Shooting the messenger

The recent Marine shooting of a wounded Iraqi combatant in a Fallujah mosque has stirred some outrage. Caught on videotape, the Marine is seen shooting the wounded, barely alive man, after stating he believed the man was pretending to be dead. In the Mideast, the outrage is directed against the U.S., but here in America, much of the outrage is being directed against Kevin Sites, the NBC freelance journalist who videotaped the event. Sites presents an eloquent reply at his own blog site. Concluding his open letter to the Marine unit, he says: "So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera -- the story of his death became my responsibility."

We live in a strange political climate when those who chronicle atrocities committed by U.S. troops then become themselves the object of attack from the pro-Bush wing of the media. I have added Sites to my blogroll.