You know, I don't think it's real. Feel free to counter me on this, but I've watched this video several times, and watched for the exact things I'm about to mention and am decently sure the dog is false. If I'm wrong, well I'm wrong, I'm open to criticism, disproving, etc. etc.

a) For starters, the dog is incredibly clean for an iraqi dog. Now, I haven't been there, but I asked my cousin who got back several months ago, and he said dogs are usually extremely dirty around those parts. Note the dog is white...with like no dirt on it at all. That's strange to me.

b) The dog isn't moving. This is the real killer for me. I know a decent amount of you have pets. No matter how much your pet trusts you, if you pick it up by the scruff of its neck, it will squirm or move. The legs will flail, looking for ground. The body will try to turn a little bit, trying to find the ground. Anything - the dog will NOT remain perfectly still. If you watch the video, the dog does not move even once. Not the head, nor feet, nor body, nor tail, nor nothing! Furthermore, when he winds up to launch it, the dog is in such a strange position, it's in EXACTLY the same position before, and it's upside down. Dogs do NOT behave that way!

c) The yelping stays the same pitch as the dog goes flying. By the doppeler effect, the dog's pitch should decrease, and the volume should drop. The volume and pitch both stay exactly the same - a physical impossibility.

Regardless of whether the dog was real or not, this is a pretty sick thing to do. As an animal lover, I'm simply astounded by this. I would, however, like to caution people before suggesting this man be fired, killed, tried etc. etc. (i've seen some strange comments on youtube at least). He is a marine, we do not know the backstory...perhaps he was bitten by a dog and was severely wounded and has a supreme dislike of dogs. Perhaps the overwhelming dog population in Iraq (the number of strays in Iraq is absurdly high.) and decided to vent. In any case, while it may not excuse his irresponsible action, I'd suggest waiting for the full story before condemning this man. When it comes down to it, when someone attacks you, the dog is not going to protect you. The marine, regardless of how inhuman he is, will.

Note that I am disgusted by this, especially if it's real. This video makes me want to hug my kitty, but I'm far away from it. :( STupid college.

(I do believe it's fake though. Even if it's fake, this video is in very poor taste.)

[edit: This may be out of poor taste itself, but I found this comment very funny. One of my friends turned to me after the video and said: "Would anyone have cared if he threw a squid?". I laughed for a solid five minutes. I'm curious, in all honesty, how many of you would have cared if it was a squid? At best, I'd assume 2-3 of you would care, out of a population of like a hundred. Just think about that...that's sad.]

The best cure for this is to give moral support to the marines that we know, and cherish the ones we absolutely know will never do any puppy hurling.

Go Flare! You are the sole basis of my respect for the military, as the only other person I know who went off to be in the navy ended up taking my hat, decided to join the airforce, and then pulled a part time job in Florida as a security guard for concerts.

Never gave back my hat, but I'm sure that if you borrowed my hat, you'd have probably returned it.

...Are people not paying attention? It says he was believed to be based in Hawaii.

Edit: Damn Pyros and his ninja-y ways, but I agree. *hugs Flare*

Of course this is disturbing. Many of us here are rational, well-adjusted if slightly socially awkward semi-introverts with typically a full range of human emotion and everyday problems.

The training Marines actually go through is a whole 'nother ballpark, however. Aside from the intense physical standard required, some of the other methods have to have a psychological impact. Just heard from a friend still training for, as he described it, being "a grunt with bombs". One of the exercises, from what I gathered from the conversation, was that they were plopped down in the middle of Forest, Nowhere with some supplies and told "We'll see you in seven days." That's the tip of the iceberg. These guys are trained to shoot, maim, kill, dismember, explode, impale, stab, torch, and generally shuffle off the mortal coil whoever their superiors point them at, and do it with remarkable efficiency. These are no everyday skillsets, nor ones typically assosciated with empathy. It makes sense that while there are some (Flare, relatives referenced in thread, relatives of my own) that can withstand being turned into Terminator while retaining relative emotional standards, others with significantly less empathetic fortitude might not.

Not saying it's right by any means, however much I happen to hate dogs. Just saying when you train people to become killthings, some are going to be intelligent about it and some aren't. It's appalling, but I'm not really sure how anyone could be surprised.


Edit: Also, most probably wouldn't care if it was a squid. Probably because dogs are companions around these parts. I'm sure the Squid-Riders of the midatlantic probably wouldn't care if it was a dog, you sick squidkilling bastards.

EditEdit: I'd have thrown a squid.

It's in Hawaii.


No, the puppy bunches its legs closer towards the beginning. Also, having owned many cats and kittens over the years, I can tell you that cats, at least, freeze up when held by the scruff. It's a natural reaction to PREVENT harm, as that's how the mothers carry them, and it doesn't do for them to flail and get hurt.


You're hearing echoes, from what I can tell. I'm in class right now, but when I watched it, it sounded very much like echoes, which are trickier to calculate the Doppler effect on than open-air noise. Also, the Doppler effect is most easily applied to a long, constant sound, which short yaps aren't.

Throwing the squid is at least less painful than putting it upside down under the light of the sun and waiting until it dies, I have to say.

Squids aren't cute. Lots of people eat squid. Squids are invertebrates (unless I'm very mistaken). We can't find a whole lot to like about them, and they're slimy and gross.

Puppies, on the other hand, are cute and fluffy. They are also young animals, which we, from an early age, are trained to adore and protect - not even counting all of those instances of people being referred to as "evil enough to kill puppies/kittens". Humans also have a LONG history with canines, and dogs are known to be some of the most loyal animals around. For some of us, it's like watching someone throwing our best friend, or a family member off of a cliff.

I, personally, hope to any and all religious figures that the video was fake. If it was real, the marines should be discharged, fined and... I dunno, punished in some other way. If it was fake, they should be given a stern talking-to and 200 pushups.

At the very least, they should say whether it was real or not, and if it was fake they should make every effort to prove it.

Lots of people in Korea eat puppies though.

My problem with this is not about a puppy being killed, but about a puppy being killed not for food or self-defence, but rather to laugh at the situation. The fact that these people take advantage of an innocent without any purpose makes you wonder how do they treat those individuals they consider "their inferiors", be it human or other species.

:gonk: I was not aware of this!!

Could be just a cultural thing, but I don't see why anyone would WANT to eat a puppy. And yes, I realize the irony; I eat hamburgers like many other North Americans, when the cow is sacred in India...

....I'd still trade Starcraft skills for a live puppy any day.

Actually, I believe Koreans wait until the dogs are full grown to eat them. It makes more meat that way. But thats just speculation.

At any rate, it really does make me wonder if the mental abuse marines endure during training really does train soldiers instead of just brainwashing them.