Marine shown on US networks shooting wounded man in Fallujah mosque
AFP Mon, Nov 15, 2004
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/iraq_us_fallujah_marine WASHINGTON (AFP) - Several US televison networks aired footage of members of a US marine unit entering a mosque in Fallujah before one marine shot an unarmed, wounded man in the head as he lay prone aganst a wall.
Televisions networks said the marine who killed the wounded man had been detained and could face prosecution. The reports said the unnamed marine had been wounded in the face the day before the killing but had returned to duty almost immediately.
CBS News showed a still photo from the film depicting the marine standing above the slumped figure aiming his rifle at the man's body. It aired excerpts of a discussion between the marines. "He's dead now," one marine in the squad shouts after the shooting. NBC said the film of the man being shot in the head was "too gruesome" to be seen on screens.
NBC said the dead man, one of about five pictured inside the mosque, was an unarmed insurgent who had been discovered the previous day and been left to await medical attention. The sequence was captured on film by an embedded camera operator who entered the mosque with the marine squad. Other networks including CNN, ABC and Fox News also showed the sequence.
Lieutentant Colonel Bob Miller, a military judge leading an investigation into the shooting, told NBC in an interview that the rules of engagement in Iraq "authorize the marines to use force when presented with a hostile act or hostile intent." Miller added: "Any wounded -- even in this case wounded -- insurgent, who does not pose a threat would not be considered hostile." The Defence Department in Washington said it had no information about the incident.
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Full story at MSNBC, at:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6496898/
Sites was present when a lieutenant from one of the units asked a Marine what had happened inside the mosque. The Marine replied that there were people inside.
“Did you shoot them?” the lieutenant asked.
“Roger that, sir,” the second Marine replied.
“Were they armed?” the lieutenant asked.
The second Marine shrugged in reply.
Sites saw the five wounded men left behind on Friday still in the mosque. Four of them had been shot again, apparently by members of the squad that entered the mosque moments earlier. One appeared to be dead, and the three others were severely wounded. The fifth man was lying under a blanket, apparently not having been shot a second time.
One of the Marines noticed that one of the severely wounded men was still breathing. He did not appear to be armed, Sites said.
The Marine could be heard insisting: “He’s f---ing faking he’s dead — he’s faking he’s f---ing dead.” Sites then watched as the Marine raised his rifle and fired into the man’s head from point-blank range.
“Well, he’s dead now,” another Marine said.
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Full story also at, CNN:
www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/15/marine.probe/index.html
"U.S. rules of engagement prohibit American troops from killing any prisoner who does not pose a threat, and commanders say they are worried the video might encourage more insurgents to fight to the death rather than surrender."
