What would you have done in this soldiers place?

[matthews_jim]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

I cannot say what I would do. Ever have someone ask you, 'What would you have done?" Unless you are there and it is happening to you, you really don't know. I do know what I would do the Marine. I'd give him a medal.

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

The good thing about this whole situation is that the Marines in his platoon, including an officer, are all backing his actions. So when the witnesses are interviewed, he will have a lot of support. There will be a huge outcry from the USA if this Marine is courts martialed.

 

[cmyers_uk]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Can anybody explain if the objective is to kill everybody left in there why we dont we just gas the city thus not having to pay to rebuild it and without the cost of the 30+ soldiers who died. Simple quick effective and in a few days the civilians can go home. <br /><br />Ive got no problem with what the soldier did he was there under the stress of combat and nothing should happen to him but to applaud it and say give him a medal takes it too far.

 

[oddjob]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

I think hes a hero.....yeah.

 

[JB]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Say, Scotty.<br /><br />"They" declared war on us in the early 90s, murdered hundreds of Americans before 9/11 and thousands on 9/11.<br /><br />"Only reason"?? Get real. <br /><br />They are fighting against a free Iraq. Better there than here. They will lose.<br /><br />Now. Let's get back to the TOPIC OF THIS THREAD.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Did you ever think that one of the reasons George went to war in Iraq was to make it easier for the terrorist to try to kill Americans? Not a bad plan if you ask me. IMHO I figure that with our military there they will draw the terrorist to them (so we can kill them). I am sure it is a lot easier for a middle easterner to get to and into Iraq then it would be to get into the U.S. Better there then here. With no focal point for the terrorist to go to they will spread out real thin all over and our military will not be able to do anything about it. It will all be left up to law enforcement with there many, many rules and laws. How would you like to have every terrorist caught in a American court room where it takes years to get a conviction (Scott Peterson)? Then if you ever do get a conviction the terrorist will be put in jail with other U.S. prisoners with nothing to do but try to influence them in there ways. You know some will follow him already being pissed off at the state for putting them there. Then add in international law to the mix and nothing will ever get done. <br /> Think about this. How many insurgents, terrorist what ever you want to call them have we killed or captured in the last week? It has been a lot and they wont be coming over here and starting trouble. Living around D.C. I long for a time like it was pre 9/11. Now I just hope my kids will be able to experience that pre 9/11 feeling some day. If that means fighting dirty in Iraq (not that I think the marine did anything wrong) so be it.

 

[johnson-liner]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Scott, you're right...some of them weren't in Iraq before we got over there. They were in their own country plotting ways to cross the big pond and kill us here! Instead, we've gotten them to concentrate on our troops in Iraq rather than our civilians (ie. YOU and I) here.<br /><br />Back to the topic....I don't know what I would have done in this soldier's position. I THINK I would have done the same to any of them that moved an inch. What I do know is that I would have wanted that mosque blown to bits before I got there so that I wouldn't have had such a chance at getting killed. And no, I do not think he deserves punishment.

 

[mrbscott19]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Originally posted by kenimpzoom:<br /> Chris, I disagee, the people fighting in Iraq, may not be Iraqis. Remember, many of these guys are from other countries.<br /><br />Ken

but the only reason they are there fighting us is because we invaded. They weren't there before the invasion.

 

[KennyKenCan]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Chris Meyers,<br /><br />I agree with you philosophy in gassing these ingrates. This would end our problems there once and for all.<br /><br />But wouldn't we be stooping to the same tactics that Saddam used, when he gassed his own people?<br /><br />Just how would the average Iraqi, who have welcomed the American Soldiers, feel about the U.S. if we did that? I don't think the Iraqi's would have any respect for the soldiers if we did.<br /><br />As much as I would love to see these ingrates suffer, I do not believe that the United States needs to stump that low.<br /><br />Plus the ramifications world wide, just wouldn't be worth it!<br /><br />It is unfortunate for our soldiers getting wounded or killed, but it is war, and war is ugly, and people die and get maimed in war, on both sides.<br /><br />But, I still like the idea of it!

 

[cmyers_uk]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

KKC, I suppose Nukes are out of the question then?

 

[jimchere]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Be kind when the enemy allows and is ethical; it is the right thing to do. When the enemy regards your adherence to the Geneval convention as a convenience to be exploited and beheads innocent people and utilizes suicide bomings....."double-tapping" is the law of self defense.

 

[KennyKenCan]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Chris Myers,<br /><br />They are now!<br /><br />I wish they dropped the nukes at the beginning of all this, in Afganistan!<br /><br />Had we used nukes then, I don't think we would be in the situation we are in now.<br /><br />Saddam would have caved in, just like Kadafy did, and allowed the inpectors free raign of Iraq, and then the invasion would have never been necessary. Syria and Jordan would have been shaking in their boots, totally afraid to take any kind of action, and so would Iran, and it would have forced the Palastinian's to the negotiations table with Israel.<br /><br />Unfortunatly, in my opinion, the time for using weapons like that have come and gone, and now we have to do it the hard way, but we will prevail!

