Search the news now and it will speak of itself.
Innocent civilians, kids and mothers are slaughtered in Iraq, evidences are floating everywhere that the invader US army is behind the massacre, and no one call these a “war crimes”. But it's ok, because US soldiers are now going to get ethics training of between two and four hours so that they are taught that shooting 2-years-old is a crime!
From the BBC:
“In the wake of the Haditha allegations, the US army on Thursday announced that coalition troops in Iraq were to have training on ethics. The BBC’s Ian Pannell in Baghdad says the move is likely to be greeted with cynicism by many Iraqis, as the troops have long been accused of deliberately targeting civilians”
Reuter has a good chronology of the case, and BBC is unearthing more evidence of US war crimes. I wonder if they will tag this video an "Al-Qaeda propaganda" like they did when confronted with video evidence in Jan 2006.
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too harsh!! this is too bad :( it comes by nature that one knows killing is bad! i dono how type of nature they are!!
“invader”? no haithem, uhem, you meant “liberators” I’m sure :-D
Ethics training? Where will it end? Soon, US leaders won’t be allowed to wage war on false pretenses, or to detain people in secret prisons for years without charge or trial, or to shoot their friends in the face on hunting trips. What kind of democracy is that?! :)
Woke up. Got my coffee. Put the dishes in the dishwasher and a load of laundry in. Logged on. Blood. I’m an American and I am presumably safe in my home from attack. Maybe an earthquake might hit (California)
But I’m supposed to think that since 9/11 my government has kept me safe. They’ve chosen to “fight the war on terrorism” so that
“We don’t have to fight it over here”.
I am against this war. I have been against it since the first rumblings began. I absolutely knew in my gut and from being a student of history that we were going to war under false pretenses.
The war has become unpopular. We see ticker tapes on Nightline of our casualties. Ted Koppel is criticized widely for showing us this display. Military funerals are not allowed to be photographed. We are to look the other way out of respect for our fallen soldiers. What the HELL are we doing?
We see footage of the war on our news. It has been reported to us by imbedded soldiers who must clear the footage with the military first. There are a few independent journalists who report, their’s is not the “official” news.
We see massive bombing. We’re supposed to cheer. This is a “precise war with minimal civilian casualties”. Hospitals are bombed “accidentally”. Other bombs “regretably missed their targets”. Massive destruction. Were there people in those buildings I wonder? No, surely the military knows what it is doing. We are “liberating the Iraqi people”
Now we have Haditha and others. It is regretable, our soldiers are under great stress, we will investigate. The allegations are rolling in http://www.sundayherald.com/56109 and we will seek to look into each and every one. We must support our troops.
What IS THIS INSANITY? My country should have NEVER EVER gone into this war. How can this in ANY WAY be justified? Why does it come to finally questioning some “bad apples” to get the media’s attention? I ask each and every single American to imagine this scenario. If we were not living our comfortable lives but instead lived under Saddam, would we be able to look the other way and think to ourselves “this is the cost of being liberated”. Would we be greatful to our “liberators” if they bombed the hell out of our country, destroying everything remotely suspect and then left it for ruin? Would we not turn on these occupying forces with all that we can to pay them back for their actions? Could we dismiss our own fellow dead countrymen and embrace this benevolent force. HELL NO!!!
Now we have our military going berserk. I question the “now”. Every single time our military has killed an Iraqi citizen it has gone berserk. How can ANYONE in my country sit back and ignore this? All you freakin politicians, send your children there for HUMANITARIAN purposes. You go too. Clean up this freakin mess you have created and NEVER DO THIS AGAIN IN MY NAME!
I am so sick at my stomach I can’t stand it. I am NOT comfortable in my home. I am sick. No more blood on our hands, for God’s sake, no more innocent blood.
