US Marines enter Shatrah in search of fallen comrade [Marine's Body Hanged In Town Square]

Agence France-Presse | March 31, 2003

[HAL9000]

SOUTHERN IRAQ (AFP) - US Marines moved into the southern Iraqi town of Shatrah on Monday to recover the body of a dead comrade which had been hanged in the town square, officers said.

Hundreds of troops were dispatched on the operation after intelligence reports indicated the body of a dead American, who was killed in a firefight last week, had been paraded through the streets and hanged in public.

"We would like to retrieve the body of the marine but it is not our sole purpose," said Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Owen, of the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

Military sources said another part of the operation was to arm local militias to fight against members of the ruling Baath party loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Shatrah is some 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) north of Nasiriyah, where Iraqi forces have been harassing US supply lines and putting up tough resistance for more than a week.

[Hoboken]

Level it! It will foster "understanding".

[Gunslingr3]

Level it! It will foster "understanding".

That's the hope of the men who hung him. They don't live in that town, they work for Hussien, but they're hoping our men will attack the villagers in response, and put them at odds with their liberators. Just because the SS passes through doesn't mean you rape and murder every kraut.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Considering the source the entire story is suspect.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

May God bless the family of this fallen Marine. And God bless these guys who are going thru hell to recover his body. I deeply appreciate that these men do not allow one their own to be left behind.

[Redleg Duke]

The Marines, God Love 'Em, never leave their dead or wounded buddies.

Those towelheads are learning another painful lesson.

Whoever said "Stupidity isn't Painful"?

[TopQuark]

Is France going to launch a formal protest of this violation of Geneva Convention?

Is the Leftist scum going to take to the streets protesting this barbarity?

[BobP]

Take it to 'em boys!!!!!

[fourdeuce82d]

That's the hope of the men who hung him

Yup. unpleasant as it may be, and as painful as it may be for the family...maybe this sort of thing needs to be documented with photographic evidence. Show the world what this regime is all about.

And then hunt down the people that did this, try them, and execute them.

[JudgeAmint]

These Iraqi's need to get the next dose,

of SMOKE AND ASH instead of Shock and Awe....

GRRRRRR!!!

[e5man_r_u?]

arm local militias to fight against members of the ruling Baath party If this is true and it works it could be big. I have a hard time believing that we can tell who is not Fedayeen that well.

[DoughtyOne]

This is infuriating, but let's put this in perspective. If we weren't positive the Hussein regime was this bad, we wouldn't be in this for the kill. Payback is come MoFos...

[Steve Van Doorn]

I notice in the other article it was Agency France-Presse that reported this. I bet they enjoyed reporting this.

[DoughtyOne]

If we're going to allow their citizens to rearm, it might be a nice idea to relax some of our own gun regulations. Hmmmmm?

[h.a. cherev]

Just because the SS passes through doesn't mean you rape and murder every kraut.

No one said anything about rape or murder. However, you have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to believe that a substantial number of these people don't support what Saddam's "SS" did. Read the Koran or study a non-politically correct record of Islamic history and then let's see what you think.

[Travis McGee]

You are exactly correct, exactly.

[h.a. cherev]

Show the world what this regime is all about.

If you think the world gives a damn about the barbarity of this "regime", then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. For example, the whores of the world (the French) sold this regime all it needed to make nuclear weapons. They know what Saddam is all about. And as long as he doesn't underwrite terrorism against French Christian or Muslim citizens, they don't care.

[FairOpinion]

Saddam can't grasp that we don't have the same president, who let Mogadishu happen, and we are not the same "nonviolence at all cost" country, we were before 9-11.

Saddam takes lessons from Hollywood
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3301762&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

02.04.2003

Saddam Hussein is said to have told his troops to use the film Black Hawk Down, the story of how American soldiers were drawn into a bloody urban battle in Somalia, as a lesson for the Iraq war.

The film showed in graphic detail how US Army Rangers and members of Delta Force killed hundreds of Somalis who attacked them with an unexpected ferocity.

Mark Bowden, author of the 1999 book, wrote recently: "The lesson our retreat taught the world's terrorists and despots is that killing a few American soldiers, even at a cost of more than 500 of your own fighters, is enough to spook Uncle Sam."

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Humm, a Pentagon spokesman, said: "Whether or not the Iraqis are using Black Hawk Down as a manual, they would be well advised to consider that we have also learned lessons from our past."

[h.a. cherev]

Ever read the Koran?