Kevin Sites tells his side of the story

Kevin Sites kicked off a media firestorm this last week when he released tape of a U.S. Marine in Fallujah shooting an unarmed and apparently unconscious insurgent in an Iraqi mosque. Liberals are calling him a hero for reporting a "war crime." Conservatives are calling him a "traitor" for releasing the tape without placing it in context - including the regular habit of Iraqi terrorists of booby-trapping the dead and dying. Well, now Mr. Sites is taking a chance and telling his side of the story in a very interesting BLog entry.

For a moment, I'm paralyzed still taping with the old man in the foreground. I get up after a beat and tell the Marines again, what I had told the lieutenant -- that this man -- all of these wounded men -- were the same ones from yesterday. That they had been disarmed treated and left here.



At that point the Marine who fired the shot became aware that I was in the room. He came up to me and said, "I didn't know sir-I didn't know." The anger that seemed present just moments before turned to fear and dread...



Making sure you know the basis for my choices after the incident is as important to me as knowing how the incident went down. I did not in any way feel like I had captured some kind of "prize" video. In fact, I was heartsick. Immediately after the mosque incident, I told the unit's commanding officer what had happened. I shared the video with him, and its impact rippled all the way up the chain of command. Marine commanders immediately pledged their cooperation...



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.

I don't care what side of the story you fall on, this is must read posting. A true case of the marines doing what they thought was right, a reporter who respects the marines doing what he thought was right, and of a media spin machine which is determined to make them enemies. Kudos to the men on the ground for not falling into the trap that the spin-doctors are setting for them.