This is totally insane. I’m from a USSR military family, and I hate when these kinds of things basically paint all military men as monsters, but I would agree that what happened in Haditha requires a strong, uniform, and coherent response. The people responsible NEED TO BE ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
The United States IS a monster in Iraq and the military is it’s tool of destruction. Our US military is totally volunteer. Go ask any young American standing in line to enlist and they will give you several reasons: I want to defend my country, I want to see the world, it’s a good way to get an education (GI bill). These young men are for the most part overwhelmingly from lower income families. The military is a way out for them. They are under-educated and have been sold a bill of goods, ESPECIALLY after 9/11. I hold both parties responsible, our government for it’s lies and these young men for falling for it. I’m currently reading a book called “Good Moslem Bad Moslem” by Mahmood Mamdani.
In it he clearly shows how our administration has made the Moslems out to be devils while we have to also remember there are good Moslems (our token Arab friend so to speak) The hysteria in the US over terrorism is the KEY factor in our war in Iraq. (of course it was plannned years ago, but remember “we need an incident like Pearl Harbor in order to carry out our policies). This atrocity in Haditha and the others that are coming to light are the end product of our own hysteria and demonizing of the Moslem people.
My country is NOT defending itself in Iraq, it is waging a war of aggression in the Middle East. ANYONE who volunteers to be a tool of this aggression I hold personally responsible for offering themselves up. There have been other wars of aggression. Were the soldiers in those armies not responsible for being a part of the aggression? Imagine a scenario, every single adult male and female of age to join the military decides not to do so? What then? Will our politicians and businesses volunteer to fight themselves? Go figure. Our young people volunteering to advance this lunacy. Who IS responsible for Haditha and the rest of the destruction of Iraq?
Here is an excellent article in today’s Parade Magazine titled “How We Make Marines”. It is authored by Larry Smith who has spent two years researching for his new book, “The Few and the Proud, Marine Corps Drill Instuctors in Their Own Words”
http://www.sundayherald.com/56109. This is one short quote:
“The very first thing a Marine learns is immediate obedience to orders. “There’s no getting around that Marines are trained to kill,” says Chuck Taliano, 61, who trained recruits at Parris Island during the Vietnam era. “The drill instructor’s job is to teach the basics of how to do it—by hand, by bayonet or by rifle—and how to stay alive. In a war, you haven’t got time to debate the issue. You have to give them instant willingness to obey orders.”. Nothing, absolutely nothing refers to “sensitivity training”. I’m sure that comes later :( These are Iraq’s “liberators”?
One more question, I heard a Marine commander on the radio talking about the Haditha “incident”. He said, quote “There is no getting around the fact that we are in Iraq as quests of the Iraqi government and people”. GUESTS? Well, if a “guest” in my country was accused of murder we would not be sending them back to their country of origin to do with what they see fit. No, that accused person would stand trial here. Yet where are the Marines of Kilo Company accused of the Haditha massacre right now? They are at Camp Pendleton, relieved of their duties, but not under arrest. One more big freakin lie. We are GUESTS? Bullpucky. We are an OCCUPATION.
Yes, Robin, the U.S. is a guest of the Iraqi people. They sent out fancy invitations with gold script and everything. You didn’t get yours? Here’s the inscription from mine:
By special invitation of the Iraqi people,
You and a guest are cordially invited
to attend
the Second Military Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
by the United States of America
Crude oil cocktails will be served
followed by three-plus years of looting of national treasures,
murder of tens of thousands of civilians, complete destruction of the infrastructure, and utter moral ineptitude.
We hope to see you there.
Attire – Fatigues and flack jackets
BYOA (Bring your own arsenal)
—
I’m expeciting another invitation for Iran’s inaugural any day now.
Yes, Robin, the U.S. is a guest of the Iraqi people. They sent out fancy invitations with gold script and everything. You didn’t get yours? Here’s the inscription from mine:
By special invitation of the Iraqi people,
You and a guest are cordially invited
to attend
the Second Military Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
by the United States of America
Crude oil cocktails will be served
followed by three-plus years of looting of national treasures,
murder of tens of thousands of civilians, complete destruction of the infrastructure, and utter moral ineptitude.
