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Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On 23 Aug 2003 02:44:28 GMT, Ignoramus25883
wrote: In article , Tim May wrote: In article , Ignoramus25883 wrote: There is only one item in this article with which I mildly disagree: `` There was certainly no hint in any of the oceans of confident comment and prediction that issued forth from such circles before the March-April war that U.S. forces would never be able to establish effective civilian control over much of Iraq and that instead it would almost immediately fall into the hands of rabidly anti-American Shiite and Sunni religious networks and never thereafter be seriously challenged. '' But... What about me? What about my comment that it was a bad idea to invade a country where civilians are armed to the teeth? As an NRA member, I know very well that it is a bad idea, and I was not shy to communicate it. But no one listened to the poor old Ignoramus! Everyone thought that they were genius patriots and that Ignoramus was, well, an ignorant traitor. Now I am in the unfortunate role of a Cassandra, which American servicemen are getting killed in Iraq for no good reason. And me, and others, even George Bush, Sr. (recall the 1998 book quote I posted here, which I'll post again at the end, as a reminder). Okay, so we see a rush of intelligent people trying to establish that they, too, warned others about the dangers of this invasion. And obviously your predictions are well remembered. I just wanted to embellish my own role a little, as that UPI article gave me a perfect chance. The stupid sheople "patriots" who thought themselves to be experts in Realpolitik and salivated at the thought of stolen Iraqi oil, are slowly realizing that something is not quite right. Expect them to blame Bush who "misinformed" them. But make no mistake, they were intentionally blind to his obvious lies. Even some pro-gun people forgot why the founding fathers intended us to be armed to the teeth, and decided that invading a country with much more brutal people who are armed to the teeth with great personal weapons (RPG-7 and AK-47), was a great idea. and including (despite Iraq's generally secular population) no small number of people more than willing to glorify themselves and secure eternal buddy status with Allah by blowing themselves up along with as many "oppressors" as possible. People so disposed as notoriously hard to stop. Israel's experiences with them - even after turning their entire country into a ****ty, repressive armed camp where fear is constant, torture sanctioned, and freedom basically nonexistant - should be ample evidence of that. |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan"
wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
In article , Jake Nichols
wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University Kent State won't happen again. During the time of Kent State, the U.S. military had little choice except to kill students who protested their actions. Today, other choices exist. With the establishment of Camp X-Ray, America's premier concentration camp, those who speak against the country and its oil interests can be sent for an indeterminate stay. Arbeit Macht Frei, --Tim May |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
Kent State won't happen again.
During the time of Kent State, the U.S. military had little choice except to kill students who protested their actions. Today, other choices exist. With the establishment of Camp X-Ray, America's premier concentration camp, those who speak against the country and its oil interests can be sent for an indeterminate stay. Arbeit Macht Frei, --Tim May It wasn't really the "military" who opened fire on the kids at Kent State. It was mostly other kids, (many no older than the students), serving in the National Guard. In recent times, the National Guard is being deployed routinely, but in the 60's there was a draft to keep the armed services fully supplied with fresh recruits. Some people (including a future prez or two) went into the National Guard to do part-time duty stateside rather than go to Viet Nam. National Guardsmen and ROTC students had a real tough time on a lot of campuses- they were treated as "sell outs" by the most vocal portions of the student body. The NGmen couldn't have been thinking clearly that day. Obviously. I don't think a professional soldier would have opened fire on kids at university, especially after they had begun to disperse as ordered. Some of the kids killed at Kent State were shot in the back- and that makes it difficult to claim self defense. Even the worst abuses in Viet Nam, (use My Lai as an example), were often the result of putting inexperienced young officers and kid soldiers into situations that required experience and mature judgment. Most of the people who did their service during that time were good people, and most who were compelled by conscience to speak out against the war were good people as well. It's tragic that 40 years later, we all too often characterize people on either side of the issue by the most extreme behavior of either side at the time. |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:51:26 -0500, Jake Nichols
wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University And in the middle of the Turbulent 60s, with bomb throwers, mass riots, takeovers and thrashing hundreds of universities, the only one you can come up with is Kent State? Four Dead in Ohiiiooo! Sounds pretty ****ing reluctant to me. Gunner "The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know." -- P.J O'Rourke (1989) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
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Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:03:45 GMT, Gunner
wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:51:26 -0500, Jake Nichols wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University And in the middle of the Turbulent 60s, with bomb throwers, mass riots, takeovers and thrashing hundreds of universities, the only one you can come up with is Kent State? Four Dead in Ohiiiooo! Sounds pretty ****ing reluctant to me. Gunner We are talking about the USA military and not Militaries in general, yes? ****************** http://makeashorterlink.com/?C55B163B5 BAGHDAD - Panicked by the relentless Iraqi resistance attacks that target them day in and day out, trigger-happy U.S. troops shot dead pointblank an Iraqi father and three of his four children, one of them only eight years old, a leading British newspaper reported Sunday, August 10. ******************* http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1D9513B5 IT started when a young boy hurled a sandal at a US jeep - it ended with two Iraqis dead and 16 seriously injured. I watched in horror as American troops opened fire on a crowd of 1,000 unarmed people here yesterday. Many, including children, were cut down by a 20-second burst of automatic gunfire during a demonstration against the killing of 13 protesters at the Al-Kaahd school on Monday. *************************** http://makeashorterlink.com/?B21A233B5 (While the information on this link hasn't been proven or sufficently disproven, the allegation remains, IIRC) All of this has informed at least the establishment reaction to the news that Lt. j.g. Bob Kerrey and the six Navy SEALs he led into the Mekong Delta village of Thanh Phong on the night of Feb. 25, 1969, killed--murdered, it has been alleged--at least 13 unarmed women and children ****************** Behind Colin Powell's Legend After a brief mention of the My Lai massacre in My American Journey, Powell penned a partial justification of the Americal's brutality. In a chilling passage, Powell explained the routine practice of murdering unarmed male Vietnamese. "I recall a phrase we used in the field, MAM, for military-age male," Powell wrote. "If a helo spotted a peasant in black pajamas who looked remotely suspicious, a possible MAM, the pilot would circle and fire in front of him. If he moved, his movement was judged evidence of hostile intent, and the next burst was not in front, but at him. ****************** http://travel.hubcom.net/vietnam/mylai.html In one of the greatest attrocities of the whole war 504 unarmed civilians were murdered by American soldiers in the village of My Lai on the morning of 16th March 1968. The site has been carefully preserved both as a memorial to those who died and as a museum. **************** March 31 - US soldiers kill 10 members, all women and children, of the same family at a checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq. April 1 - US Marines kill a driver and wound his passenger as he approaches a checkpoint near Shatra, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. April 11 - US Marines fire on two cars approaching a checkpoint in Nasiriyah killing two children and wounding nine others. No weapons or explosives were found. April 28 - April 30 - US soldiers kill 20 unarmed protestors when they fire into crowds in Fallujah, Iraq. Human Rights Watch accuses troops of excessive force. Ninety civilians wounded. May 24 - US soldiers kill three teenage boys celebrating a wedding in a motorcade at a checkpoint in Samarra, north of Baghdad. No weapons or explosives were found. May 26 - US soldiers fire on a truck that failed to stop in time at a roadblock in Samarra, Iraq. Two children are killed. June 18 - US soldiers fire into a protesting crowd of 500 outside US Civilian Authority headquarters. Two Iraqi civilians killed. June 26 - US soldiers on patrol fire on a Baghdad house rooftop killing a12 -year old carrying a blanket. June 30 - US soldiers fire on separate cars at checkpoints. Four Iraqi civilians die. No weapons or explosives found. July 3 - An Iraqi civilian tells Agence France Presse that he was handcuffed, gagged and later beaten by a US soldier who found a handgun in his car. July 9 - US soldiers atop the Durah police station in Baghdad fire on an Iraqi civilian fixing a car at a repair shop. Soldiers mistook the car’s ignition distributor for a grenade. July 22 - US forces fired into a crowd of 40 to 50 rock-throwing protesters gathered in Karbala seeking entry to the Imam Hussein Mosque. One man is killed. July 26 - The Pentagon announces that four US soldiers will be put under investigation for beating Iraqi prisoners at detention centers. July 27 - US soldiers of Task Force 20 kill 11 civilian passers-by while raiding the home of Prince Rabiah Muhamed Al-Habib in search of Saddam Hussein. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez admitted at a Baghdad press conference that “up to five” might have been killed, but refused to take responsibility. Eyewitnesses tell reporters that four of the dead were cremated in the car they were riding, which came under heavy US gunfire. July 30 - Two Iraqi civilians on foot shot dead by US soldiers in the Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. August 8 - US forces fire on a car carrying an Iraqi family at a checkpoint north of Baghdad. Five Iraqis, including three children, were killed, and two others wounded. August11 - US soldiers kill six Iraqi civilians at three different checkpoints in Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. The above list is by no means comprehensive. Other stories of civilians murdered in Iraq continue to go unreported. Hoping to stave off the incensed anger of a threatened Iraqi population, US military officials paid $262,263 in compensation as of August13 . However, most of the money was for property damaged during botched raids. US military personnel have refused to comment saying only that an Iraqi family has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that US servicemen erred in killing an Iraqi civilian. In most cases, US military officials said that soldiers fired because they believed they were threatened. It remains to be seen whether US forces have been held accountable for the above deaths, and others. Human rights organizations have blamed US forces, as the occupying power, for the high number of civilian deaths. In most cases, Iraqi eyewitnesses have told this writer that soldiers just scream at confused Iraqi drivers in English. The Iraqis, who know of the deaths at checkpoints, panic and often do something wrong in their bid to avoid being shot or beaten. * Firas Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage. H |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:03:45 GMT, Gunner
wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:51:26 -0500, Jake Nichols wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University And in the middle of the Turbulent 60s, with bomb throwers, mass riots, takeovers and thrashing hundreds of universities, the only one you can come up with is Kent State? Four Dead in Ohiiiooo! Sounds pretty ****ing reluctant to me. Gunner And since we are discussing the US military and civilians.. lets not forget that we (USA Military) has now sunk to kidnapping as well. http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/7/28/17267240.cfm Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." And torture http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...news-headlines ASHLEY, Pa. -- Last year at this time, the four Army reservists were civilians, leading middle-class lives in the coal-laced hills of Pennsylvania they had always called home. Two were preparing for college, one was a state trooper who spent the summer running a camp for kids, and a fourth had served in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was a prison corrections officer. Today, 6,000 miles away and on active duty, the four are at the center of a controversy that has shaken this old mining town, where their 320th Reserve Military Police Battalion is based: They have been charged with mistreating and beating Iraqi prisoners of war -- charges that could lead to courts-martial and prison. |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 15:44:27 -0500, Jake Nichols
wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:03:45 GMT, Gunner wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:51:26 -0500, Jake Nichols wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University And in the middle of the Turbulent 60s, with bomb throwers, mass riots, takeovers and thrashing hundreds of universities, the only one you can come up with is Kent State? Four Dead in Ohiiiooo! Sounds pretty ****ing reluctant to me. Gunner We are talking about the USA military and not Militaries in general, yes? ****************** http://makeashorterlink.com/?C55B163B5 BAGHDAD - Panicked by the relentless Iraqi resistance attacks that target them day in and day out, trigger-happy U.S. troops shot dead pointblank an Iraqi father and three of his four children, one of them only eight years old, a leading British newspaper reported Sunday, August 10. ******************* http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1D9513B5 IT started when a young boy hurled a sandal at a US jeep - it ended with two Iraqis dead and 16 seriously injured. I watched in horror as American troops opened fire on a crowd of 1,000 unarmed people here yesterday. Many, including children, were cut down by a 20-second burst of automatic gunfire during a demonstration against the killing of 13 protesters at the Al-Kaahd school on Monday. *************************** http://makeashorterlink.com/?B21A233B5 (While the information on this link hasn't been proven or sufficently disproven, the allegation remains, IIRC) All of this has informed at least the establishment reaction to the news that Lt. j.g. Bob Kerrey and the six Navy SEALs he led into the Mekong Delta village of Thanh Phong on the night of Feb. 25, 1969, killed--murdered, it has been alleged--at least 13 unarmed women and children ****************** Behind Colin Powell's Legend After a brief mention of the My Lai massacre in My American Journey, Powell penned a partial justification of the Americal's brutality. In a chilling passage, Powell explained the routine practice of murdering unarmed male Vietnamese. "I recall a phrase we used in the field, MAM, for military-age male," Powell wrote. "If a helo spotted a peasant in black pajamas who looked remotely suspicious, a possible MAM, the pilot would circle and fire in front of him. If he moved, his movement was judged evidence of hostile intent, and the next burst was not in front, but at him. ****************** http://travel.hubcom.net/vietnam/mylai.html In one of the greatest attrocities of the whole war 504 unarmed civilians were murdered by American soldiers in the village of My Lai on the morning of 16th March 1968. The site has been carefully preserved both as a memorial to those who died and as a museum. **************** March 31 - US soldiers kill 10 members, all women and children, of the same family at a checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq. April 1 - US Marines kill a driver and wound his passenger as he approaches a checkpoint near Shatra, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. April 11 - US Marines fire on two cars approaching a checkpoint in Nasiriyah killing two children and wounding nine others. No weapons or explosives were found. April 28 - April 30 - US soldiers kill 20 unarmed protestors when they fire into crowds in Fallujah, Iraq. Human Rights Watch accuses troops of excessive force. Ninety civilians wounded. May 24 - US soldiers kill three teenage boys celebrating a wedding in a motorcade at a checkpoint in Samarra, north of Baghdad. No weapons or explosives were found. May 26 - US soldiers fire on a truck that failed to stop in time at a roadblock in Samarra, Iraq. Two children are killed. June 18 - US soldiers fire into a protesting crowd of 500 outside US Civilian Authority headquarters. Two Iraqi civilians killed. June 26 - US soldiers on patrol fire on a Baghdad house rooftop killing a12 -year old carrying a blanket. June 30 - US soldiers fire on separate cars at checkpoints. Four Iraqi civilians die. No weapons or explosives found. July 3 - An Iraqi civilian tells Agence France Presse that he was handcuffed, gagged and later beaten by a US soldier who found a handgun in his car. July 9 - US soldiers atop the Durah police station in Baghdad fire on an Iraqi civilian fixing a car at a repair shop. Soldiers mistook the car’s ignition distributor for a grenade. July 22 - US forces fired into a crowd of 40 to 50 rock-throwing protesters gathered in Karbala seeking entry to the Imam Hussein Mosque. One man is killed. July 26 - The Pentagon announces that four US soldiers will be put under investigation for beating Iraqi prisoners at detention centers. July 27 - US soldiers of Task Force 20 kill 11 civilian passers-by while raiding the home of Prince Rabiah Muhamed Al-Habib in search of Saddam Hussein. