Not so happy Iraqis

Doug Goulden

The US has made pains to avoid civilian casualties, if the people there insist on standing there then they should understand the risks they are taking. Besides the question sounded more like a response to a stupid reporter type question. Uptight Ex-Military Republican married to a Commie Lib - How weird is that?

Paul Watson

Reading between the lines I took "The official said they weren't dancing anymore." to mean they were all dead and from the context and tone I would say the Pentagon official was rather pleased about it. Sounded very vengeful and not in keeping with what the PR machine is saying. He should have known better than to add in that last bit, people will just pick it up and use it as a generalised statement of what Americans really think. I wasn't commenting about stupid civilians or reporters who put themselves in harms way and then get all angry because they get hurt.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

realJSOP

I was stating why we didn't take sadam out in the first war. I personally hope they're already both chewin' on worms. ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends

Paul Watson

"One armed tied behind their backs" is the phrase that comes to my mind and I must admit to respecting the Americans and Brits for being so mindful of civilians. e.g. Apparently that Apache chopper was shot down because it was told not to fire back at some Iraqis who were firing at it while standing on a civilian building. If the States did not care as all the Aljazeera fans keep spouting then that Apache would have come home and the top of the building would no longer exist. I have to say though that frankly they had better change this stance soon, especially when they try and take Baghdad. Or a lot of soldiers are going to come back in body bags because they stood their helplessly as Iraqi soldiers gunned them down with civilians around. A lot of shit-hitting-the-fan will happen when the parents learn their son died because he was not allowed to shoot back. As for what you wrote I just felt the Pentagon official sound rather pleased about his "they ain't dancing no more" statement. It is something I expect to hear from Iraqi soldiers, not a Pentagon official, no matter how angry he is that some of his men died because they could not shoot back. I am not saying he should repent and mourn for 7 years the death of civilians, but he should not gloat either.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

Joao Paulo Figueira

Check this one from the BBC: Basra: Why they are not cheering[^]

Joao Paulo Figueira

Paul Watson wrote: A lot of shit-hitting-the-fan will happen when the parents learn their son died because he was not allowed to shoot back. I agree. This campaign may become a very bloody one, especially if allied casualties grow too much. You will see allied forces shooting first and asking questions later. That is why I think Iraqi military leaders should stand trial after this war is over. They do not think of their people as such, but as cannon fodder.

Richard Stringer

Paul Watson wrote: I have to say though that frankly they had better change this stance soon, especially when they try and take Baghdad. Or a lot of soldiers are going to come back in body bags because they stood their helplessly as Iraqi soldiers gunned them down with civilians around. A lot of shit-hitting-the-fan will happen when the parents learn their son died because he was not allowed to shoot back. Hell this went on from day one in Vietnam . I was there in the early part of the conflict - from 1965 to 1967 - and there were many times we would take fire from a location and could not fire back without first getting permission and even then we had restricted targets. Many guys got waxed that way. The solution to the problem is rather old but still applies - "It is easier to get forgiveness than to get permission". I'm sure that the current batch of marines and GI's will discover that old rule still applies. Self preservation is a powerful teacher. Richard In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. Orson Welles

Paul Watson

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Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

Brakanjan

Jason Henderson wrote: War sucks doesn't it. Yeah, blame war, not america.

Jason Henderson

Another Saddam apologist?

Jason Henderson
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

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