We hope to see you there.
Attire – Fatigues and flack jackets
BYOA (Bring your own arsenal)
—
I’m expecting another invitation for Iran’s inaugural any day now.
I apologise if anyone finds this offensive in light of the reality that the Iraqis have been living through.
Something that I have found marvellous about the Palestinians under occupation is their sense of humour about it. When you are damned to hell by the acts of other men, you can either collapse in tears or get on with living as best you can. I suspect that the Iraqis are doing just that.
My heart to them all.
When the US discussion centers on the coverup of the story, and how high the coverup goes, then you know that the “sensitivity/ethics training” should not be administered to just front line troops, the whole country needs it! Where is the outrage?
I wonder if the same officers that assisted in the attempt to hide this atrocity will be teaching this ETHICS course
here is the page where you can find the Haditha incident on the site Iraq Body Count http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/bodycount19.php?ts=1149468414
It clearly states: “family members in their houses and students in a passing car” Please take time to view this site where you can view from the very beginning of March 2003 the numbers of Iraqi dead and the cause of their deaths.
American military where dog tags with their identification on one side and the “core values” on the other. Is this not enough? If you have any doubts, just refer to your dog tag.
Blood on our hands. Prayers for each and every living and dead Iraqi.
Raymond,
I got the same invitation but mine also said “afternoon hunts can be arranged for wild Iraqis”.
It was tempting but getting one mounted would have been too expensive. I declined. Personal reasons.
I think it is a war crime, and that the soldiers involved will be prosecuted and sentence to severe penalties, including perhaps death.
All wars, but especially counterinsurgencies, involve war crimes, and all armies have soldiers snap under the pressure or who are just plain out of control people who never should have been given a weapon. The question is, what does the country do when a war crime occurs?
Hey guys, this ISN’T funny. You know I’m usually more than up to a good joke but this is getting way way too heavy on my heart. Long time ago, 1975, I lived through six months of the civil war in Beirut. I was a young 20 year old newlywed American who was absolutely scared out of her mind. I actually saw people killed in front of my own eyes from our balcony and watched the bombs exploding at night. Gunfire all night long. Guns held inside our car as we passed through Christian and Moslem areas. This is one thousand times worse than what I saw and what I saw was enough to scare the hell out of me for a long time. I can just a little bit relate to their circumstance of being in constant fear. It’s the nighttimes that are the worst.
But Raymond, you are correct when you say there is a certain spirit that develops. One night a bomb blew out all our windows and we drug our mattresses to the central hallway. My mother-in-law refused because she said Allah knew when it would be her time. Haditha is a war crime. Hell, this WAR is a crime. It is the most immorally wrong thing to do to frighten people. If we haven’t actually killed them, they are still scared out of their mind. This is WRONG WRONG WRONG. MY COUNTRY IS KILLING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE and I am VERY upset. Call me emotional or whatever, it’s just I’ve seen a bit of it myself and it makes me sick. There is NO way to sanitize killing, whether it be actual face to face murder as in this case or dropping bombs from an airplane. You’re dead both ways. Period.
TigerHawk,
How many U.S. soldiers have been sentenced to death for war crimes? I will believe it when I see it.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10038
Robin,
You are right in your outrage. My comment was satire, of course, but in the face of all the blood that is being shed, perhaps we should stick to the seriousness of the matter.
I have several friends and acquaintances who also lived through the war in Lebanon. It is something they would just as soon forget, although they know that they never will. Being witness to atrocity strengthens ones resolve to make life matter.
Raymond,
I wasn’t reacting to your post, I was reacting to Kimmy’s (sorry Kimmy, it’s just my personal experience took me back to a time of seeing people “hunted”).
