Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Dissuade Disillusions

Paul Ames tells me 101 journalist have died this year. Still some have now hope for an Ohio recount, and yet illusions of moral victory still rebounds and echoes throughout and in the content I read that still leaves me alluded auras of illusion. Illusions you see but yet don't see clearly enough to even admit you have seen, like floating shadows across your field of vision, ghost, or maybe good impressionist of gods.
Battle lines have been drawn and crossed in mastering designs. In a mosque with broken glass shards and dirty soldier boot prints, insolence to such as faith. As worlds away faith battles with its own security and promises of freedom, calling their own self demise principled.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13379931&BRD=1170&PAG=740&dept_id=226968&rfi=6

Nov. 17--The Chicago Tribune has moved a correction for the story slugged TB-MARINE-SHOOTING filed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News for Nov. 17. The new story subs the lede and the headline.


Please delete the first version and use the new one.

Military probes Marine's shooting of Iraqi captive in Fallujah mosque

By Michael Kilian

Chicago Tribune

Nov. 17--WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military promised a full investigation Tuesday into the fatal shooting of a wounded and possibly unarmed Iraqi insurgent being held by U.S. Marines in a captured mosque in Fallujah.

The inflammatory incident, which follows a global uproar over prisoner abuse by American soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, took place Saturday. Though similar incidents have been reported during the Iraqi conflict, this one gained immediate notoriety because it was captured by an NBC television news cameraman and broadcast over American television as well as the Arab-language television network Al Jazeera.

On the tape, a Marine is shown raising his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque. The tape does not show any weapon on the Iraqi. In the American version, footage of the actual shooting is blacked out. The version broadcast by Al Jazeera shows the man being struck and blood spattering the mosque's interior wall.

Iraqi insurgents have used reports of American attacks on Iraqi civilians and abuse of U.S.-held prisoners to recruit new fighters to their cause and increase their support among the local population.

According to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable, the Marine in the video has been "withdrawn from the battlefield" pending the result of the investigation. The Marine's identity was not released.

"We follow the Law of Armed Conflict [under the Geneva Convention] and hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability," said Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in announcing the investigation. "The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved."

Insurgents had used the mosque as a refuge and firing position during the recent U.S. assault on the city. The mosque had been stormed by a different Marine unit the previous day and was captured after a firefight that killed 10 insurgents and wounded five others, NBC cameraman Kevin Sites reported.

Sites, who took the footage of the insurgent being shot, reported that the wounded were treated and left behind. They were still there Saturday when the mosque was occupied by the Marine group that included the alleged shooter.

The Marine had been slightly wounded in the face during fighting, and another member of the unit had been killed while attending to an insurgent's booby-trapped body of an insurgent, said Sites, who was an embedded pool cameraman traveling with the Marines.

On the tape, a Marine is heard shouting, "He's faking -- he's [expletive] dead!" After the shooting, a Marine says, "He's dead now."

In a statement, Marine officials said that the investigation would "determine whether the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict."

Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, adopted in 1950, states that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat [out of combat] by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely."

The Convention also forbids "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" of prisoners.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Amnesty International called on U.S. authorities in Iraq to take "urgent measures" to curb abuse of captured insurgents.

Tahir al-Nakib, a spokesman for the interim Iraqi government, said it placed its faith in the American-led coalition forces to deal with the problem.

"We trust the leadership of the multinational forces are going to do a fair trial for him [the Marine], so whatever comes from that, they will update us," al-Nakib said. "We work together, we trust each other, and I think the judgment ... if it is guilty, we will take it. Guilty or not guilty. We trust the multinational forces."

The episode highlights the added impact of wartime events when a camera is present. Venable noted that three other alleged homicides involving soldiers in the 1st Cavalry Division failed to attract much news media attention.

"Not to diminish the severity of the incident, but the difference is that there was a camera present for this one," the Pentagon spokesman said. "That's the news. We have three troops on trial for murder in the 1st Cavalry. When we find these things, we take appropriate action."

Calling use of the videotape television "spin," he complained it was broadcast "for its entertainment value, not for its intrinsic news value."

James Janega and Tribune news services contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com.

________________________________________________________
Original version

http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13379831&BRD=1170&PAG=740&dept_id=226967&rfi=6

Nov. 17--WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military opened an investigation Tuesday into the fatal shooting of a wounded and possibly unarmed Iraqi insurgent being held by U.S. Marines in a captured mosque in the city of Fallujah.


The inflammatory incident, which follows a global uproar over prisoner abuse by American soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, took place Saturday. Though similar incidents have been reported during the Iraqi conflict, this one gained immediate notoriety because it was captured by an NBC television news cameraman and broadcast over American television as well as the Arab-language television network Al Jazeera.

On the tape, a Marine is shown raising his rifle toward an Iraqi lying on the floor of the mosque. The tape does not show any weapon on the Iraqi. In the American version, footage of the actual shooting is blacked out. The version broadcast by Al Jazeera shows the man being struck and blood spattering the mosque's interior wall.

Iraqi insurgents have used reports of American attacks on Iraqi civilians and abuse of U.S.-held prisoners to recruit new fighters to their cause and increase their support among the local population.

According to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable, the Marine in the video has been "withdrawn from the battlefield" pending the result of the investigation. The Marine's identity was not released.

"We follow the Law of Armed Conflict [under the Geneva Convention] and hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability," said Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in announcing the investigation. "The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved."

Insurgents had used the mosque as a refuge and firing position during the recent U.S. assault on the city. The mosque had been stormed by a different Marine unit the previous day and was captured after a firefight that killed 10 insurgents and wounded five others, NBC cameraman Kevin Sites reported.

Sites, who took the footage of the insurgent being shot, reported that the wounded were treated and left behind. They were still there Saturday when the mosque was occupied by the Marine group that included the alleged shooter.

The Marine had been slightly wounded in the face during fighting, and another member of the unit had been killed while attending to an insurgent's booby-trapped body of an insurgent, said Sites, who was an embedded pool cameraman traveling with the Marines.

On the tape, a Marine is heard shouting, "He's faking -- he's [expletive] dead!" After the shooting, a Marine says, "He's dead now."

In a statement, Marine officials said that the investigation would "determine whether the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict."

Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, adopted in 1950, states that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat [out of combat] by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely."

The Convention also forbids "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" of prisoners.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Amnesty International called on U.S. authorities in Iraq to take "urgent measures" to curb abuse of captured insurgents.

Tahir al-Nakib, a spokesman for the interim Iraqi government, said it placed its faith in the American-led coalition forces to deal with the problem.

"We trust the leadership of the multinational forces are going to do a fair trial for him [the Marine], so whatever comes from that, they will update us," al-Nakib said. "We work together, we trust each other, and I think the judgment ... if it is guilty, we will take it. Guilty or not guilty. We trust the multinational forces."

The episode highlights the added impact of wartime events when a camera is present. Venable noted that three other alleged homicides involving soldiers in the 1st Cavalry Division failed to attract much news media attention.

"Not to diminish the severity of the incident, but the difference is that there was a camera present for this one," the Pentagon spokesman said. "That's the news. We have three troops on trial for murder in the 1st Cavalry. When we find these things, we take appropriate action."

Calling use of the videotape television "spin," he complained it was broadcast "for its entertainment value, not for its intrinsic news value."

James Janega and Tribune news services contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com.


http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720272/K=marine+shooting+11-17-2004/v=2/SID=e/l=NSR/R=5/SIG=122pti01v/*-http%3A//www.11alive.com/news/usnews_article.aspx?storyid=54929

Mon Dec 06, 12:59:00 PM EST  

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