http://toto.diary-x.com/journal.cgi?entry=200201210709 Besieged, disoriented as bullets fly By Mark BowdenINQUIRER STAFF WRITER November 26, 1997 At that moment the woman turned. Holding a baby on one arm, she raised a pistol with her free hand. Spalding shot her where she stood. He shot four more rounds into her before she fell. He hoped he hadn't hit the baby. They were moving fast, and he didn't get to see whether he had. He thought he probably had hit the baby. She had been carrying the infant on her arm, right in front. Why would a mother do something like that with a kid on her arm? What was she thinking? [t. Author - "uuhhh...maybe she was thinking she needed to defend her home and neighborhood from armed invaders from another country who were murdering her family and friends?] Everything was getting blown apart in this battle - brick walls, houses, cars, cows, men, women, children. Othic felt besieged and disoriented. Anything seemed possible. He had already torn a man apart with the .50-cal, and he'd mowed down a crowd of men and women who had opened fire on the convoy. [t. Author - "I can hardly wait to see the movie version of 'Blackhawk Down' and watch American troops 'blow apart' all of those 'houses, cars, cows, men, women, children.' I'm sure it will be a Tribute to the Heroic citizens of that small Somalian community who joined together to defend themselves and their homes from barbarous foreign invaders."] ["...hhhhhaaaaa...just kidding..."] ----- The series On Sunday, Nov. 16, The Inquirer began a series that offers a distinctive form of journalism -- the non-fiction serial. Every day for the next month, Blackhawk Down will describe combat from the ground up. The series explores the consequences of sending soldiers into lethal situations where the nuances of policy are quickly lost in combat. These stories are based on interviews with the men who fought in Mogadishu. Specific scenes and dialogue are based on memories of those directly involved, transcripts of military radio transmissions and a review of classified videotape.