What arm-chair American analysts absolutely do not understand is the sectarian animosities and violence that exist around the world. We here in the States are SO far removed from this in our own country. We just DON”T get it and think these people are savages. Well, they are savages for killing each other over religious or political purposes, but that is the essence of war. You wouldn’t be fighting in the first place if you didn’t think you have a reason to hate the other side.
This war in Iraq from my “personal” knowledge of the Middle East would have NEVER worked. I have never denied here on this blog that Iraqi’s are now killing each other, I’d be stupid to suggest that. But to go over there in the first place and open up this can of worms was the most myopic undertaking we have committed. We can sit here in the States and prescribe a system like our own, sure “wouldn’t it be nice if….” I am NOT saying that Iraqis are savages and it will never work. I am simply trying to point out that Saddam held it together, and we opened up Pandora’s box without any plan on how to take care of it. The long simmering hatred between the sects was refueled by our invasion. They took ALL their hatred and turned it on whoever gets in their way. Now we have the audacity to call them insurgents because they aren’t going along with the plan. Simple axiom, all politics are local. The US did not have a single freakin clue about what they were getting into. Now we have US GIs entering homes and mowing down families. What is going through THEIR heads other than hatred towards the victims. I’m sorry, but old fart bag Rummy sitting back and suggesting that it will just take time makes me sick. Europe has had these wars too, THEY are not above sectarian warfare. We here in the US are just to “inmature” of a nation and have not experienced it. Our ideals are marvelous, but you cannot transplant them at the end of a gun barrel, there is just some kind of inherit contradiction in the suggestion that an outside force such as the US, ESPECIALLY the hypocritical US transplanting democracy around the globe.
Kimmy, I SAW people being “hunted”, jeeps with machine guns on top going through neighborhoods and randomly shooting. I was caught in the crossfire once with my sister-in-law and had to dive under a car. It is NOT funny. I’m sure you meant no offense, but hunting people is a horrendous sight if you have ever witnessed it.
Raymond,
A) Combatants who commit murder in a war zone are guilty of war crimes. By definition. What you’re saying, that nobody is calling this a war crime, is untrue. I just called you liar, Raymond.
How many U.S. soldiers have been sentenced to death for war crimes?
B) The maximum penalty for murder under the UCMJ is death by hanging. The standard sentence for a war crimes conviction is death. The death penalty hasn’t been imposed by the US military in a long time (decades) but lifetime imprisonment in the military means that they will be in prison until they die.
C) You’re making this a political issue. You are drastically REDUCING the odds that justice will be done in this case. Just as the politicization of Abu Ghraib robbed the world of true justice.
You’re actually hoping that justice is NOT done in this case, because it would make the US look worse. You’re a jerk.
if it is worded so as to create an unpleasant controversy; if it is hateful, scurrilous or negativ
Interesting rules for comments. What are the rules for posts? Because this POST violated all those rules.
Go ahead and ban me. I won’t be back anyway.
Craig,
You are welcome on coming and welcome on leaving. I won’t hold you (or anyone here) doing either, except if you violate the comments policy (you can find it right above the comment box here). And as I can see, you are already calling others – liar/jerk!!!
Enjoy the blacklist :)
Interesting Craig
Read the link to Chomsky Raymond. As usual, brilliant.
As it stands we have an incident coming to light in Haditha. Seems our military has already dismissed some other incidents, ie
Ishaqi. Just a few days ago this video done by the BBC shows their investigation into the Ishaqi matter. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ifs_news/hi/newsid_5030000/newsid_5039500/nb_wm_5039548.stm I personally feel there are MORE Hadithas, of this I have a gut sense which is all I can give as personal opinion.
