So an Iraqi with an AK wouldn't be an oddity. So you can't just assume that an Iraqi carrying an AK is a bad guy. Our soldiers in Iraq suffer from the same issue our soldiers had in Vietnam...it was another conflict we were fighting non-uniformed fighters. They wore civilian clothes and you couldn't tell friend from foe. That does make things difficult at best. But even with that, it doesn't excuse action like this or the link I posted. They could have zoomed in a bit better...or if they were that far out, they could have moved in closer to verify that the people were armed...there are many things...including a camera, that one would use a black shoulder strap with. I agree with medic in thinking these guys were itching for something to shoot at. They did it with a bit too much glee. I do understand where that comes from, after seeing friends die, sympathy and humanity does tend to drain away...especially after extended and repeated tours. I have to hand it to Iraqi vets and soldier currently there for not seeing even more of this, which does lend credit to the integrity and professionalism of our troops....but we are seeing way more than we should. This does not excuse actions like this though. I think it is a failure of the leadership. We saw the same thing in Vietnam, where leadership failed and atrocities ensued. It's time to bring em home... Lets truly support the troops and get them home ASAP.
Eric -----Original Message----- From: LRS Scout [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 9:22 PM To: cf-community Subject: RE: This is not good.... No, not at all, they are allowed on AK per home for defense. -----Original Message----- From: Eric Roberts [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 9:02 PM To: cf-community Subject: RE: This is not good.... Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the situation in Iraq with Iraqi's and weapons a lot like southerners and gun racks? Eric -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Sorge [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 7:35 PM To: cf-community Subject: Re: This is not good.... Done with what? The initial engagement or the second one on the van? After the initial engagement there was a US element on the ground en-route to the location to do BDA. The van pulled up removing bodies, even live ones. And since there were weapons in the area, it is feasible to assume that they may have wanted to cart off the weapons as well, making it seem like we shot these guys for nothing. There is NO reason for anyone other than IA or IP to be wandering the streets with weapons. We allow the Iraqi's to posses ONE weapon per household with ONE magazine, but they do not go parading around town with them because they know they will be shot. They are for defensive purposes only, i.e to defend their home. So if you see Iraqi men wandering around town with weapons (in the ready or slung, does not really matter) then you have to assume they are bad guys since the bad guys do NOT wear uniforms, they blend in with the rest of their society. Now on the ground we can tell them to stop and then question them as to why they are wandering around town with their weapon, but in the air in a multi-million dollar aircraft, you don't have that luxury. You have to act on the situation at hand. Medic wrote: > I'm struggling to make sense of that in this situation. There were no "bad > guys" left when they were done. The evidence was so important that they'll > kill the "accused" to preserve the evidence against them? > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:315124 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
