Sanity prevails

Matthew Hoy
By Matthew Hoy on May 5, 2005

The Camp Pendleton Marine who was captured on videotape shooting an Iraqi militant who was apparently feigning death won't face charges.

Before the opening of the Nov. 8 assault on rebel-held Fallujah, Marine commanders told infantrymen that the rules of engagement allowed the use of deadly force against men of military age deemed holding hostile intent, even if the enemy didn't fire on the Marines first.

According to the Marine Corps, an enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded Iraqi was concealing his left arm behind his head. Although the Marines said it was unclear from the video whether the Iraqi made any overtly threatening gestures, enemy forces commonly feigned death. [emphasis added]

I'm sure anti-American sites will decry this as a whitewash -- they would rather the Marines end up dead than the insurgents (aka "Michael Moore's Minutemen").

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