Amnesty International released a statement this week blasting coalition forces for violating the so-called rules of war in the process of reclaiming Fallujah from the terrorists who had laid siege to it.  “US Marines left five wounded Iraqi men in a mosque after a battle,” the statement complains.  “The next day…, another group of Marines entered the mosque, and an NBC reporter saw one Marine shoot in the head, one of the wounded Iraqi men who was lying on the ground, [sic] with no visible weapons near him” [my emphasis].  Amnesty International gets worked up because of the shooting of an allegedly unarmed wounded terrorist, but they nearly ignore the reports of terrorists booby-trapping dead bodies with bombs or wounded terrorists lying in wait to blow themselves up whenever coalition forces approach.  How can proper medical treatment be expected or offered if the intended recipients are not willing to be saved?

The Marine group under fire from Amnesty International lost several of its members just a day or two prior to the mosque incident while attempting to offer that treatment.  The booby-trapped body they were attending to blew up.  How can they be expected to comply if it means potentially killing themselves?  Amnesty International’s reply to this valid complaint comes at the very end of the aforementioned press release.  “Commander and fighters of armed groups in Falluja [sic] also have an obligation to respect fundamental rules of international law.  Acts such as booby trapping dead bodies are also war crimes.”  That pathetic, anemic response is all the attention Amnesty gives regarding the terrorists’ repeated violations of the rules of war.  There’s a good reason why.  Amnesty knows which side will actually listen to them and make an effort to comply, so why waste their breath on terrorists who will ignore their requests?

The world uses these complaints to now blame the Marines for daring to shoot a wounded terrorist.  The world ignores the terrorists’ use of mosques and hospitals as a shelter while attacking the coalition just as they ignore all the other gross atrocities committed by the terrorists so that they can continue to hate America and sympathize with them.

This is an observable fact of the war on terror, ably illustrated by the recent murder of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, who dedicated more than thirty years of her life to helping Iraqis and who was the most vocal critic of the hardships children suffered due to the UN sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s.  Despite her support for Iraqis, though, the terrorists kidnapped and killed her.  Like the other videotaped murders, hers was released to al-Jazeera, yet this time the Arab network chose to abide by the pressure th West placed on it to not broadcast such videos.  Why the sudden change?  It’s simple.  Hassan’s death would affect the amount of sympathy the world has for terrorist groups.  Even terrorist leader Abu Masab al-Zarqawi wanted Hassan released and the tape destroyed because he knew that his terrorist group, and the fundamentalist Muslims who seek the destruction of everyone different from them, could ill-afford to have the world’s sympathies turned against them at this time.

The war on terror has reached a critical stage.  It was always going to be unpopular because it required the world’s resolve, and the world’s reaction to the events of the past few weeks demonstrates just how disinterested in peace, freedom, and prosperity the world actually seems to be.  The Marines in Iraq have a difficult job.  They are attempting to dislodge a terrorist infrastructure from within a city without any assistance from the rest of the world – an infrastructure that uses mosques as headquarters and armories so that terrorists can cry foul when the coalition destroys one in self-defense.

So, bravo to the Marine for doing himself and the world a favor and killing a terrorist, wounded or otherwise.  What else was he supposed to do?  Wait and see if he got shot or allow the terrorist to trigger the bomb?  By the time he makes the decision, he or his unit could already be dead.  These creatures of evil do not wear a uniform nor abide by any rules of war, so why should they expect any compassion?  This is not to say the Marines be encouraged to behave as badly as the terrorists, but there are times when, in order to beat back evil, questionable means must be used.  The wounded terrorists are singularly evil when they blow themselves up for their foolish cause, and it is dishonorable and unfair of them to cry foul because our Marines protect themselves against every conceivable mode of attack.

If the world wants the Marines to abide by the rules of war then perhaps the world should pressure the Muslim terrorists to abide by them, too.

| Main Page | Column Archive | Who Is Brian Clardy? | Files and Links | Feedback |

All written material on this website not attributed to another author is © 2001-2004 by Brian Clardy.
No part of this website may be reproduced in any way without the explicit consent of Brian Clardy.
All rights reserved.