May 30, 2008
WHY AQ CAN'T WIN:
Afghanistan: How British medic shot suicide bomb suspect then saved his life (Thomas Harding, 31/05/2008, Daily Telegraph)
"He was about 15 metres away which for a car bomb is very, very close," L/Cpl Tingle, 28, told The Daily Telegraph. "I thought to myself 'I'm going to turn into red mist' because those vehicle bombs are packed full of explosive. It would have taken out our vehicle easily and probably the other three vehicles, killing a dozen of us."He was heading straight towards us so I just fired the shot to stop him." [...]
The vehicle skidded to a stop and was surrounded by troops. The Afghan driver had been hit by the medic's bullet, which had passed through his neck.
"I ran over and thought this is going to go one of two ways – either very severe or he's going to be dead.
"I was just thinking medical – that I have a casualty and I have to deal with it."
Fearful that at any time the wound could suddenly erupt if the carotid artery was torn, the medic carefully applied pressure with a first field dressing.
He classified the Afghan as a T1 injury, the most serious category, and called for a helicopter evacuation but the air vehicle was already dealing with another casualty.
An ambulance was called from the Lashkar Gah hospital but the roads were too difficult for it to get through. With the Afghan still bleeding, the soldiers decided to drive him to hospital themselves and loaded him on the back of a Wimick with an intravenous drip attached to the machine gun mount.
A sand storm blew in, making navigation extremely difficult, but an hour after the shooting they arrived at the hospital.
Reflecting on the events earlier this month, L/Cpl Tingle said he felt guilt and anger towards the Afghan despite the fact that he was not actually a bomber.
"I felt angry because he made me do it. I thought 'why didn't you just stop'. I also felt guilty because I had hurt somebody and then especially when you see the extent of the injuries you caused.
"But I have no doubt that I did the right thing because at that point life was in danger and the shot had to be taken."
Our cultural superiority in a nutshell. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 30, 2008 9:19 PM
The lad had obviously paid attention during the JAG LoW lecture. I could have used this account as a case study to illustrate how and when enemy personnel change over from combatant to protected person.
Posted by: Lou Gots at May 31, 2008 5:38 AMSorry Lou but to paraphrase Dickens: "The Law of war is an ass" if it requires this outcome.
These men risked their lives to save a terrorist. They should have let him die.
He will eventually escape or get out in an amnesty. He will then have to be killed again unless he drives another car which maybe kills 50 people.
Posted by: Bob at May 31, 2008 12:00 PMNo, Lou's absolutely right. The driver didn't actually have a bomb. It was perfectly right for the soldiers to think he did, given the lunatic driving, and to act accordingly. It was also perfectly right to treat his injuries once they determined he didn't. Good job all around.
Posted by: Random Lawyer at May 31, 2008 12:45 PMWhy win a war if your culture doesn't produce this outcome?
Posted by: oj at May 31, 2008 8:30 PM