From a Marine in Iraq ... Doc, don't waste your time reading this, you will never understand. This is in response to the news blurb about the Marine who put two rounds in a wounded insurgent's head in Fallujah, here's a response from another Marine:
----------------------------
It's a safety issue pure and simple. After assaulting through a
target, we put a security round in everybody's head. Sorry al-
Reuters, there's no paddy wagon rolling around Fallujah picking up
"prisoners" and offering them a hot cup of joe, falafel, and a
blanket. There's no time to dick around on the target. You clear the
space, dump the chumps, and moveon.org.
Are Corpsman expected to treat wounded terrorists? Negative. Hey
folks, worried about the defense budget? Well, it would be waste,
fraud, and abuse for a Corpsman to expend one man-minute or a battle
dressing on a terrorist. Its much cheaper to just spend the $.02 on a
5.56mm FMJ.
By the way, in our view, terrorists who chop off civilian's heads are
not prisoners, they are carcasses. Chopping off a civilian's head is
another reason these idiots are known as "unlawful combatants." It
seems that most of the world's journalists have forgotten that fact.
Let me be very clear about this issue. I have looked around the web,
and many people get this concept, but there are some stragglers.
Here is your situation, Marine: You just took fire from unlawful
combatants (no uniform - breaking every Geneva Convention rule)
shooting from a religious building, attempting to use the sanctuary
status of their position as protection. But you're in Fallujah now,
and the Marine Corps has decided that they're not playing that game
this time. That was Najaf. So you set the mosque on fire and you hose
down the terrorists with small arms, launch some AT-4s (Rockets),
some 40MM grenades into the building and things quiet down. So you
run over there, and find some tangos (bad guys) wounded and<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is really
popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines with
them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your
fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and
search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason.
Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or vest made of
explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room.
You're already speaking English to the rest of your fire team or
squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his
enemy. You are speaking loud because your hearing is poor from
shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many
other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those
rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3
seconds later), you still have this terrorist that was just shooting
at you from a mosque playing possum. What do you do?
You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!!!
What about the Geneva Convention and all that Law of Land Warfare
stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the issues at hand,
your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than
carried by 6."
Bear in mind that this tactic of double tapping a fallen terrorist is
a perpetual mind set that is reinforced by experience on a minute by
minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a
sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you
are in no position to take "prisoners" because there are more rooms
to search and clear, and the behavior of said terrorist indicates
that he is up to no good. "No good" in Fallujah is a very large place
and the low end of no good and the high end of no good are
fundamentally the same. Marines end up getting hurt or dying. So
there is no compelling reason for you to do anything but double tap",1]);//--></SCRIPT>
pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is really
popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines with
them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your
fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and
search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason.
Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or vest made of
explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room.
You're already speaking English to the rest of your fire team or
squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his
enemy. You are speaking loud because your hearing is poor from
shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many
other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those
rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3
seconds later), you still have this terrorist that was just shooting
at you from a mosque playing possum. What do you do?
You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!!!
What about the Geneva Convention and all that Law of Land Warfare
stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the issues at hand,
your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than
carried by 6."
Bear in mind that this tactic of double tapping a fallen terrorist is
a perpetual mind set that is reinforced by experience on a minute by
minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a
sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you
are in no position to take "prisoners" because there are more rooms
to search and clear, and the behavior of said terrorist indicates
that he is up to no good. "No good" in Fallujah is a very large place
and the low end of no good and the high end of no good are
fundamentally the same. Marines end up getting hurt or dying. So
there is no compelling reason for you to do anything but double tap<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
this idiot and get on with the mission.
If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self
evident. If you are not a veteran, then at least try to put yourself
in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there
is no tomorrow, there is only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in
NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never
lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller
coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in
*jail for "War Crimes".
Froggy, OUT
\n",0]);D(["ce"]);//--></SCRIPT>
this idiot and get on with the mission.
If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self
evident. If you are not a veteran, then at least try to put yourself
in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there
is no tomorrow, there is only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in
NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never
lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller
coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in
jail for "War Crimes".