Today I heard someone commenting on the news that “The only thing missing comparing Iraq to Viet Nam was a Mi Lei (sic) type event and here we have it”. Oh yes, those wonderful 60′s and 70′s, remembering the anti-war demonstrations. They were everywhere, on campuses and in the parks. Peace rallies. What happened to the Mi Lei particiapants? Only one, Calley was charged and sentenced to ten years in prison. There’s just one glitch, he was released in 1974 under pardon by Nixon http://www.quivis.com/tigerf.html (this is an interesting article about American atrocities coverups) I ask where are the peace rallies now? Have the American people just gone to sleep on this matter? I repeat, it should NOT take a Haditha or anything of the sort to stir up the sleeping American public.
On the other hand, we have GWB, the Texecutioner. No single governor in US history has ever had so many executions under their term (152) http://www.ccadp.org/serialpresident.htm – 100k -. This is only one thing that is so FREAKIN hypocritical about this bobbleheaded administration. These right-wing idiots who claim to be Christians show NO mercy to others. How many pardons did Bush grant during his term as governor, NADA! ZIP! ZERO! Let’s just wait and see what happens in this case. I am patiently and CURIOUSLY waiting.
My heart goes out to those killed at the hands of our military.
Craig,
A) When did I state that this wasn’t being viewed as a war crime? When I said I would believe it when I saw it, I was referring to the death penalty being given to any U.S. soldier.
B) I hope that the soldiers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of U.S. and international law.
C) This IS a political issue. The President of the United States and the Congress declared war on Iraq under false pretenses and the U.S. military is under charges of gross atrocities because of it. You don’t see the politics in that? Not in the sense of Republican and Democrat, but global politics.
May justice be done for EVERY murder at the hands of the U.S.
Sincerely yours,
The Jerk
The number of Iraqi dead citizens was at an altime high since the invasion for the month of May. Baghdad only has one morgue which is having to handle an average of 70 dead each day. This is in Baghdad alone, and does not include the rest of the country
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
There is a new case of alleged cold-blooded murder committed by US marines in Hamandiya. In this case one man was shot to death and the marines then planted an AK47 next to his body. These marines are being held at Camp Pendleton http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-marines2jun02,0,7403695.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Robin,
I am sorry for my remark.
I was just stating a remark that was the US review of the Iraqi conflict on CNN.
All I read of Iraq is tainted. I believe the US is doing every thing it can to hide every thing it can.
My remark was meant to be anti Bush.
Kimmy,
No need to apologize. YOU did not scare me, the vision scared me.
As I remarked prior, my personal experience conjured up a picture in my own mind. Maybe a little post-traumatic-stress syndrome going on. It was 31 years ago, but seeing “human hunting” is something I will never forget. It’s terrifying. (as for shrub bashing, I share in the sport)
Here is my article offering of the day on this subject matter of “Killing Iraqi kids takes training” It is a blog from the Guardian that has started today and anyone can add their comments. It is excellent so I hope you check it out. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1791907,00.html
Hey I just noticed, the article above I recommended is written by an Iraqi journalist. Great chance to respond to an Iraqi. Enjoy if you check it out.
Here’s another unbelievable article titled “Army manual to skip Geneva Convention detainee rules” from Monday’s LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-torture5jun05,0,7975161.story?coll=la-home-headlines
This is a must read. Seems like at the same time we are supposedly starting new “sensitivity training” to the military in Iraq, the Bush administration has also ordered certain clauses concerning torture that have been in the Army field manuals in the past to be deleted. Is it just me, or does anyonte else smell a neocon rat masquerading as a democracy loving peace spreader here?
Robin,
Bush has his own agenda. He does what he wants. The hell with the law!
Kimmy,
Just in case somebody wanted to read it it’s not there anymore. Poof! Gone. No more Geneva bans on some torture techniques. Poof! Gone. Geneva Convention applying to Bush, POOF POOF GONE.
Robin, I just read it. It is still there. No poof. No “it is gone”, it is still there.
Kimmy,
I meant the bans against torture are “Poof” gone out of the Core Manual, not that my post was gone. Poof Poof Bush be gone!!
