A fellow Army SF guy recently wrote an article for Business Insider titled “Here’s the real reason that photos of bin Laden’s body won’t ever be shown.” In the article, Jack Murphy writes that inside sources claim,
“When all was said and done, UBL had over a hundred bullets in him, by the most conservative estimate.”
Murphy went on to write,
“what should concern you is a trend within certain special-operations units to engage in this type of self-indulgent, and ultimately criminal, behavior. Gone unchecked, these actions get worse over time.”
Where I grew up in the Army, we were trained to shoot a fallen enemy combatant as you approached, but once you came back to them, and they were still alive—unless they were a threat—you had to treat them as a wounded combatant and provide life-saving care.
Obviously, there was a lot of ambiguity in those set of instructions, and most warfighters agreed that a proper amount of rounds would ensure that no medical attention would be needed. Furthermore, there was a consensus that a breathing enemy is always a threat—the mind is our greatest weapon after all. /S
I know it’s common practice for military dog handlers let their dogs bite a dead enemy combatant while on the objective. Apparently it helps keep the dogs sharp and permits them to act out their training to the fullest.
Can the same be said about for our Special Operators?
Personally, I don’t have a problem with America’s warrior class putting some frustration rounds into an enemy that was just trying to rob them of their life.
What say you?