The Marine Was Doing His Duty

[Torog]

The Marine Was Doing His Duty (Lonsberry)
boblonsberry.com ^ | 11/17/04 | Bob Lonsberry


The Marine was right.



He was, after all, in a war.



Iâ??m talking about that deal Saturday in Fallujah. What youâ??ve heard is that a United States Marine shot a wounded, unarmed enemy in the head and killed him.



Some NBC guy caught the whole thing on videotape.



And people have been screaming since.



Theyâ??ve said that the Marine was a butcher, that he violated the Geneva Conventions, that he needs to be court-martialed, that this is an example of the evil America is doing in Iraq.



There has been all sorts of crap like that.



And thatâ??s what it is â?? crap.



Because that Marine did the right thing. And instead of selling him down the river, we should be defending him. We should be sticking up for him the same way he stuck up for us.



They shouldnâ??t be investigating this guy, they should be giving him a medal. We shouldnâ??t be condemning him, we should be understanding what he and his comrades face in Iraq.



And we should remember what war is. Itâ??s about killing the other guy before he can kill you. Itâ??s not an episode of â??COPSâ?� where everybody gets read their Miranda rights, itâ??s an all-or-nothing gamble we ask our military men and women to face.



To better understand what happened and why, itâ??s necessary to know a little bit of how the enemy has been fighting in Iraq.



Like the booby-traps being set on the remains of enemy fighters. The same day this Marine killed the wounded enemy, another Marine in Fallujah was killed â?? and five of his buddies were hurt â?? by an explosive rigged to a dead fighter. Some of the enemy wounded have been fitted with suicide vests, to detonate when American troops come to their aid. And some able-bodied enemy fighters have hidden among their wounded comrades in order to attack our soldiers and Marines.



Think that through.



What that means is that what appears to be a bunch of dead and wounded guys to us, is a very real threat to a GI.



The training and experience of that Marine told him that those enemy combatants lying on the ground were a potential threat to him.



Thatâ??s why he yelled what he yelled.



Heâ??s faking! Heâ??s not dead!



Thatâ??s a paraphrase, the original language was a little strong, but thatâ??s what he said.



He felt it necessary to yell to his buddies that one of the enemy combatants was pretending to be dead, but was really alive.



He shouted it as a warning.



And he immediately shouldered his rifle and fired. He struck the man in the head, killing him instantly.



Why?



Sadism? Cruelty?



No. Neither his words nor his actions indicate that. He did it to protect himself and his buddies.



Thatâ??s his job. Heâ??s a warrior.



He didnâ??t know this manâ??s intentions. He didnâ??t know if in the next moment he would detonate a suicide bomb or set off a hand grenade. He didnâ??t know if he had just stepped into a trap.



All he knew was that the man was pretending to be dead. And other such men, pretending the same thing, had tried to kill Americans.



So the Marine fired.



He fired to stay alive. He fired to come home to his wife and child. He fired because he had to keep his buddies and the NBC photographer alive. He fired because it was his duty.



And if he didnâ??t, he could have been dead.



So who was that man on the floor?



He was an enemy fighter who had been holed up in a mosque from which sniper fire and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on United States Marines.



He was a bad guy.



He was a man who had tried to kill Americans.



One way of looking at it is that this Marine just finished the job that hadnâ??t gotten done the day before.



Another way to look at it is that the American media canâ??t be playing a game of â??gotchaâ?� with our military. Imbedded reporters have to serve some purpose other than to be waiting to catch GIs in a hiccup in order to broadcast it around the world and embarrass the American cause and the American people. The imbedded reporters have to be working for American broadcasters, not Al Jazeera.



The bottom line is weâ??ve asked this Marine and hundreds of thousands of others to go fight for our freedom and safety. We owe it to him and them to support them as they do what they have to do to come home safely to their families.



We are not impartial in this.



We have a stake.



