Posted on 05/19/2008 10:28:59 AM PDT by Jonah Johansen
Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War......
Dozens of those interviewed witnessed Iraqi civilians, including children, dying from American firepower. Some participated in such killings; others treated or investigated civilian casualties after the fact. Many also heard such stories, in detail, from members of their unit. The soldiers, sailors and marines emphasized that not all troops took part in indiscriminate killings. Many said that these acts were perpetrated by a minority. But they nevertheless described such acts as common and said they often go unreported--and almost always go unpunished.
....the gun-happy soldiers just started shooting anywhere and the baby got hit.
...Veterans described reckless firing once they left their compounds. Some shot holes into cans of gasoline being sold along the roadside and then tossed grenades into the pools of gas to set them ablaze. Others opened fire on children.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenation.com ...
[Note they admit in the article that most of the soldier eyewitnesses were referrals from anti-war groups also I believe Mr. Hedges other job when he is not betraying his country is being a professional atheist]
They should call the book “The Return of the Winter Soldier”.
I can’t wait for the stories to begin being discredited...
I know what most here are going to say, and you’re right to be angry, but this is a big problem, in my estimation. It never ceased to amaze me how much unnecessary firing goes on with some of our units. A platoon would receive one round of fire from God-knows-where and lay down withing fire in the general direction—this in the middle of a city.
That being said, my platoon did kill a young kid—because the little SOB opened up on us with an AK and my guys responded with the appropriate level of force. Unfortunately the firing of automatic weapons in a dense urban area also wounded a child who had nothing to do with the attack and a pregnant woman (leg shot). Such is war, but at least it wasn’t gunfire in response to an invisible threat.
I know what most here are going to say, and you’re right to be angry, but this is a big problem, in my estimation. It never ceased to amaze me how much unnecessary firing goes on with some of our units. A platoon would receive one round of fire from God-knows-where and lay down withering fire in the general direction—this in the middle of a city.
That being said, my platoon did kill a young kid—because the little SOB opened up on us with an AK and my guys responded with the appropriate level of force. Unfortunately the firing of automatic weapons in a dense urban area also wounded a child who had nothing to do with the attack and a pregnant woman (leg shot). Such is war, but at least it wasn’t gunfire in response to an invisible threat.
The sad part is that enough Americans will belive the worst about their military simply because it is printed in a book. If there are 50 soldiers who say these things happened then there are 50,000 who say they didn’t.
Crapola...my first double post.
Ping!
The only thing left is for them to produce this conflict’s John Kerry. Then in thiry years we can stand around discussing what a fraud this jackass was.
Our troops don’t gun down innocent kids for no reason other than entertainment. And if they did, we would be hated by the Iraqi populace, not respected.
The writer of this book should be forced to prove these incidents are true, and if he can’t he sould be tried for seeking to destroy our war effort.
When you're out in a squad with a number of guys with weapons, you're doing to get fire from each of them based on their realization of threat. There's no getting around that in a war zone.
The same thing happens when officers surround a perp. He raises his gun and each officer fires off. I would do the same thing based on the recognition of threat.
Is that what the writer of the book is addressing? No. He as addressing the eeeeevilll members of the U.S. military, and how the defenseless Iraqis are being destroyed for sport.
This guy is a loathsome bastard.
Which is why this guy's claims are more than a little ridiculous. Nobody blasts Iraqis for the fun of it. Too many U.S. Soldiers are too reactionary and liberal in their use of lethal force, but that's a training/experience issue. The idea that they're out there blasting little kids for the hell of it is ludicrous and disgusting.
Co-author of this book is Laila Al-Arian, daughter of imprisoned terrorist and Palestinian activist Sami Al-Arian.
How’s that for an objective viewpoint?
Hedges is a devote America Hater.
I call it "peacocking" making yourself look bigger than you are by inventing numerous groups. Again, there's some "hook" to make they appear normal and even patriotic.
Good call.
The goal pof liberals everywhere is to discredit the military “by any means necessary” and so ensure the UN bureacrats a clean path to domination.
Like other hate America stories the MSM is bound to give the book and the author free publicity, a 60 minutes or other major media send up. Then the obligatory AP story “Pulitzer prize winning author documents American abuses..”
They will also trot out a couple of the “complaining witnesses” that the left wing groups have been able to recruit and pretend they are just the tip of the iceberg/representative of all our troops”
And you are right, it is an exact replay of the Kerry “Winter Soldier” treason. The difference I hope is that this time we will do a better job fighting back and discrediting the America haters this time.
My secret hope is that Obama’s people will bite on this and try using it in his campaign. Even if he doesn't do this, it would be nice if we could make the point that the groups and individuals that support these attacks are also universally his supporters and are releasing this information now to help his candidacy.
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