Posted on 10/22/2005 6:17:26 AM PDT by AliVeritas
There simply wasn't enough room on the rocky hilltop above Gonbaz village in southern Afghanistan for the U.S. platoon and the corpses of the two Taliban fighters. The Taliban men had been killed in a firefight 24 hours earlier, and in the 90 degree heat, their bodies had become an unbearable presence, soldiers who were present have told TIME. Nor was the U.S. Army unit about to leave — the hilltop commanded a strategic view of the village below where other Taliban were suspected to be hiding.
Earlier, Lt. Eric Nelson, the leader of B Company, I-508 platoon leader had sent word down to Gonbaz asking the villagers to pick up the bodies and bury them according to Muslim ritual. But the villagers refused — probably because the dead fighters weren't locals but Pakistanis, surmised one U.S. army officer.
It was then that Lt. Nelson took the decision that could jeopardize his service career. "We decided to burn the bodies," one soldier recounts, "because they were bloated and they stank." News of this cremation may have remained on these scorching hills of southern Afghanistan, had the gruesome act not been recorded on film by an Australian photojournalist, Stephen Dupont. Instead, when the footage aired on Australian TV on Wednesday, it unleashed world outrage. A Pentagon spokesman described the incident as "repugnant" and said that the army was launching a criminal investigation into the alleged desecration of the corpses, which is in violation of the Geneva Convention on human rights.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Read my post again. I said if they did it for sanitation purposes then so be it. There is nothing wrong with burning bodies if they present a health problem. It isn't clear that's what was going on in this case. If they did it to send some kind of message or to vent their frustration or anger, it is wrong. I was a 19 year old grunt in Vietnam and saw mutilation of enemy corpses on occasion. Fortunately, we had officers who would put a stop to it. Once you allow your troops to start desecrating bodies for fun you no longer have an army, you have a mob.
I know what you mean.
Move along... religion of peace... nothing to see here... those aren't bombmakers on the top floor of the mosque... they're preparing for Ramadan... just move along... have some kool-aid on your way out... we are a peace loving people...
You had to say it... incoming. Probably drafted something already.
That was my thought as well. Burning the rotting corpses was the correct thing to do, but someone screwed up badly by letting the press make a terrorist propaganda film out of it.
Outstanding!
We will never win the war against radical islamic terrorists unless the Pentagon is purged of these politically correct 9/10 minded soldiers.
I suppose if they had buried the corpses, there would now be a stink (pun intended) over not having conducted the proper services for the departed terrorists. It doesn't matter what you do, the left will always find something wrong with it.
Burning bodies, heads on pikes; these are the things that spell VICTORY to me!
Screw the muzzie terrorist PIGS!!!
LLS
I wonder where the reporter was during the time the corpses were laying there rotting. Surely he wasn't sitting with the soldiers enjoying the air. As far as that goes, I don't know how they stood the stench of burning bodies either.
I just fail to see how watching a corpse rot over weeks is more respectful.
Exactly. Where's that photo of the mutilated Americans hanging from the bridge in Falluja? And where's the World outrage over those desecrated bodies?
Burning a corpse is not mutilation, it is sanitation.
And, I don't remember reading anything about burning trash in the Geneva Conventions.
I do, however, bet that this lieutenant will have his butt handed to him just so we can show the left how much we care.
The only court martial that comes out of this ought to be the "pentagon spokesman" for aiding and abetting the enemy.
This is ridiculous!
So, now our solodiers must know/adhere to proper burial procedures for the various enemies we are fighting. If these terrorists were hindu, burning the bodies would have been the proper thing to do, I believe.
I'm guessing this Lt. would still be in a bunch of trouble if he had instead buried the bodies w/o a "proper" ceremony.
Should we include a lawyer & a religious expert in every military unit, now? Oh, I know. Let's give all incoming enlistees a 6 month course on how to honor the bodies of the fallen "freedom fighters".
It wont be long before KILLING the enemy will be illegal!
Why would anybody enlist, given this type of PC nonsense?
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
One more thing. Since the "journalists" are obviously on the side of the terrorists, we need to imbed them with the terrorists, not our boys. As a side benefit, we could watch some awesome video of JDAMs flying right at the camera. Picture Christianne Amanpour holding her jilbab while leaning into a blast, like a hurricane reporter during Katrina. Priceless!
Well, maybe the psyop teams can position the message in a more palatable manner for the locals: "The evil and hated Taliban met their deserved Hell in the quickest and most expedient manner possible."
They should have doused the corpses in pig blood first.
However, burning bodies or Bibles is not something a Muslim worries about.....so be it; I have no sympathy what so ever for the religion of Islam, if it indeed is one - with the likes of Calypso Louie spouting the Muslim line, it makes you wonder. The WOT is just that; what has religion got to do with it? War is hell, hardly a place for Political Correctness.......Lt. Nelson did the right thing for the right reasons!
yeah, we only wanted marshmellows.
I just hope they remembered to dip the corpses in pig fat before lighting them.
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