Posted on 03/23/2007 12:51:35 PM PDT by Tulsa Ramjet
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Marines accused of shooting and killing civilians after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan are under U.S. investigation, and their entire unit has been ordered to leave the country early, officials said Friday.
Army Maj. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III, head of Special Operations Command Central, responsible for special operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, ordered the unit of about 120 Marines out of Afghanistan and initiated an investigation into the March 4 incident, said Lt. Col. Lou Leto, spokesman at Kearney's command headquarters.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
ROE: "Rules Our Enemy" don't use
So effing what? If we are to be any better than our enemies, that's the price we pay. If we adopt the tactics of terrorists and target civilians, then we become terrorists ourselves.
It would be bitterly ironic if, in order to wage a Global War on Terror, we adopted terroristic methods.
You will notice, by the way, that the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions do not allow signatories to suspend them just because our enemy combatants don't abide by the restrictions. Targeting civilians is a huge no-no under the Convention.
Give the Marines a full, fair investigation. If they acted reasonably, fine. It's for their safety that they're out of country. If, however, they targeted civilians, hang 'em out to dry.
Go ride in a convoy, Ironside, and then we'll talk.
The Announcements sidebar is reserved for FR business.
Not this.
AM
Here we go again!
Why doesn't Bush just arrest ALL of our Armed Forces and ALL of our Border Guards and charge ALL of them with firing their weapons.
If he did that it would immediately stop the war in Iraq and greatly improve our diplomatic relations with Mexico.
Explain to me how this is "adopting a terroristic attitude?
From CNN:
...."In the March 4 incident in Nangahar province, an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into a convoy of Marines that U.S. officials said also came under fire from gunmen.
As many as 10 Afghans were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made an escape. Injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians as they sped away.
U.S. military officials said militant gunmen shot at Marines and may have caused some of the civilian casualties."....
How many "civilians" were killed by the suicide bomb, how many were killed by the terrorists firing at the convoy....and just for good measure, should the Marine convoy just have stayed and absorbed that fire? Sounds like an armed conflict between terrorists and our troops, with once again, terrorists putting civilians at risk trying to cause another massacre.
If I read the story right, those Marines walked right into that one and was exactly why the terrorist picked that time and place to carry out their attack.
The whole idea was to set up some civilians to get caught in the cross fire which generates protests afterwards.
My response is also, "So effing what?". It's not like those so called civilians didn't know those terrorists was among them.
Under fire under those same conditions, I can't say I would react much different.
Odd though.... No one demonstrates against those terrorists that used them as cover to carry out their missions.
The statement that ROEs are "rules our enemies don't use," and the implication that we should ditch them, is what I am talking about.
* Soldier Injured, Civilians Killed in Afghanistan Convoy Attack (Now the Official Story), American Forces Press Services, posted by SandRat
* Afghan media: U.S. troops deleted images [Maybe we're learning], Associated Press, posted by RedRover
* Ambush on U.S. Convoy Leaves 16 (Afghan civilians) Dead, Associated Press, posted by RightWingIntelligentsia
We may need to come up with a keyword for this story. Any suggestions? "Afghanhighway"?
BurkaWarriors.
;)
Well you have bad Marines and then you have... On the other hand the Navy is naming a ship after the Marine who jumped on the granade to save his brother Marines. I am happy about this news.
I understood that part of your reply, re. ROE.
However, my first reaction is to first support our troops, not "hang 'em out to dry" if an investigation finds them guilty of targeting civilians. I'm just a little skeptical of a "a full, fair investigation" once the NCIS gets involved. I assume it would be NCIS since we're talking about Marines.
"Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions", and "targeting civilians is a huge no-no under the Convention" has nothing to do with our Marine convoy responding to incoming fire after a suicide bomb hits that convoy.
Looks like the terrorists got what they wanted. Deomonstrations about civilian casualties (that they caused), press stringers (foreign media) carrying the terrorists water, Marine Special Forces under investigation, same Marines and their whole 120 man unit out of "their" country, and now Americans will argue over the validity of their actions. Heck of a way to combat terrorists.
And nobody makes a cup like our ma!
That looks like a strong cup of java - sure to wake anyone up.
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