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 ...
Oh palleeeze save me the holier than thou crap. After 9-11 the Islamofascist deserve every "insensitive" thing we can think of.
I disagree.
The presence of this carrion was a threat to the health and safety of his men. Cremation under these circumstances is not desecration.
The solution to these kind of problems is to keep reporters out of combat zones or censor their reports as in WWII.
That said, I think it is time to declare victory and bring our troops home.
Where was the "World's Outrage" when dead American's were beaten, mutilated and then hung from a bridge and set on fire????????
I don't know about the rest of you, but I believe this officer. The fact that they then used the burning to taunt the enemy was a good tactical move.
It annoys be that these barbarians we are fighting get away with doing the most horrible of things, and then turn around and cry like little girls if someone dares to retaliate - no matter how meek the retaliation might be.
BARF! BARF! This is war. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
You means that Musloims also desecrate bodies?
Yea I was knada outraged when 3000 of my countrymen were burned in their workplace by these subhuman scum. WHEN ARE WE GOING TO STOP GIVING A SH**T ABOUT OFFENDING THESE SUBHUMAN SAVAGES???????????
When was the last time you hung out with several hundred pounds of rotting meat in 90 degree heat? ;-)
NOTE TO SELF:
Next time, shoot photojournalist BEFORE starting fire!
Regards,
GtG
I guess I forgot the sarcasm tag on my previous post...
Some people may not remember because our media chose not to show it over and over again, as it has these.
Also wonder where the pictures of the be-headings are? They stopped showing the pictures of the planes flying into the WTC but they will show these over and over and over.
I have wondered who's side the media is on in this war. Don't think I need to wonder anymore. It's rather obvious.
The reaction of our government to this is cowardly.
Who really gives a damn if some or even all Muslims are offended by this?
I think that the 911 WTC attacks and multiple beheadings are offensive and justify Abu Gharab, burining bodies, and pork bbq sandwich deliveries to all mosques in the US.
I know a guy who participated in the body recovery. He said it was one of the worse things he's ever seen.
How about sanitation? If bubonic plague were to ravish Afghanistan, it would be 1,2,3,....
ALL BUSH"S FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I posted this question on a thread last night. Did these
stinking dead burnt bodies have their heads attached? If
so then they got off easier than some of our folks. F**K
those ragheads.
Syria and Iran shovel equipment, money and Jihadists into Iraq to kill our soldiers and undermine our efforts, yet all the Administration does is flap its jaws.
But if our troops have a minor screw-up they get shafted.
Bush is more interested in holding hands with terrorist-abetting Saudi Princes and inviting Jew-hating Abbas to the White House than he is in defending our soldiers in a time of (undeclared) War.
Unacceptable!!
Burning corpses and mutilating bodies aren't quite the same.
Taking souvenir ears, fingers, etc hurts the living takers more than the dead. Young men whose leaders allow them to pose corpses, mutilate them, chase each other with the parts, etc end up getting a bit metally twisted.
I don't have any sympathy for taliban and jihadists either.
Not only that. It is SICKENING that this administration is kissing up to the Palestinian scum like Abbas and bullying Israel.
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