one. Bleeding hearts probably should not go here.

Military Probes Shooting of Prisoner

The smoking paragraph:
Sites reported 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.

Every soldier is taught from basic training on how dangerous a wounded enemy combatant is. We are all taught the lesson of the Japanese from WWII and Viet Cong who would booby trap dead bodies, or whose injured soldiers would hold hand grenades only to detonate them to kill the american soldiers who came to their aid on the battlefield. From the report filed by Mr. Sites, we learn the terrorists in Fallujah are using the same abhorrent practice.

These types of action are illegal by the Geneva convention, but soldiers are taught from day one that none of the enemies we face will adhere to it anyway. Nations that value such things don't run afoul of the US. Also of note is we are not opposed by a regular fighting force of a nation state. The terrorists of Fallujah are not protected by the articles of the Geneva convention to begin with. In fact, they are expressly stated to not be entitled to these protections because of the manner in which they conduct themselves.

NBC reported that the Marine seen shooting the wounded Iraqi had himself been shot in the face the day before, but quickly returned to duty."

No one in the media seems to understand what is going on over there. I think it stems from the fact that probably none of them have ever been shot at. Well I have, and I can tell you it ain't any fun. Combat is stressful, and these kids are doing the best they can.

Presented with the tactics of the terrorist, the stress of already being shot, and having a commrade killed in a similar situation, I can see why this Marine pulled the trigger. I would have pulled the trigger. If it was the morally correct thing to do can be debated, the fact that it was justifiable can not.

Here is a question I would like the media to answer, how are the terrorists in Fallujah treating our boys when they are injured or captured? Anyone not know the answer to that?