The Shooting of the Insurgent

The media has been all a'twitter this week over the tape of the Marine shooting the unarmed insurgent in a mosque in Fallujah. The media is always hoping for examples of brutality by U.S. troops. But was it really brutality? Was it a war crime?

I doubt it, and after you read this account and commentary, you'll probably agree.

The writer also makes this interesting comparison:

Popular histories of World War II are replete with examples of soldiers who killed their enemy after some overture of surrender was made or as retribution for atrocities by the other side. In Vietnam, Sen. John Kerry earned his Silver Star in part because he chased down and shot a fleeing Viet Cong fighter who had fired on his boat only minutes before.

Do you think this comparison to John Kerry would have been made had the campaign still been in progress? Not likely.

Personally, this case is a classic example of why the U.S. should never agree to participate in the International Criminal Court. I guarantee you some Euroweenie prosecutor would have had this Marine up on war crimes charges in a heartbeat. If our guys make a mistake, we can handle it. We don't need to parade our soldiers before some world kangaroo court.