The breaking story of the Marine who shot an Iraqi insurgent's body in its head during a reconnaissance mission in Fallujah is disheartening in several competing aspects.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6502452/
The incident took place inside a Mosque, and the video footage is being shown practically every other five minutes on US news networks today. (First footage I saw of it was actually on Fox News Channel.) Lord only knows how often (and just how) it's being presented by European and Arab news syndicates, let alone how it's being received by their respective viewers.
Of course the scene looks terrible. Violence, even when necessary, is never pretty. One issue yet to be resolved is whether or not the body was dead or if the person was faking death. One Marine in the video suggests the insurgent was faking death, but no clear movement or other verification of the body is detectable from the video before the shooting. The general public's initial reaction will naturally be that this is detestable and unjustified.
But the fact remains that insurgents have already used dead bodies to hide bombs and other explosives in hopes of killing or injuring coalition military units when they get closer. That fact somewhat asterisks the routine (or Geneva Convention) protocol for identifying the dead from those wounded or surrendered. It was also reported that the Marine who shot the body was himself shot in the face the day before this incident. Perhaps that event occurred in a similar situation as the one depicted in the video, which may or may not somewhat justify the Marine's actions.
If the insurgent was indeed alive and faking his own death before the videotaped shooting, two main motives spring to mind: 1) He wanted to deceive US troops into disregarding him as a threat long enough for him to escape capture; 2) He wanted to deceive the US troops into disregarding him as a threat, so that he could then surprise-attack them with a concealed weapon.
I'm bothered by the excessive airing of the video on news networks last night and today because so much is yet unknown. We don't even know if the body was dead or alive, harmless or armed. We don't know if the group already faced a similar situation that became insurgent sabotage. This event will surely light a fire under knee-jerk war critics and politicians across the world before any substantial facts of the matter are even released.
This is one isolated incident caught on tape, yet so many will manipulate it to appear as if it shows routine operations of coalition (namely US) forces in Iraq. In fact, don't be surprised to hear some blame George Bush directly.
"This is why the world hates us," reactionaries might say, or "This is why Iraqis want us to leave!" Granted, there likely exists other scattered incidents, in the midst of warfare, similar to this one -- from all sides involved. Nevertheless, that this story is the one we're force-fed this week by the media is unfortunate.
Don't be surprised if UBL now references this footage, perhaps in his next propaganda video, as further just cause for his hatred toward and violence against the Western Hemisphere. On that note, I can also hear Mike Moore scrambling to find some way to use this footage in his next propaganda movie. Time will tell.
The military is investigating the situation and the individuals involved. It is not some three-ring circus or an underground secret society hell-bent on keeping any controversies from going public. If that were the case, no legal action committees would even exist, let alone investigate and/or punish war crimes and unethical conduct.
I just hope that people don't overreact and jump to conclusions without knowing the facts of the matter. Have faith in justice and don't forget the overwhelming majority of troops who never get the publicity they deserve for the GOOD they do.
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