Well damn, Patrick Quinn, your stories changed. And oh, now you use the name Ahmed... who couldn't previously be identified?
Iraqi Claims U.S. GIs Beat Wounded Man (Zarqawi)
Newsday ^ | June 10, 2006 | PATRICK QUINN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1646765/posts?page=151
My version:
What took them so long?
After the photoshop question at the Snow presser, I expected torture to come up next. The left never fails me.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi man who was one of the first people on the scene of the U.S. airstrike targeting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said he saw American troops beating a man who had a beard like the al-Qaida leader.
-An Iraqi man source... hmmm. A beard like Zarqawis... ok.
The witness, who lives near the house where al-Zarqawi spent his last days, said he saw the man lying on the ground near an irrigation canal. He was badly wounded but still alive, the man told Associated Press Television News.
-Television News?
We all know the AP and Al Reuters/Arabiya only talk to terrorists and wait a minute... I didn't see other houses anywhere near Z's place (unless he lived in the trees). So was his house destroyed? Move along... nothing to see here.
U.S. troops arriving on the scene wrapped the man's head in an Arab robe and began beating him, said the local man, who refused to give his name or show his face to the camera. His account could not be independently verified.
-Couldn't be verified, but good enough to print; Remember when news meant facts?
Wow it's a good thing this witness saw his beard before they covered it with an Arab robe (which we know is standard issue for US troops). Hmmm, no mention of the Iraqi troops getting there first... nevermind.
The U.S. military made no mention of any physical contact between U.S. troops and al-Zarqawi other than an attempt to provide him with medical attention.
-He also said this... further in your article.
"Well, what we had found, as with anything, first reports are not always fully accurate as we continue the debriefings. But we were not aware yesterday that, in fact, Zarqawi was alive when U.S. forces arrived on the site," Caldwell said.
"Well, what we had found, as with anything, first reports are not always fully accurate as we continue the debriefings. But we were not aware yesterday that, in fact, Zarqawi was alive when U.S. forces arrived on the site," Caldwell said.
His recounting of the aftermath of the airstrike could not be independently verified. The Iraqi government confirmed only that Iraqi forces were first on the scene, followed by the Americans.
- Ok, Iraqis at the scene first... again, in the article.
Zarqawi died shortly after the U.S. military obliterated his hideout northwest of Baghdad Wednesday with two 500-pound bombs. The bombs tore a huge crater in the date palm forest where the house was nestled outside the town of Baqouba.
-In the date palm forest where the house was nestled?
Iraqi police pulled him from the flattened home and placed him on a makeshift stretcher. U.S. troops arrived, saw that al-Zarqawi was conscious, and tried to provide medical treatment, the spokesman said.
- Hold on... The "witness" said he was lying on the ground near an irrigation canal; Didn't he also say the US troops got to him and wrapped the guy's head with a beard like Zarqawis with an Arab robe and beat him? Nothing to see here... proceed.
From a helicopter hovering above the site, a wide swath of destruction could be seen. There were no remaining walls in the house, The debris included a skimpy slip in a leopard skin pattern and other see-through pieces of women's clothing. In the crater itself were charred dresses, torn blankets, thin sponge mattresses and pillows.
Also scattered among the debris of concrete blocks was a pillow with a floral pattern, sandals and a bag. There was also a foam mattress, a cooler and part of a washing machine. Green pomegranates hung from a tree left standing nearby.
-Ummm... I saw a collapsed roof, but then again
An aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said he saw Caldwell's news briefing but could neither confirm nor deny that al-Zarqawi briefly survived the blast.
"Well, I think it's clear: The Americans said he was seriously wounded and he died," the aide said.
- Ok, the Caldwell's statements can't be verified either... so that makes him equal to your witness with no name and face. al-Maliki's aide could not confirm or deny.
Wait a minute... so this means the witness is more credible because we can't confirm the blast aftermath, the general or al-Maliki's aide (who they can't identify, but writes as his aide).
AP gets better every day... I want to grow up to be a propagandist... I mean journalist.
Contact these jerks:
http://www.ap.org/pages/sitemap/sitemap.html
Thanks!
Let's try an experiment. One of you call AP and pretend to be Ahmed weirdbeard. Say you saw American troops risking their lives to save women and children. Let's see if with no corroboration they print that.
Thats one version, another version said the troops pulled him from an ambulance, where some locals had placed him, and then beat him. Thats some swift ambulance service. I think the troops were on scene minutes after the blast. Did zark call 911??