 

[Rudderman]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

I'm glad that there are cameras there to record what happens. Its too bad that the reporters are censored as much as they are because how else are we to see past the political spin? Thats what freedom is all about, we should be able to see all the actions carried out in the name of freedom. If there were no cameras there, there is no real accountability.<br />I agree with a comment posted above about the danger of stooping to the level of terrorists though, you just have to be careful, there seems to be a fine line between defending your country and slaying people unnecessarily.<br />The argument that "they don't play by the rules so neither will we" is stooping to their level. A democratic country should be able to rise about that and find an alternative way forward.<br />But we don't know the full story about the guy in the news report, there could have been some other circumstances that led the soldier to think he was a threat.<br />I remember a story about some police who shot and killed a guy who was carrying an umbrella...they thought the umbrella was a gun and shot him dead. If you give people guns and give them the authority to shoot at their own discretion, of course they are gonna make mistakes and errors of judgement.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

As a retired Soldier I stand by the Marine and will support his actions. Without being at that exact place nor having to follow the Marine I will not judge him....I support his action.<br /><br />Bob

 

[12Footer]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

We won't leave these people before they are self-governing. It will happen, and nobody here can stop it,even if they strap bombs to thier waist, and detonate in a crowded place. Not here in Lee County Florida, not in New York City, and not in a Mosul school house.<br />It's killing Americans.It's killing inocents. It's killing enemy (lots of enemy). It's costing lots of money. Crying about it does not help. Helping the effort does. Don't be a George K Loonie, and whine about the war. It's war. We are there. We will win.Soldiers will be killed, but not if they can KILL FIRST. I know some of you would like nothing better than to re-institute the "Body-count" strategy you used durring the Vietnam war. But keep in mind, there are many of us still alive, who remember, and will not tolerate these tactics. And there are even a few old guys who saw what happened in the Pacific, Island-to-island, who won't let it happen either.<br />The marine REMAINS a hero, even if the activists put him through a "Scott Peterson" investigation.When the circus is over, and the clowns have gone home, we will put him through a ticker-tape parade....Because it's apparent to me now, what the stategies are. You will not succeed. Sorry.

 

[Barlow]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Can somebody say air strike?!?!...<br /><br />Make it happen!! .. sooner or later its going to come down to jet fuel exhaust .. <br /><br />It's inevitable!! History repeats itself time and time again.<br /><br />Strike First, ...Stike Hard ... STRIKE OFTEN!!..<br /><br />they canont judge the face of a ... <br />

<br /><br />-OR-<br /><br />

 

[Homerr]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

AMEN!<br /><br />BTW: Beutiful pictures... Are they your own or?<br /><br /><br />H.

 

[woodrat]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

Originally posted by KKC:<br /> <br /><br />As much as I would love to see these ingrates suffer, I do not believe that the United States needs to stump that low.<br /><br />

The "ingrates"? Ah yes, they should be "grateful" that we pre-emptively invaded their country, bombed their cities, killed their relatives and spread DU dust everywhere we went. Such a deal for the average Iraqi! And of course if some country who felt threatened by US decided to pre-emptively take us out, we would all be really grateful for that, I'm sure.<br /><br />Give me a break!<br /><br />What would I have done in that soldier's shoes? Who knows? And really, for anyone like myself on this thread who has not experienced combat, the answer is completely meaningless. I can imagine doing exactly what that marine did. But that doesn't mean I think that sort of thing really serves our national interest very well, camera or no. I'm sure brutalities of all kinds are being perpetrated in equal numbers by both sides, but OUR side is supposed to be the "good" guys, more "moral" than the enemy. And yet we sit here and rant and rave and call for nukes and gassing, spewing racial slurs and cheering on the bloodshed and brutality while trying to claim the moral high ground. And our only justification for even being there in the first place is that we felt "potentially threatened" by saddam, or that maybe saddam and the 911 high-jackers were once in the same city together.<br /><br />Somehow though, I can't imagine that you would all support the idea of a wounded American soldier being executed like that because the enemy soldier was all amped up and feeling threatened. I bet there would be all kinds of rants about the Geneva conventions, and humane treatment of prisoners.<br /><br />I can see that for many americans, the events of 911 will be used to justify anything our government wants to do in the middle east for at least the next generation, no matter how far off the mark or brutal or illegal it is. If its arab, then it must be the enemy, because of 911. <br /><br />whatta sad state of affairs...

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

I find it funny on how some people who live here in America seem to always be against their own country. On every issue from top to bottom USA is bad for this USA is bad for that. How it must suck to live in a place where you hate evrything about it. When you decide enough is enough let us know so we can take up a collection for you to move to whatever country you feel is better than this one.

 

[woodrat]

Re: What would you have done in this soldiers place?

I find it funny that a country full of supposedly pious religious people can be so filled with willfully blind pride about their government, when their own bible tells them that pride comes before a great fall, and that pride is a deadly sin. How the heck does one blend real Christ-based faith with prideful nationalism? was Christ a nationalist?<br /><br />And then when someone comes along and even points out a minor discrepancy or flaw in the "nation", then out comes the old "america hater" line again. How tiresome! My life doesn't "suck" and I certainly don't "hate everything about" where I live. For you to assert that just shows how narrow the "party line" is. But I do hate hypocrisy, cruelty and arrogance, among other undesirable traits in the human creature, and I think that this country is being disproportionately fueled by those things lately. And the lack of serious self criticism is another big problem that will only get worse. We are NOT the shining white city on the hill, a perfect example of culture for all to aspire to, or the highest level of human civilization or development, as evidenced by things like the story of the mother cutting off her baby's arms (speechless!).<br /><br />BTW, the "kill em all and let god sort them out" thing is probably pretty close to the ethic that the 911 perps were operating under.<br /><br />But hey, now we're getting off thread again. Maybe you could start one called "america haters suck" or something like that.