Comments on: The Killings In Haditha

Marine Tells 60 Minutes He's Sorry Iraqi Civilians Were Killed, But Insists He Made Right Decision

[heatherpiper]

I am so disgusted at 60 minutes and Scott Pelley. How dare you pass judgement on our troops fighting this war! They only did what they are trained for...fighting is a war!!! If the people of Iraq would stand up and fight for their country there would be very little casualities of war. They are responsible for these deaths! Our soliders have to make split second life and death decisions that a suit "journalist" has no concept of. Scott Pelley should be ashamed of himself. He is NOT doing his job. A true journalist is someone that interviews with an unbiased attitude. Clearly, Scott Pelley''s only mission with this interview was to humiliate our troops. Where were the 60 minutes executives to monitor the garbage they are putting on their program?

[rtmanfla]

Scott,
You poor poor excuse of a TV journalist. It is so obvious that you came into this interview with a twisted, perverted bias with not a modicum of insite into the pressures that our young servicemen face on an hourly basis in this horrible war. This honorable soldier is being judged and persecuted by you while defending your right to deliver a shoddy, at best, broadcast that demeans our troops and belittles the job that our government has sent, and trained them to do. Shame on you is being kinder than you deserve. When have you ever had to make a split second life or death descision? Thanks to this soldier and thousands like him, the only decision you will ever have to make is which camera do I have to face to get all the attention I think I deserve. Poor 60 minutes. You have sunk to a new low and lost another viewer.

[nikcsdad]

In 17 years at CBS News, Pelley has worked as a war correspondent in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and the former Yugoslavia. oh bull ***,,,war correspondent??????

[nikcsdad]

pelly have you ever served in the military? probably not,,,,but you question the actions of someone who has,,,,what piece of ***,,,,,

[nikcsdad]

dear scott, would you mind listing your combat decorations

[nikcsdad]

dear scott,,,,remember ernie pyle,,,,

[northstar62]

The Marine Corps does it''s best to train the young men and women put in it''s care to accomplish their mission and survive. The tactics are time tested and have saved the lives of many Marines over the years. What makes our Marines the best in the world is their aggressive and professional warfighting.

It is not wrong to investigate possible wrong doing. However when we have reporters, like Pelley, who have no background or experience in a combat environment. Individuals who have not had the lives of other men or women at risk because of split second decisions that must be made in the heat of combat play armchair commando after months after the action we put future Marines and Soldiers at risk.

If our small unit leaders go into combat with a concern about how their actions will be displayed on 60 minutes or other TV shows months after it will cause them to hesitate and that may prove fatal to themselves and their men.

Pelley did no one any favors by putting that doubt in the minds of our young men and women facing combat in this war or future wars.

[nikcsdad]

wow, what a tough interview, i tell you want,,,it makes me sick to watch someone who''s never been in combat, questioning someone who has,,,,talk about arm chair quaterbacking at its best,,,wonder how many days 60 minutes spent preparing these questions,,,,wonder how many seconds this marine had to make a life or death decision. 60 minutes, go to hell,,,,you did a job on these kid, but next time you question decisions made in combat, get someone who knows what its like to be scared to hell to ask the questions,,,,i hope this kid, like the rest get off,,,

[jeffd2323]

hey payattentionu u r exactly who im talking about dont like our country move to where ever u want we dont need u or want u other wise shut up and enjoy you freedom while my brothers and sisters protect your right to say any thing u want SEMPER FI

[jeffd2323]

well scott i take from your interview and i seen both that u never served in a combat unit i am sorry that innocent people got killed but war is not pretty and people die innocent and guilty that is why they call it war. as to the marine captain u had on who seemed to bail u out he was not there and he said he wasent so u cant ues him to say the staff sgt was wrong it kills me every one loves there freedom but no one realizes freedom is not free semper fi marines jeff delsignore

[jeffd2323]

well scott i take from your interview and i seen both that u never served in a combat unit i am sorry that innocent people got killed but war is not pretty and people die innocent and guilty that is why they call it war. as to the marine captain u had on who seemed to bail u out he was not there and he said he wasent so u cant ues him to say the staff sgt was wrong it kills me every one loves there freedom but no one realizes freedom is not free semper fi marines jeff delsignore

[sberk1]

Garbage show. It is very easy to be the arm chair quarterback.

It is very sad that these people lost their lives, but I dont think the cruelty of war should be placed on individual soldiers. They are given guns and grenades, not flowers and lollipops.

60 minutes should of asked these tough questions to the CEO of Blackwater after 17 were killed in Nisour Square where the FBI found no evidence of blackwater being shot at.

60 minutes. Either create better stories or get off the air.