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez admitted at a Baghdad press conference that “up to five” might have been killed, but refused to take responsibility. Eyewitnesses tell reporters that four of the dead were cremated in the car they were riding, which came under heavy US gunfire. July 30 - Two Iraqi civilians on foot shot dead by US soldiers in the Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. August 8 - US forces fire on a car carrying an Iraqi family at a checkpoint north of Baghdad. Five Iraqis, including three children, were killed, and two others wounded. August11 - US soldiers kill six Iraqi civilians at three different checkpoints in Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found. The above list is by no means comprehensive. Other stories of civilians murdered in Iraq continue to go unreported. Hoping to stave off the incensed anger of a threatened Iraqi population, US military officials paid $262,263 in compensation as of August13 . However, most of the money was for property damaged during botched raids. US military personnel have refused to comment saying only that an Iraqi family has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that US servicemen erred in killing an Iraqi civilian. In most cases, US military officials said that soldiers fired because they believed they were threatened. It remains to be seen whether US forces have been held accountable for the above deaths, and others. Human rights organizations have blamed US forces, as the occupying power, for the high number of civilian deaths. In most cases, Iraqi eyewitnesses have told this writer that soldiers just scream at confused Iraqi drivers in English. The Iraqis, who know of the deaths at checkpoints, panic and often do something wrong in their bid to avoid being shot or beaten. * Firas Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage. H Interesting stats. Now if it had been the Russians and Chesnians, or just about anyone else, each of those incidents would have been blown off as the fortunes of war and stupidity at ****ing with armed and often scared men. And would have resulted in the death of most of the members of the crowd. I noted some interesting lies by spin in your list, as well..such as the van failing to stop when warning shots were fired in front of it, so the troops simply blew it away, only later finding out it was filled with kids. Seems Momma was either on a Jihad or terminally stupid. Lots of examples of similar in that biased Al Gazeera listing. Great examples...snicker. Now..this has what to do with Kent State? Gunner "The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know." -- P.J O'Rourke (1989) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Commentary: Death by 1,000 cuts in Iraq
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 16:35:44 -0500, Jake Nichols
wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:03:45 GMT, Gunner wrote: On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 08:51:26 -0500, Jake Nichols wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:20:26 -0700, "Dan" wrote: A military has few compunctions about firing on armed combatants, but is more reluctant about doing so on unarmed civilians. Kent State University And in the middle of the Turbulent 60s, with bomb throwers, mass riots, takeovers and thrashing hundreds of universities, the only one you can come up with is Kent State? Four Dead in Ohiiiooo! Sounds pretty ****ing reluctant to me. Gunner And since we are discussing the US military and civilians.. lets not forget that we (USA Military) has now sunk to kidnapping as well. http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/7/28/17267240.cfm Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." And torture http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...news-headlines ASHLEY, Pa. -- Last year at this time, the four Army reservists were civilians, leading middle-class lives in the coal-laced hills of Pennsylvania they had always called home. Two were preparing for college, one was a state trooper who spent the summer running a camp for kids, and a fourth had served in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was a prison corrections officer. Today, 6,000 miles away and on active duty, the four are at the center of a controversy that has shaken this old mining town, where their 320th Reserve Military Police Battalion is based: They have been charged with mistreating and beating Iraqi prisoners of war -- charges that could lead to courts-martial and prison. Gee, Jake, you forgot to mention this: "At the beginning of June, before the U.S. offensives, the reward for killing an American soldier was about $300, an Army officer said. Now, he said, street youths are being offered as much as $5,000 -- and are being told that if they refuse, their families will be killed, a development the officer described as a sign of reluctance among once-eager youths to take part in the strikes." From the same source. Also, you left out the last part of the paragraph about Col. Hogg. You wouldn't be editing accounts to suit some silly-assed agenda of yours, would you? Now, look at your last paragraph. It says, in part, "They have been charged with..." Sounds like the US military is trying to do what's right. You have lost what credibility you had as an unknown, to me anyway. Goodbye, John On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD |
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