On Wed, Nov 17, 2004 at 04:15:25PM -0500, Wirt Atmar wrote:
> Greg writes:
> > Debate all you want to about whether the US should be in Iraq, but leave
> > this honorable young Marine out of it.
> And this is the point where the bullshit really rises.

No. That point was when you hit "reply".

> There was nothing honorable at all about what the Marine did. He committed
> nothing less than murder.

How do you know? The only rational basis for making that call is what the
Marine believed to be happening at the moment it was happening. You don't
know what had happened before the TV camera poked its nose in the way, nor
do you know exactly what that Marine saw. If, in fact, the Marine saw moves
that could have been threatening, in that situation, he was perfectly
justified in defending himself - and that's exactly what it is, regardless
of whether the person under the blanket was actually armed.

> While it may be the ultimate fiction that war can be conducted under an
> internationally sanctioned set of rules, nevertheless under the existing
> rules, he committed a war crime and should be fully prosecuted for it,
> perhaps spending a significant portion of his life in prison as a result.

Let me guess: You also think tha a cop who shoots someone who he reasonably
believes was making a threatening move should also go to prison. The
situations are identical.

> The distance between his actions and those of the American soldiers at My
> Lai is tissue thin, and none of it comes close to being honorable.

The only thing dishonorable here is your hatred of American fighting men
just doing their jobs and trying to stay alive.

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