Froggy, OUT</P>
----------------------------
It's a safety issue pure and simple. After assaulting through a
target, we put a security round in everybody's head. Sorry al-
Reuters, there's no paddy wagon rolling around Fallujah picking up
"prisoners" and offering them a hot cup of joe, falafel, and a
blanket. There's no time to dick around on the target. You clear the
space, dump the chumps, and moveon.org.
Are Corpsman expected to treat wounded terrorists? Negative. Hey
folks, worried about the defense budget? Well, it would be waste,
fraud, and abuse for a Corpsman to expend one man-minute or a battle
dressing on a terrorist. Its much cheaper to just spend the $.02 on a
5.56mm FMJ.
By the way, in our view, terrorists who chop off civilian's heads are
not prisoners, they are carcasses. Chopping off a civilian's head is
another reason these idiots are known as "unlawful combatants." It
seems that most of the world's journalists have forgotten that fact.
Let me be very clear about this issue. I have looked around the web,
and many people get this concept, but there are some stragglers.
Here is your situation, Marine: You just took fire from unlawful
combatants (no uniform - breaking every Geneva Convention rule)
shooting from a religious building, attempting to use the sanctuary
status of their position as protection. But you're in Fallujah now,
and the Marine Corps has decided that they're not playing that game
this time. That was Najaf. So you set the mosque on fire and you hose
down the terrorists with small arms, launch some AT-4s (Rockets),
some 40MM grenades into the building and things quiet down. So you
run over there, and find some tangos (bad guys) wounded and<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is really
popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines with
them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your
fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and
search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason.
Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or vest made of
explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room.
You're already speaking English to the rest of your fire team or
squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his
enemy. You are speaking loud because your hearing is poor from
shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many
other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those
rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3
seconds later), you still have this terrorist that was just shooting
at you from a mosque playing possum. What do you do?
You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!!!
What about the Geneva Convention and all that Law of Land Warfare
stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the issues at hand,
your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than
carried by 6."
Bear in mind that this tactic of double tapping a fallen terrorist is
a perpetual mind set that is reinforced by experience on a minute by
minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a
sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you
are in no position to take "prisoners" because there are more rooms
to search and clear, and the behavior of said terrorist indicates
that he is up to no good. "No good" in Fallujah is a very large place
and the low end of no good and the high end of no good are
fundamentally the same. Marines end up getting hurt or dying. So
there is no compelling reason for you to do anything but double tap",1]);//--></SCRIPT>
pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is really
popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines with
them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your
fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and
search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason.
Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or vest made of
explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room.
You're already speaking English to the rest of your fire team or
squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his
enemy. You are speaking loud because your hearing is poor from
shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many
other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those
rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3
seconds later), you still have this terrorist that was just shooting
at you from a mosque playing possum. What do you do?
You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!!!
What about the Geneva Convention and all that Law of Land Warfare
stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the issues at hand,
your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than
carried by 6."
Bear in mind that this tactic of double tapping a fallen terrorist is
a perpetual mind set that is reinforced by experience on a minute by
minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a
sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you
are in no position to take "prisoners" because there are more rooms
to search and clear, and the behavior of said terrorist indicates
that he is up to no good. "No good" in Fallujah is a very large place
and the low end of no good and the high end of no good are
fundamentally the same. Marines end up getting hurt or dying. So
there is no compelling reason for you to do anything but double tap<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
this idiot and get on with the mission.
If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self
evident. If you are not a veteran, then at least try to put yourself
in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there
is no tomorrow, there is only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in
NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never
lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller
coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in
*jail for "War Crimes".
Froggy, OUT
\n",0]);D(["ce"]);//--></SCRIPT>
this idiot and get on with the mission.
If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self
evident. If you are not a veteran, then at least try to put yourself
in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there
is no tomorrow, there is only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in
NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never
lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller
coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about putting Marines in
jail for "War Crimes".
Froggy, OUT</P>