Those troops are fighting for us. And fighting a war isnâ??t about being nicey-nice. Fighting a war is about erring on the side of making it home safely.



The Marine in that mosque Saturday didnâ??t know the man he shot was unarmed and wounded. He just knew that, in the various explanations for the manâ??s actions, there was the real possibility he meant the Americans harm.



At that point you donâ??t ask questions.



You donâ??t get politically correct.



You do what you have to do.



This Marine did that.



And for that he should be supported and praised, not attacked and punished.



No charges should be brought against this Marine. No punishment should be administered against him.



He was only doing his duty.



And America supports him.

Torog Reviewed by Torog on 11-17-2004. The Marine Was Doing His Duty The Marine Was Doing His Duty (Lonsberry) boblonsberry.com ^ | 11/17/04 | Bob Lonsberry The Marine was right. He was, after all, in a war. Rating: 5

[sawleaf]

That's war. War is shitty, but it is about killing the enemy. That Marine was doing his job. I don't think he should get a medal for his actions, but I don't see the big deal in it. If the man didn't want to die he should have surrendered not faked his death. That is deception and he was fair game. Bleeding heart liberals won't be happy until everyone is fighting war with stunguns and then they will still bitch about that. If you are not fighting in the war you have no right to be a critic of our troops actions. They are the ones with their lives on the line!

[Herbaholic00]

And we should remember what war is. Itâ??s about killing the other guy before he can kill you. Itâ??s not an episode of â??COPSâ?� where everybody gets read their Miranda rights, itâ??s an all-or-nothing gamble we ask our military men and women to face.

Its true.............war is war. This type of thing has happened in every war ever, it is just the first war that has appeared on our T.V. screens like this.

Unless we have ever been in a combat zone, ( which most of us haven't) we are unable to immagine what it is like to be there and what is going through a soldiers mind whilst in combat.

I am deffinatly not pro war but what do people expect when war happens? These guys are in effect trained to kill, they are doing the job the government sent them there to do.

My issues are with the corrupt governments and there hidden agendas not a Marine sent to do what he has trained to do.



Peace

[psychocat]

Shouldn't fuckin be there , should never have been there , Bush and Blair are total wankers.
I wouldn't trust a US soldier with a BB gun.
Best equipped army but the worst bleedin soldiers , friendly fire is something we have come to expect when fighting side by side with the good ole USA.Trigger happy Rambo wannabes.

[maryjanemama]

The Marine was right. Now, along with all the stress those poor guys are facing everyday, they have to worry about "tattle tale" reporters.

[cbudmant]

he did the right thing. one of the things that u are trained for as a marine is to never leave your wounded behind and to do what ever it takes to protect the wounded. so what if he was unarmed cause i bet u the next day he would of been armed and tryin to kill us. the things i would do to be back over there

[sawleaf]

Shouldn't fuckin be there , should never have been there , Bush and Blair are total wankers.
I wouldn't trust a US soldier with a BB gun.
Best equipped army but the worst bleedin soldiers , friendly fire is something we have come to expect when fighting side by side with the good ole USA.Trigger happy Rambo wannabes.

It is not the troops. I don't know about regular army infantry, but I have served with Delta and Ranger units. They are pretty good to go. Marine infantry are about the best ground units you will find. Friendly fire comes from lack of communication and is usually out of the troops hands. It is not just a recent thing. Back in the day archers fired mistakenly on their own troops also. Fog of War is a bitch.

[litespeed]

Army's LT Caley's Vietnam's Mai Lai massacre [[ NOT ]] what they did not tell you was we lost men before we did it to them!!! when you have Kids that are 7/8/9 yr old with Machine Pistols what the hell do you do!!!
A Marine that was with them and would do it again.

[The C]

A death is never acceptable in a war that shouldnt be.

The C

[The C]

The marine shoudl be shot if anything.

If doing yoru duty means ethinic cleansing, then your in the wrong buisness.

The C