Dear gawd.  I wonder what kind of retaliation we will get from this? Wow, just wow. Freaking idiots.

Well, there has to be more to this story than anyone is saying. First of all, I don’t think it’s the ‘done thing’ for Marines to go around undercover, dressed up as locals. Maybe even illegal? Kinda? So who were they?

The unidentified Iraqi source may not have had his story quite right, would be my guess. Sure there are undercover militia, but firing into a crowd of civilians? ... I don’t buy it.

Sounds like an Iraqi spin to me. .... ?

I dunno Lynn. I think the Iraqi cops and gov’t officials are supposed to be working with us (coalition, such as it is). More or less. Something was going on and it must have gone terribly wrong. Who knows if we’ll ever hear the real story.

Don’t confuse British Marines with American ones.  The Brits have been much more willing to use “unconventional” methods than the US Marines ever have, so the uniform thing might not be as outlandish as it seems.

See Robert Kaplan’s article in the November edition of The Atlantic for examples of the US Army’s Special Forces’ willingness to “go native” in Afghanistan, too.

I know I live in the land of make believe, long ago and far away, but don’t the Geneva Conventions and supplementary protocols sort of frown on that? Not that anyone pays attention to such quaint rules anymore.

I don’t know the answer to that.  Yes, yes, I know...such honesty is rare these days.  Pick yourself up off the floor, willya?

Picked up and dusted off.

The Society of Professional Journalists has an article defining some of the Geneva Conventions rules regarding uniforms. According to it, a military person out on any kind of military operation, is obligated by the Conventions to wear a uniform. But I’m sure there are loopholes. Must be. Either that or the signatories are simply ignoring the parts they don’t like these days. Or using mercenaries.