Rules of Engagement (film)

"Here's my case, it's all I've got. Thirty-two years of service, thirty-two years of heroism as a United States Marine, regardless of what you decide here, Colonel Childers' career as a Marine is over. He will never again command men in combat. The Ambassador and his family are alive today because of him, and I know how the Ambassador feels because Colonel Childers saved my life too. I am alive today only because of him! I'm alive today and I have a son, because of the heroism of Colonel Childers. To ask this man to risk his life for his country, to ask this man to watch his Marines die in his arms and call it murder when he's defending himself, to call it murder for firing back when being fired upon, to call it murder for saving the lives of his countrymen under the most extreme of circumstances, that's... my fellow Marines... that's hanging him out to dry... and it's worse than leaving him wounded on a battlefield. That is something you do not do if you are a United States Marine, and it is something I pray to God you won't do here either."

"Colonel Terry Childers is a decorated war hero, a trusted leader of American Marines, and I wish that was all there was to it. Unfortunately, there are 83 dead Yemeni citizens, many of them women and children. Colonel Hodges would have you believe that this crowd was armed. He would also have you believe that there is a videotape proving this to be true. There is no tape exonerating Colonel Childers. There is no evidence exonerating Colonel Childers. Is Colonel Childers a man capable of killing defenseless, unarmed people? Is he capable of ordering the execution of innocent men and women? Is he capable of executing P.O.W.s with his own hand? Unfortunately, we have shown that he is. You have heard the sad testimony of Colonel Cao, who witnessed Colonel Childers' barbarism firsthand. You've even heard Colonel Childers' own admission that his desire was to "waste" them, regardless of who they were. Now, we are faced with the difficult prospect of convicting one of our own. None of us wants to do this, but you've heard the facts, and it is unavoidable. Colonel Terry Childers ordered the senseless slaughter of a peaceful crowd! Now, as Marines, we do not get the luxury of covering up our mistakes. We must air them, thereby ensuring that they never happen again."