Self-Induced Scalping

by pessimist

There was an early John Wayne movie I saw once that cast him in a way that his later fans wouldn't recognize. Instead of his 'Only good Injun is a dead one' persona, he was more of a sort that seemed to understand that there are consequences to actions.

He and his sidekick (might have been Walter Brennan) had just successfully defended themselves against an attack by the natives. They are looking over the bodies, when the sidekick starts doing something to one of the bodies. Wayne asks 'What are you doing?' "Gettin' me a scalp!" says the sidekick. Wayne says in a sad and wistful voice 'We teach them everything.'

Recent events indicate we're still teaching.

We've all heard by now about the Marine shooting the wounded Iraqi. (Photo here, if you want to look.) To this action, there is certainly a consequence.

I don't want to hear anyone on this site gripe if wounded GIs get shot by Iraqis - we did it first. We showed them that we're willing to kill wounded.

We taught them everything.

It seems that these wounded Iraqis had been treated by another Marine detachment :

The dramatic footage was taken Saturday by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC television, who said three other prisoners wounded a day earlier in the mosque had also apparently been shot the next day by the Marines.

Sites reported that a different Marine unit had come under fire from the mosque on Friday. Those Marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding five, Sites said. The Marines said the fighters in the mosque had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles.

The Marines had treated the wounded, he reported, left them behind and continued on Friday with their drive to retake the city from insurgents who have been battling U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq with increasing ferocity and violence in recent months.

The same five men were still in the mosque on Saturday, Sites reported.

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. 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.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military said the 1st Marine Division is investigating an allegation of the unlawful use of force in the death of an enemy combatant in Fallujah during combat operations Saturday. The Marine has been withdrawn from the battlefield pending the results of the investigation, the U.S. military said.

The Third Geneva Convention, the section of the 1949 treaty that applies to prisoners of war, says "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat (out of combat) by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely." It adds that "the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for."

The Coverup Begins

The judge advocate general heading the investigation, Lt. Col. Bob Miller, told NBC News that depending on the evidence, it could be reasonable to conclude the Marine was acting in self-defense. "The policy of the rules of engagement authorize the Marines to use force when presented with a hostile act or hostile intent," Miller said. "So they would have to be using force in self-defense, yes."

"Any wounded-- in this case insurgents-- who don't pose a threat would not be considered hostile," said Miller.

Charles Heyman, a senior defense analyst with Jane's Consultancy Group in Britain, defended the Marine's actions, saying it was possible the wounded man was concealing a firearm or grenade. "You can hear the tension in those Marines' voices. One is showing, 'He's faking it. He's faking it,"' Heyman said. "In a combat infantry soldier's training, he is always taught that his enemy is at his most dangerous when he is severely wounded." If the injured man makes even the slightest move, "in my estimation they would be justified in shooting him."

Take a look at this picture again, and see if you can see any good reason for believing this man was a threat. He's lying on his back, hands and arms in plain view. He's certainly out numbered, and isn't going to do much with a rifle in his face.

But whether the action can be justified or not, it isn't going to play well in Islamia. Hear the outrage:

Shooting in Iraq Mosque Angers Muslims

The shooting in the Fallujah mosque became public Monday with the airing of the footage taken Saturday by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC News. In his report, Sites said the man who was killed didn't appear to be armed or threatening in any way, with no weapons visible in the mosque. Sites said three other insurgents wounded Friday in the mosque were also shot again Saturday by the Marines.

The incident could cause major political problems for the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his U.S. backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the invasion of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. American and Iraqi authorities tried to prevent rage from spreading among Sunnis, many of whom watched dramatic footage of the shooting that aired throughout the day on Al-Jazeera television, a Qatar-based satellite station.

The US could bomb Al-Jazeera again! Worked last time, didn't it?

Maysoun Hirmiz, 36, a Christian merchant in Baghdad, said she was not satisfied by an announcement by the U.S. military that it had removed the Marine from the battlefield and will investigate whether he acted in self defense. "They will say or do the same thing they did with the soldiers who committed the abuses against Iraqis detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, and they are still free, enjoying their lives while they destroyed other peoples' lives," Hirmiz said.

"Look at this old man who was slain by them," said Ahmed Khalil, 40, as he watched the video in his Baghdad shop. "Was he a fighter? Was anybody who was killed inside this mosque a fighter? Where are their weapons? I don't know what to say."

International legal experts said protection of injured combatants once they are out of action is a basic rule in warfare but that the Marine shown in the video may have acted in self-defense. However, legal distinctions are unlikely to carry much weight among many Iraqis, especially Sunnis already angry over the Fallujah offensive.

Sunni militants saw the invasion of the city 40 miles west of Baghdad as a plot by the Americans and the Shiites, such as Allawi, against religious Sunnis — an allegation both governments deny.

That meant little to Hameed Farhan, 51, who works for the Transportation Ministry in Baghdad. "I did not see it because there was no electricity at home, but my wife was at her parents and she described it for me," Farhan said. "She was crying. Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to scream."

"The troops not only violated our mosques with their sins and their boots but they stepped on our brothers' blood," said Khalil, the shop owner. "They are criminals and mercenaries. I feel guilty standing here and not doing anything."

Another hundred terrorists for Allah. Enraged, motivated, and ready to Meet The Virgins.

Our people know something about rage also, especially our armchair generals who love the war but won't fight it themselves. The Armchair General Staff of the Freeper non-Army are certainly venting their spleens about Kevin Sites!

Why is it our troops don't live up to the motto of a popular tattoo, 'Death Before Dishonor'? Do they, or at least their leaders, not understand that actions have consequences, sometimes huge ones?

Certainly, the actions of the 1st Marines in Fallujah can't be the only reason that Iran is getting very chummy with China. The bluster of Bu$hCo over nuclear weapons-grade uranium processing did far more. But the photo of this killing drives home the message to the average Iranian - as it would any Muslim - that they need someone big enough to stand up to the US, and China has already done that several times over the last 50+ years.

Teaming up with the nation that made George W. Bu$h grovel over a damaged spy plane would definitely seem the thing to do, except to the Archair General Staff of the Freeper non-Army.

After all - we taught them everything.

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