[payattentio2]

Why are all of you so judgemental of Mr. Pelley for doing his job and interviewing this soldier about the horrors of the War in Iraq? A horrible mistake was made and many innocent people died as a result of it. It is a reality of this war that occurs almost daily in smaller numbers. What I got out of this interview wasn''t that the Sgt was a monster, but that our soldiers are being put in this position everyday while in Iraq fighting an enemy that is sometimes an enemy or sometimes a mere family man defending his home and country from being occupied by another country. While this interview talks about the innocent women and children that died, it doesn''t mention the innocent men that died and the ones that are killed daily in Iraq. Its a war that cannot be won and our soldiers should not be put in that position of having to chose between their morals and thier instinct for survival everyday. Our soldiers are being killed, disabled and mentally damaged. How are the men that were there on that mission that day going to fit back into our society without guilt eating them alive despite trying to convince themselves that they did the right thing. We need to bring our troops home now and let the Iraqi nation heal itself. They are fighting us for being there, just like we would fight them if they came and invaded our country. Thanks Scott Pelley for having the courage to do this interview

[judyplod]

Scott Pelley, you make me ashamed. I felt like you were pointing blame and degrading our soldiers. What you should have been doing was showing them how grateful we are. This is war and there will be casualities. Remember 911----there were casualities.

[wynn141]

I am dissapointed in Cbs news, 60 minutes, and Scott pelley. CBS and Scott Pelley are obviously opponents of the war. However, you should be ashamed to be advocates of prosecuting this man for defending his unit to what he obviously believed to be a threat. Put yourself in his shoes. Bloodshed everywhere you look, the enemy dressed as civilians and hiding in these residential neighborhoods. In an effort to be "politically correct" , we are putting more undue stress on our troops and prolonging this war. We ask these men to go fight and then tell them don''t shoot the wrong person because we will prosecute you. GET REAL! There is truth to the old addage that "all is fair in love and war". I respect the sargeant and his men and the decision that was made. I lost any respect I had left for CBS news and 60 Minutes for allowing Scott Pelley to even hold an interview.

[arlenereta]

Scott Pelley,
Hindsight is 20/20. How dare you presume to judge Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich? When did you don on black robes. I thought you were a reporter or perhaps an interviewer. Guess I was wrong, you''re just a hack trying for some sensationalism. Shame on you!

[janesegal]

Watching this segment just made me angrier than ever. If anyone is to blame, it is George Bush and *** Chaney for getting us into this mess.

This young man was trained to kill. He is a killing machine because of our training to go to war. I felt so bad for him when I looked at this child that we sent to kill with no thought of whether or not the ones he ordered killed were innocent or guilty. This is what war is all about.

When are we going to work so hard for peace?

[modelt5271]

I wish Sgt. Wulerich the best but I suspect he will be unfairly punished, i.e. *** flows downhill. This guy and his unit were put in a Catch 22 position. What is the most basic human instinct? Answer: Self-preservation.

These guys and many others like them have been put in an impossible position. How does anyone operate in an occupation surrounded by an indefinite, virtually permanent insurgency? This is the fault of the Bush administration and their gang of thugs who refused to listen to senior military officials who advised them to send in as many 400,000 troops at the beginning of the invasion. They realized that it would take this many U.S. soldiers to nip an inevitable insurgency in the bud. Of course, this advice was ignored and as a result the so-called Iraq War (actually an occupation, not a war) has been concerned with dealing with an intractable insurgency that has been going on since mid-2003, a few months after %u201Cshock and awe%u201D.

The blame belongs to the war criminals who initiated and incompetently administered this immoral %u201Cwar%u201D from the start. I dream of a day when Bush, Cheney et al are brought to justice and prosecuted as the war criminals they are.

As for Scott Pelley, he''s just another media pimp actor playing out his role as a so-called TV journalist.

[modelt5271]

I wish Sgt. Wulerich the best but I suspect he will be unfairly punished, i.e. *** flows downhill. This guy and his unit were put in a Catch 22 position. What is the most basic human instinct? Answer: Self-preservation.

These guys and many others like them have been put in an impossible position. How does anyone operate in an occupation surrounded by an indefinite, virtually permanent insurgency? This is the fault of the Bush administration and their gang of thugs who refused to listen to senior military officials who advised them to send in as many 400,000 troops at the beginning of the invasion. They realized that it would take this many U.S. soldiers to nip an inevitable insurgency in the bud. Of course, this advice was ignored and as a result the so-called Iraq War (actually an occupation, not a war) has been concerned with dealing with an intractable insurgency that has been going on since mid-2003, a few months after %u201Cshock and awe%u201D.

The blame belongs to the war criminals who initiated and incompetently administered this immoral %u201Cwar%u201D from the start. I dream of a day when Bush, Cheney et al are brought to justice and prosecuted as the war criminals they are.

As for Scott Pelley, he''s just another media pimp actor playing out his role as a so-called TV journalist.

[brianbwb-2009]

"the only problem with your logic Brian is that the bosses never go down, its always the enlisted guys who get the shaft- saw it when i was in 40 years ago, hasn''''t changed an iota." Posted by fohe

So true, but I figure that sooner or later the enlisted will finally get it, and actually help us bring the big boys down, but until now the code of "omerta" that exists in the military still has the little guy taking the fall, and they go down without a whimper. Even Powell won''t rat out the rats above him.