Awww Shoot...

Issues on the shooting of a combatant in Fallujah:

This fact seems to be undisputed: the man was a combatant, and not a very nice boy. He had very recently been actively shooting at US Marines from a mosque. Sorry Charlie, there are numerous movies about people shooting at US Marines and the fate they generally meet. This guy may never have seen one - if he had this whole thing might not have happened. We must work harder at spreading our culture.

Here's the best quote I've seen in mainstream media on this so far:

Charles Heyman, a senior defense analyst with Jane's Consultancy Group in Britain, defended the Marine's actions, saying the wounded man could have been concealing a firearm or grenade.

"In a combat infantry soldier's training, he is always taught that his enemy is at his most dangerous when he is severely wounded," Heyman said.

If the injured man makes even the slightest move, "in my estimation they would be justified in shooting him."

In other words, an enemy who knows he is dying is probably willing to take you along. That truism must be considered when dealing with legal combatants and wounded suicidal maniacs too.

You'll find several good points and a great comment thread here.

And a tip of the hat to 2Slick, who says everything I would about the incident, and thus saving me alot of typing time.

And reminder: if you see a corpse of any sort around these parts (much less a living guy, wounded or not) it's best to think of it as an IED rather than a dead body.

Unless you want to be dead too.