A Marine Explains Double-Tap
DISCLAIMER
Apparently, a Marine operating in al Anbar Province saw a media report critical of another Marine who put two rounds
into a wounded insurgent's head in Fallujah, and this is his response. What the Marines are doing is what was done in
the Pacific during WW II for the same reasons.
It's a safety issue, pure and simple. After assaulting through a target, we put a security round in everybody's head.
Sorry al-Reuters, there's no paddy wagon rolling around Fallujah, picking up "prisoners" and offering them a hot cup
a joe, falafel, and a blanket. There's no time to dick around on the target. You clear the space, dump the chumps,
and moveon.org.
Are Corpsman expected to treat wounded terrorists? Negative. Hey libs, worried about the defense budget? Well, it
would be waste, fraud, and abuse for a Corpsman to expend one man-minute or a battle dressing on a terrorist. It's
much cheaper to just spend the $.02 on a 5.56mm full metal jacket (FMJ).
By the way, in our view, when we come across injured terrorists who have chopped off civilian's heads, we don't
consider them prisoners - they are carcasses. Chopping off a civilian's head is another reason why these idiots are
known as "unlawful combatants." It seems that most of the world's journalists have forgotten that fact.
Let me be very clear about this issue. I have looked around the web, and many people get this concept, but there are
some stragglers. Here is your situation Marine: You just took fire from
unlawful combatants (no uniform - breaking every Geneva Convention rule there is) shooting from a religious building,
attempting to use the sanctuary status of their position as protection. But you're in Fallujah now, and the Marine
Corps has decided that we're not playing that game this time. That was Najaf. So you set the mosque on fire and you
hose down the terrorists with small arms, launch some AT-4s (Rockets), some 40MM grenades into the building, and things
quiet down.
So you run over there, and find some tangos (terrorists) wounded and pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide
martyrdom is like really popular with these idiots, and they think taking some Marines with them would be really cool.
So you can either risk your life and your fire team's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and search a
guy that you think is pretending to be dead. Most of the time these are the guys with the grenade or a vest made of
explosives. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room. You're already speaking English to the rest of
your fire team or squad which lets the terrorist know you are there and you are his enemy. You are speaking loud
because your hearing is poor from shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many other rooms to
enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3
seconds later), you still have this terrorist (that was just shooting at you from a mosque) playing possum. What do
you do? You double-tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what!
What about the Geneva Convention and all that Law of Land Warfare stuff? What about it? Without even addressing the
issues at hand, your first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by
12 than carried by 6." Bear in mind that this tactic of double-tapping a fallen terrorist is a perpetual mindset that
is reinforced by experience on a minute-by-minute basis. Secondly, you are fighting an unlawful combatant in a
Sanctuary, which is a double No-No on his part. Third, tactically you are in no position to take "prisoners" because
there are more rooms to search and clear, and the
behavior of said terrorist indicates that he is up to no good. No good in Fallujah is a very large place, and the low
end of no good and the high end of no good are fundamentally the same. Marines end up getting hurt or killed. So there
is no compelling reason for you to do anything but double-tap this idiot and get on with the mission.
If you are a veteran, then everything I have just written is self-evident. If you are not a veteran, then at least
try to put yourself in the situation. Remember, in Fallujah there is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow, there is
only now. Right NOW. Have you ever lived in NOW for a week? It is really, really not easy. If you have never
lived in NOW for longer than it takes to finish the big roller coaster at Six Flags, then shut your hole about
putting Marines in jail for "War Crimes".