On June 22, the Operation Iraqi Freedom website issued a press release that hyped a devastating blow against 17 al-Qaeda terrorists, who were gunned down by coalition attack helicopters at Khalis, Iraq, a small town outside of Baqouba. But when the BBC visited the town days later, the villagers told a different story. The men attacked by coalition forces were… return to article
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Reader Comments (10)Page 1 of 1 pagesThis article was billed as a response to a “hyped” Operation Iraqi Freedom press release.
Jumping to the conclusion: “These tragic deaths represent more than another sad chapter in the Pentagon’s Tolstoyan-length Book of Lies.”
Kind of makes me suspect the truth may lie somewhere between this view and the press release.
The “evidence” presented here?
• The BBC — Hardly an unbiased source for news relating to either the war or the US.• The villagers — Telling the truth? Were they really villagers? Where do their sympathies lie? As we should have known before taking on this adventure you can’t tell the players…
• “According to Iraq Body Count (IBC), a British anti war group...” — No comment needed on this one.
--------------------------So we have third hand info from both sides on this event.
Ah, yes. What is Truth?
Why wait to convict if it fits what you wish to “prove”?
Posted by whattheheck on Jul 17, 2007 at 8:31 AM Not only are the statements and sources reported in this article quite dubious, as WTH has pointed out, there is a quite simple solution to the problem.
The Geneva Conventions prescribe rules for conducting warfare. If the terrorists would follow these rules, such as wearing uniforms and avoiding civilians during conduct of military operations, they, the terrorists, could virtually eliminate any confusion leading to civilian deaths.
Perhaps Cook and ITT could use their influence with their friends, the terrorists, to follow existing international rules? Convincing President Bush to lay-off of the head-hunters and practitioners of human sacrifice is obviously not going to work.
Posted by scorp on Jul 18, 2007 at 1:18 PM No proof? They identified what was left of the men as local village guards. Not Al Qaeda.. It’s amazing the USA can murder thousands of civillians and it’s the Iraqi’s fault… They don’t want the USA there. Leave. Duh.
Posted by realityhurts on Jul 18, 2007 at 4:57 PM Just more lies from the USA. Almost NO Al Qaeda in Iraq. Just a pathetic oil theft by the Bush Oil Regime.
Posted by realityhurts on Jul 18, 2007 at 5:03 PM realityhurts,
...and you know this is the reality because....(?)
• “They identified....”
Who are they? Are “They” reliable?
• This was “murder” because… What?
Are you saying our troops killed they for the sheer joy of it?• “...more lies from the USA. Almost NO Al Qaeda in Iraq,”
And you know this by your inside info?You “know” no more than what you choose to believe.
I hope you are never on a jury.
Posted by whattheheck on Jul 19, 2007 at 7:17 AM realityhutrs,
Oil? Consider this?
We are hearing that 70 pct of the US public want us to pull out of Iraq.
Claims like yours that we are there for the oil are more true than most of us will admit.
While 3,000 to 4,000 troops have died since the invasion in 2003…
• In the US more than 45,000 die in auto accidents annually.
• The soaring prices at the pump have not appreciably cut consumption.
• If we abandon the Middle East this country (and most of the industrialized world) would grind to a halt.
How long would we be out of there before going back in and starting from a less advantageous position? Can you picture the industrialized and the industrializing world biking everywhere?
What better way for the radical Islamists to gain control than by holding a vast amount of the world’s energy supply?
Yes, reality hurts. We don’t have to like it, but we’d better learn to live with it.
Posted by whattheheck on Jul 19, 2007 at 7:30 AM WTH, as usual you only count the number of USA troops that have died, and choose to ignore the number of Irak soldiers, civilians and children who had the stupid idea of being born on a land which has “your” oil under it.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to bike so you could reduce the number of people who die in auto accidents.
And yes, you are right, we don’t have to like the reality you mention, and no, we don’t want to learn to live with it because many of us haven’t given up our hopes to live like true human beings, instead of justifying all your country’s psychotic behaviors.
Posted by Maria on Jul 19, 2007 at 9:55 PM Maria,
As usual you choose to believe the US is responsible for any and all deaths in a land where people wrap themselves in a bomb and kill indescriminately.
Think about it.
Posted by whattheheck on Jul 21, 2007 at 9:53 AM Well: all please stop, think, what the journalist is tryring to convey? Surely, it is not objective, which I sorely feel sorry for whom the mentor of this fella might be. These are fathers and brothers, uncles, sisters, mothers, not just numbers- need i go on? They both had lives to live, and dreams to fufill.
Some of the “US” troops were just trying to scape by, because there was no other way to make a living in the “great american dream”. if you don’t know someone or have the money to spend on a college degree. Believe me i was there. And the people that are stuck in Iraq. They are scared as hell. They hear double speak , and slander from the american media; but they see no peace corps come to help build bridges, and no strong leader to bring Iraqi’s together as one nation.
Posted by iamaman on Jul 26, 2007 at 11:00 PM iamaman,
First of all thank you for your service. It must be confusing and demoralizing to hear all the 24/7 media noise and mixed messages when over there. It is bad enough to try to sort them out here, but I remember how much more difficult it was when mixed with rumors and partial news in letters.
I often think about how much of a shock this must be to those who thought the college money was a good deal and never thought they would be called up.
We were on 24 hr alert for a year when the Berlin Wall went up, but it cooled down and I didn’t have to go. Then it was the same with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Before that a bunch of my friends got activated for Korea, so I knew it was a possibility when I enlisted. I don’t remember the Guard and Reserves getting pulled into Viet Nam, because we still had the draft.
You are new here at this site, so you should be warned that nearly every article at this website and most responses are highly critical of anything the US does and ever has done. The nation is treated as a single personality in regards to current or past policies and actions (whichever party was in office) Only the most disreputable motives are considered likely.
There is little thought given to historical context except what fits a preconceived storyline.
Anyone suggesting there may be other possibilities for any action gets a verbal barrage.
Example from realityhurts:
“No proof? They identified what was left of the men as local village guards. Not Al Qaeda.. It’s amazing the USA can murder thousands of civilians and it’s the Iraqi’s fault… They don’t want the USA there. Leave. Duh.”
Perfectly willing to accept undocumented accusations by an author who is accepting second or third hand testimony about an event on the other side of the world in a conflict where it is nearly impossible to know who is trustworthy if they are standing in front of you.“They” (who are they?) identified what was left of the men (how much was identifiable?) Not Al Qaeda. (Alive or dead — how do you determine which ones are Al Qaeda?)
I do not know how much is true, but then, neither do iamaman, Maria, or the author. Ordinarily, we give more benefit of the doubt to a traffic accident than is given here to murder accusations.
Could it be murder? Sure.
Could it be a case of misidentification? Of course.
Could those killed have fired first? You bet.
Could they have also made a mistake? Well, why not?
Would we be able to decide in a split second — bomb? — don’t bomb — shoot? — don’t shoot?--------
Notice the title says nothing about bombings from below (IEDs).
Maria is willing to condemn the US for those deaths too — because we are there — end of thought process. But then, she is sure all Iraqis want us out just as realityhurts can spot who is and who is not Al Qaeda from over here.Certainty must be comfortable.
Posted by whattheheck on Jul 28, 2007 at 2:18 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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