The guy who 'shot' the video
Here is the guy who 'shot' the video's website:
http://www.kevinsites.net/
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Here is the letter I wrote to him:
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Kevin,
I read your report.
After going through the whole thing, it appears to ME that the main reason the wounded guy was shot was that YOU BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT HE WAS STILL ALIVE.
"I squat beside them, inches away and begin to videotape them. Then I notice that the blood coming from the old man's nose is bubbling. A sign he is still breathing. So is the man next to him."
"In the particular circumstance I was reporting, it bothered me that the Marine didn't seem to consider the other insurgents a threat -- the one very obviously moving under the blanket, or even the two next to me that were still breathing."
So, perhaps you are feeling guilty over the fact that YOUR ACTIONS got a terrorist dead? If said terrorist did NOT WANT TO KILL AMERICANS, why was he in the mosque in the first place? He got what he deserved. Make no mistake, had he been able to do so, he would have killed YOU and every American he could have. You have seen it for years, yet seem confused about who 'THE GOOD GUYS' are.
As a FREELANCE photojournalist (motorcycles mainly), you and I know that there are stories that ARE NEVER REPORTED, regardless of their 'merit' or timeliness. Mainly because editors CHOOSE what the public sees, NOT THE REPORTER. Again, it appears you are feeling guilty BECAUSE your editor ran this report when it should have probably been held UNTIL ALL THE FACTS have been known AND the event was reviewed by higher ups in the military. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN and perhaps you are feeling guilty because of that. You could have easily turned the tape over to the MILITARY COMMANDERS and NOT turned it into the pool. You even state you considered this option. Now, because YOU CHOSE WRONGLY, American soldiers lives are at stake. Your report, being run three or four times PER HOUR on Al Jazeera just inflames those in the Arab world who ONLY WANT TO KILL AMERICANS. Perhaps that too plays into why you are so confused.
"I considered not feeding the tape to the pool -- or even, for a moment, destroying it. But that thought created the same pit in my stomach that witnessing the shooting had. It felt wrong. Hiding this wouldn't make it go away. There were other people in that room. What happened in that mosque would eventually come out. I would be faced with the fact that I had betrayed truth as well as a life supposedly spent in pursuit of it."
While what happened in the mosque would have been REPORTED, only YOUR PICTURES fanned the flames of hatred of Americans. So, you chose incorrectly and NOW American soldiers are paying for your choice. Again, perhaps that's another reason why you are feeling so guilty. BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW YOU HANDLED THIS WAS WRONG. Hindsight sucks, eh?
"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.
The burdens of war, as you so well know, are unforgiving for all of us."
HAD the Iraqi TERRORIST DIED FROM HIS WOUNDS BEFORE you got there, this would NOT have been a story. Your bringing attention to the fact that (as you say) the terrorist did not move and then got shot is haunting you. IT SHOULD. YOU ARE THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH. Not the Marine that reacted to the fact that a guy that looked 'dead' was not. YOU BROUGHT THAT TO THE MARINES ATTENTION by getting 'inches away' and then started filming him. Had you NOT DONE SO, that terrorist would have either died of his wounds unnoticed OR been taken into custody and his wounds would have gotten him the medical attention he needed. He would have then spent the rest of his life (possibly) in an American Military prison.
So, it appears that YOU are the REASON why the MARINE shot the guy that was supposed to be dead. YOU WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH THAT. Especially AFTER the Marine has been cleared of all wrong doing.
Sincerely,
Jim W
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I was number 110,233 who signed the petition.
