Dead US soldier hung on public display

The Age ^ | 4/1/2003 | AFP

[sjersey]

US Marines moved into the southern Iraqi town of Shatrah today to recover the body of a dead comrade which had been hanged in the town square, officers said.

Hundreds of troops were dispatched on the operation after intelligence reports indicated the body of a dead American, who was killed in a firefight last week, had been paraded through the streets and hanged in public.

"We would like to retrieve the body of the marine but it is not our sole purpose," said Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Owen, of the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

Military sources said another part of the operation was to arm local militias to fight against members of the ruling Baath party loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Shatrah is some 40 km north of Nasiriyah, where Iraqi forces have been harassing US supply lines and putting up tough resistance for more than a week.

[happygrl]

Dear God,Prayers for the parents and loved ones,We love him very much and God has him now.

Amen Sister Freeper.

[txradioguy]

I think you've been listening to the news reports a little too closely. Ok, we've had less than 50 soldiers KIA and a little over 100 WIA. and 7 are POW's. Tell me how many other wars have had such low casulty rates after two weeks of direct combat action with the enemy? It's never happened before in the history of war. Every loss of American blood is tragic. But you can't fight a war in a vaccum. Some will pay the ultimate sacrifice in this liberation of Iraq. And they KNEW that might happen when they went. They KNEW it might happen when they enlisted. But to start calling for drastic measures like atomic weapons when so few American lives have been lost is senseless and silly. We used the A-Bomb in WW II because we were looking at a conservative estimate of 100,000 (I think the number is right) lives lost if we took the Jappanese home islands. We'd already lost 50,000 in the island campaign. In that situation dropping the bomb made sense. In Iraq, dropping the bomb makes no sense at all.

[goldstategop]

They hanged people from lampposts around Baghdad after the Baath took control in July 1968.

[yay]

>Death to ALL who were responsible for this...

I'm sure the soldier already took out the entire batallion single handedly

[nicmarlo]

My heart breaks

[gridlock]

A million Mogadishus will only work if the President is a fickle pathetic twerp like Clinton.

A President can take an incident like Mogadishu and do one of two things. He can either protect his own a$$, turn tail and run, or he can use it as a rallying point for the troops and the people to carry the war to the enemy. Clinton took the former path, GWB will take the latter.

The fact that the Islamakazis to do not understand this shows a blind spot in their understanding of our culture. To them, all infidels are interchangeable. Soft, weak and without resolve. They do not comprehend that underneath the layer of fat is a core of muscle, and that all American leaders are not pathetic wretches, only interested in short-term polling and the next election. But they are finding out now.

Osama and Saddam learned the lessons of the last war all too well. The use of Feyadeen and Technicals in Iraq is a direct application of the "successful" techniques employed in Somalia. But they are fighting a different enemy now. We also learned the lessons of Mogadishu and, more importantly, 9/11. It will take more than a few atrocities to turn the US population against the war. It will take more than a few news cycles of bad press to sway this President from his firm resolve. They have sowed the wind, and now they will reap the whirlwind.

[anymouse]

It's from AFP, the anti-American French Press. Take anything they report with a large dose of skepticism.

[twigs]

I heard it on the radio driving into work this morning.

[TADSLOS]

[twigs]

I said then that you can't argue with that kind of fanaticism.

I couldn't agree more. Most of what I've heard from pundits, news professionals and internationals presumes that just talking a little more, or just the right way, will solve this problem. More communication, more education. Some situations, unfortunately, are not amenable to such solutions. And yes, I also agree with you that this should have been done years ago. The widespread animus that we witness today was not so focused then.

[exmarine]

Just one more reason to destroy the Whore Babylon and all those who fight for her.

[exmarine]

Actually, such atrocities were common in WW II in the Japanese theater. The Japanese tortured our troops as well and few POWs ever returned from that war. We should do to Iraq what we did to Japan - bomb its cities into rubble. Note that Japan has not committed any evil since then! It worked.

[Publius6961]

Is it safe to assume that our "leaders" will do us a favor and prevent us from viewing this atrocity?

No... I am not pissed off enough. I could use some more motivation.
Reason trumps emotion, but reason alone will not save us.

[browardchad]

Actually, it's from the AFP -- Agence Française de Presse -- not exactly a pro-American source. I can't find this story from any other source -- we will have to wait and see.

God bless and protect our military.

[PhiKapMom]

And note that Japan was one of the first countries on board with the war in Iraq and never wavered!

[Publius6961]

BUMP

[LadyX]

Your words are very much appreciated.

Rest assured there will be retribution.
It will not be announced beforehand - will come when they least expect it.
It will descend upon them at the hands of those who cherish the life of every brother more than their own, driven by the fury of righteousness.

[PoisedWoman]

Actually, such atrocities were common in WW II in the Japanese theater. The Japanese tortured our troops as well and few POWs ever returned from that war.

Here on my disgustingly liberal island, a Japanese doctor is going around giving slide shows about the internment he "endured" with his family and all other Japanese residents during WW2. I went to a presentation wiht a friend and we were both FURIOUS that the doc never mentioned the fact that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor and started the whole thing.

Then Sunday night I turned on PBS and there was a documentary made in our high school featuring the Japanese doctor and every single sappy student whining on camera about violation of the Japanese' civil rights. These kids have no clue about the devastation of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese atrocities during the war in China and the Philippines, or their cruel treatment of POWs. December 7 in Seattle is a day to gather with Japanese friends to mourn our rotten treatment of them. This selective memory liberal krep has got to stop.

[exmarine]

I'm not surprised to learn of your experience, or that Washington State does such things, considering the moronic remarks of that congresswoman (what's her name?) from that State. Our kids and population are now conditioned and trained to loathe America through obfuscation of facts, revision of history, and exaltation of our enemies. They decry the annihilation of the American Indian as if native americans were innocent peaceful Disney-like peoples, but bury and ignore the annihilation of indians by indians, and white men by indians. The FACT is that every single civilization that has ever existed on earth has oppressed someone in some way - there are no exceptions. Human beings are by nature aggressive and evil, so this is no surprise in light of that fact, but then again, the secular radical liberals deny that evil exists, and if evil doesn't exist, then all is morally equivalent (moral relativism). That explains the comments of some of our so-called congressman who favorably compared terrorists to American colonial freedom fighters. Liberalism is a mental disorder.

[dcwusmc]

Good post. Thanks. Many here would benefit by reading and thinking about it. I can see doing whatever is fitting to those who are responsible for atrocities, including the use of Uday's shredder for the scum who mutiliate and then murder helpless POWs... but we also need to keep in mind that the innocent bystander is NOT who deserves to be ill-treated by us. Sodom's already done THAT. We need to keep CLEARLY in mind that his feyadeen and Baathists (hey... that sounds like a clan of bathers on Saturday night... how innocent) need some serious killing but the rest of the country does NOT.