[areafiftyone]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! I am soooo angry now!!

[pickemuphere]

This should put to rest the idea that "outsiders" are indeed the ones causing problems in Iraq. The Iraqis themselves hate us; the sooner we realize this the better.

[TSgt]

Brought to you by Islam.

The religion of pieces.

God speed my brothers.

[DCPatriot]

Suddenly I understand why occupying armies summarily execute by firing squad, say, a dozen peers of the assassins for every one of theirs that are ambushed.

How many dozens of their fellow citizens would it take for them to cease and desist their murderous behavior?

[tomahawk]

Savages.

[PLK]

About a dozen swarming teenagers dragged the soldiers' bodies out of the wreckage and beat them with concrete blocks, the witnesses said.

These people are animals.

[BBell]

Time to unleash the Kurds!!!

[streetpreacher]

I know people may find what I am about to write inappropriate because I claim to be a Christian and have a username with preacher in it.

To be honest, there are times when I question the wisdom of us being in Iraq (not considering all of the arguments for or against based on WMD, terror threats, etc.), but when I read stories like this, I become so outraged that I want to hurt these people!

I wonder how many people hearing these reports, instead of being horrified and wanting to bring our troops home, will become solidified in supporting the war! One thing is for sure, people are NOT going to support a war where American boys (and girls) are sitting ducks while the enemy seems to be treated with kid gloves.

My gut reaction (and this may be entirely inappropriate): those "teenagers" pummeling the bodies should have been shot on sight! What do you think Israeli forces would have done? Let's think twice before we "cast stones" at Israel again over "excessive" force.

[Democratshavenobrains]

Kill the teenagers. And please no people calling me a racist barbarian etc.

[FreeReign]

About a dozen swarming teenagers dragged the soldiers' bodies out of the wreckage and beat them with concrete blocks, the witnesses said. They lifted a block and hit them with it on the face," Younis Mahmoud, 19, said. Another teenager, Bahaa Jassim, said some looted the vehicle of weapons, CDs and a backpack. "They remained there for over an hour without the Americans knowing anything about it," he said. "I ... went and told other troops."

If you are willing to believe these two teenagers then you can conclude that there are at least two GOOD teenagers in the Sunni triangle who are willing to risk there lives to notify our troops.

If aren't willing to believe these two teenagers then how do you really know that a swarm of Iraqi teenagers dragged and beat these dead or dying soldiers.

My point is that when it comes to determining the level of support we have in Iraq, this incident signifies nothing.

[Destro]

Travis, for Christ's sakes-you are an ex-military man...may I ask you what kind of POS orders of the day exist that allow soldiers to drive around hostile territory as if in the States? Are the brass ignoring the fact we are fighting a guerilla war on the ground and not issuing such orders of the day that would protect our troops for political reasons?

"OK, guys, while off duty have fun, be safe"? What the f*ck is going on here?

[OpusatFR]

Why were these soldiers patrolling by themselves without backup and in a friggin SUV...

This is a battleground and they should have been riding with weapons drawn, in a convoy of at least two vehicles, one heavy, one light and no surprises.

WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU BRASS THINKING ABOUT? Ditch the politically correct nationbuilding stuff right now and get down to the business of actually winning a war. This is a war.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I'll say it again. That POS country isn't worth the death of one American.....How many more?

I say put all the Senators kids, every single one over 18 on the front line into that POS country, include all the congressman's kids, all the governors kids, mayors etc.....Let them lead by example. Bush's daughters ought to get out of their BMWs and limos and go serve. I'd love to know how many of the elite's kids have opted to serve.

It's the right thing to do!

[joesnuffy]

And to think the Army is court martialing Col West for firing a pistol "near" one of these poor muslim terrorists...scaring him in a felonious manner worthy of West being remanded to prison with loss of all benefits and pension...

[Centurion2000]

bring back napalm as a protest deterrent for these animals....

[Lijahsbubbe]

I haven't read thru this thread yet, but I will say, there have been many times when Iraqis have stood on top of, and around US military vehicles that had been bombed, and cheered.

I believe we should have shot them, or bombed them. They are our enemies, civlians or not.

Maybe they would have thought twice about hanging around dead US soldiers and desecrating them.

[eleni121]

Muslims have been slitting Christian throats for a thousand and 300 years now.

Islam is an evil evil hateful cult

[technomage]

Eerily reminiscent of Somalia.

We keep asking: WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET SERIOUS, GET TOUGH IN IRAQ WITH THESE TERRORISTS?

Damn, our men and women KNOW what needs to be done, but politicians are holding them back, and that is getting them killed.

President Bush, TAKE THE TERRORISTS, AND THE TOWNS THAT HARBOR THEM, OUT NOW!!

[chilepepper]

Excuse me for armchair observations: the guys in Iraq are in a bad enough situation without me on my fat butt putting in my 2c worth, but it would seem to me that EVERY soldier (or civilian consultant, aid worker or even journalist) in Iraq, no matter what "safe town" he is in, needs to be in absolute paranoid mode.

I would courtmarshall the mindless middle level supply officers who decide to send a jeep "to a different garrison" and then don't check up on it for an hour, or the mindless who-ever that put the chinooks up in the air without assuming that the Iraq/Al_Qaeda will try to shoot them out of the sky. I find it insane that instead they courtmarshall an officer that uses an only slightly stronger techniques than used by police interrogators all over the US...

Sad to say we are seeing a form of Darwinian selection going on in Iraq -- soldiers who do not take where they are seriously enough probably won't make it back. I just hope the higher ups are smart enough to take middle lever officers who make stupid decisions out of the picture as well before they manuever more able soldiers into harms way...

unfortunately, i suspect there are a lot of clueless PC Clinton era middle level turkeys to weed out, and not much time to do it in...

[Senormechanico]

The entire area should be cleansed with pig blood from an aerial tanker.

sm

[Dr. Scarpetta]

This makes me sick. At times like this, I wonder if it's possible to defeat these barbarians.