Posted on 06/20/2006 1:47:14 PM PDT by blam
Missing Soldier's Uncle Criticizes U.S.
By LYNN BREZOSKY
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - As the families of two missing soldiers waited to hear if two bodies found Tuesday were their loved ones, the uncle of one lashed out at the government, saying it didn't do enough to bring the men home safe.
``Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life,'' Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's ``Today'' show.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military has recovered what are believed to be the remains of two missing soldiers, but he said the cause of death was ``undeterminable at this point.'' Menchaca's family said they had been told that DNA testing was under way.
Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez, was sobbing when she answered the door of her Brownsville, Texas, home.
Her niece, Felipa Gomez, was with her and said a U.S. military official had told them it could take several hours to complete DNA tests to confirm the bodies' identities. She said the family had been watching television news reports of the Iraqi military announcement.
The first report that the soldiers had been found came from Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, who announced that the bodies of Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., had been discovered on a street in Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad.
The two soldiers had been manning checkpoints when they were attacked Friday, and another soldier with them was killed.
A group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Monday it had kidnapped the two soldiers, but it did not name them and the U.S. military was skeptical of the claim. The group posted another statement found on the Internet Tuesday saying it had killed the two.
``I think the U.S. government was too slow to react to this,'' MacKenzie said Tuesday. ``They should have had a plan in place.''
MacKenzie said the government should have offered a $100 million reward and offered to exchange mujahideen detainees for the soldiers' lives. The government seized enough money from Saddam Hussein to afford it, he said.
The military has said more than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were searching for the missing men.
In Tucker's hometown in Oregon, yellow ribbons adorn the trees and store reader boards offer prayers of hope for his safe return.
A spokesman for the Tucker family, Oregon National Guard Sgt. Randy Everett, said Tuesday they had not heard any specifics from the military but that they were expecting the worst.
Tucker's relatives declined interviews but released the text of a phone message Monday that Tucker recently left on an answering machine, telling his mother to be proud of him.
``I'm defending my country,'' Tucker says on the recording. ``Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way.''
The family said in a statement Monday that their son had joined the military because he wanted to ``do something positive.'' They also sent their sympathy to the family of Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., who was killed in the attack.
Lyndsay Kowaleski, a high school classmate of Tucker's, described ``a sense of helplessness'' after learning Tucker was missing.
``Our hearts are broken with our friend being in this situation,'' she said.
FReepers busted this guy early this AM when this thread started.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1652331/posts?q=1&&page=1#1
He had several interviews today. Someone was fronting him for PR value.
AP is absolutely disgusting. Unbelievable.
I have an idea, how about placing a small GPS transmitter on each of our people.
That would allow us to find them as quickly as possible.
Yes we must placate them or else be threatened some more /s... The favorite nation of all liberals (Soviet Union) Even knew how to deal with these scum, target their families and never satisfy their demands, do not stop until all are dead or broken.
If my son were killed in a war he believed in and my idiot brother popped off at the mouth in front of a camera with his opinion before me or my wife had a chance to say anything -I would be enraged.
Unless the family asked the uncle to be spokesman, this man has utterly no class.
Absolutely. But, should the MSM exploit his complaints?
I am amazed and pleased that Lauer challenged the idiot
Uncle: STFU
I suppose that proves we all have a crazy Uncle someplace in the family tree
I have mixed emotions about that. I agree it's too much information and horrible for the families - but this is war and we are fighting a brutal enemy with no appreciation for human life. If 'beheading' doesn't prove what non human animals they are then maybe hearing 'gutting' someone will shake a few up. Even if it's a liberal that will continue to grow their anger over this war, everyone still needs to get the sick feeling I just got when I read that to be reminded of what we are dealing with.
I am so p*ssed right now it ain't healthy. I can only imagine how you must feel.
My uncle gave a great response to the media when he had a camera and a microphone jammed infront of him during a moment of stress. His response was "Get the hell off my property!" it was live news so they couldn't edit it out. Everyone should respond in similar fashion to microphones jammed in their faces. It is obscene for the media to seek out suffering people to broadcast.
Ted Kennedy told him.
Stinking turncoats, every last one of 'em.
Hey Uncle, sit the f*** down!
A democrat TALKING POINT, and unworthy of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca's ulitimate sacrifice.
I will NEVER understand how a relative can dishonor their loved one's sacrifice by spewing such inane drivel.
And I don't give him a pass because he is grieving!!!
The Uncle's "plan" was to shuck out a ransom.
That's not a "plan" at all. That's just a roadmap to more and nastier kidnappings with larger and larger ransoms.
It's illustrative of the left's inability to engege in stage 2 thinking.
Since when is the TRUTH an attack?????
Some people can't handle the TRUTH!
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