For all who wish to read the story of Ehren Watada, the first commisioned US officer who is speaking out against the war, please link to this http://www.thankyoult.org./He has REFUSED to be redeployed to Iraq and is now under investigation for “behavior unbecoming to an officer” His words in his statement are absolutely powerful and speak justice to power. This is a very recent event, only occuring a few days ago. This is one VERY brave young American. Here is his official statement made June 7th http://thankyoult.live.radicaldesigns.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=9
Gosh I hope it shows up as a link because it is absolutely inspiring.
That’s a start. If only the remaining soldiers will do the same.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1740986,00.html
Where’s Kimmy when we need him? KIMMY! Do you have an extra room to spare for one of our soldiers heading up north? I’ll send some homemade cookies and other necessities. Great article Raymond, THANKS! Takes me back to the 60′s and 70′s when Americans had spines.
Americans had spines?! Next thing, you’ll be telling me humans used to walk upright and held the development of their intellect above all other aspirations. Silly humans. ;)
Next life, I’m coming back as a blade of grass.
http://www.bartleby.com/104/78.html
Some have spines and some speak out in song:
http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/neil_young_lyrics_3501/living_with_war_lyrics_28318/living_with_war_lyrics_310433.html
Neil Young, “Living With War”. The entire CD is against the war in Iraq. (sorry for using the blog to plug my all-time favorite artist)
Here is the latest offering of US atrocities in Iraq in Hamandiya. Marines may be facing murder charges in this case also. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-marines2jun02,0,7403695.story?coll=la-home-headlines
For now they are enjoying time off from duty at sunny Camp Pendleton. Gosh, there are so many US marines being held there on charges stemming to Iraq that I wonder if a little “Abu Gharib” interrogation techniques might work to get to the bottom of this.
Robin,
Talk about a flashback. In the sixties I met many Americans up here running away from the Vietnam war.
I met a Canadian in the US army who supported the war.
I told him that I supported him because of his beliefs but that I was against the war. We got along great.
I still felt that the US was wrong in going to war in Vietnam.
Now we are in the same situation again.
Help any US citizen running away from the services occupying Iraq?
Any time. If I have to put in bunk beds for them, as Bush said, “bring them on”!
Here is part of Ehren Watada’s official statement at the press conference this week: “The war in Iraq violates our democratic system of checks and balances. It usurps international treaties and conventions that by virtue of the Constitution become American law. The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of the Iraqi people with only limited accountability is not only a terrible moral injustice, but a contradiction to the Army’s own Law of Land Warfare. My participation would make me party to war crimes.” It is not always easy being an American, but this young man has made me proud of those of us who are speaking out. You can link on to his site and there is a petition you can sign in support of him. Also a place to make statements. I’m personally waiting for the next march on Washington. God where did those days go?
Now most Americans sit around and shrug their shoulders comfortable in their own existances while our military is killing around the world. bush said one more bobbleheaded thing, “You’re either with us or against us” Well President Jerkface, I am against you one thousand percent.
Want to see another hysterical video of the numbskull? This is his appearance side by side with a bush impersonator appearing at the White House Correspondance Dinner http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=politicalhumor&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-1921276117304287501
Here is an excellent editorial: Bon Appetite, Satisfying America’s Hunger for Vengence http://www.thousandreasons.org/get_article.php?article_id=266
Americans, YOU MUST SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS WAR!!! We cannot be a party to this injustice.
Robin,
Did you see the Colbert speech.
Too funny.
Search and you shall find.
I wish all these Perpetrators knew one simple thing, a five letter sentence which is so true, “What goes around, comes around”. Don’t worry, have faith, THEY WON’T BE SPARED.
Nixon didn’t pardon Calley, nor did anybody else. Nixon’s only involvement was to order Calley held under house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia, pending appeals, a not uncommon practice. Calley petitioned for Habeas Corpus on 14 February 1974, which petition was granted on 25 February 1974 by J. Robert Elliott, who was appointed to the Federal bench by John Kennedy.
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