Us Bombs Civilians And Reporter

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

quoting Bob Harris from This Modern World website.

Quote:

I am deeply saddened by the following. This is no longer a country I fully recognize.

Y'know how gradual changes, which can eventually become radical transformations, are sometimes only obvious to people who weren't around much? Aunts and uncles are always saying the kids have grown so much -- which, of course, they have.

I've only been gone for almost a month. Maybe it was like this before I left and I'm just now noticing...

Yesterday, I'm working and unpacking, and I've got CNN on in the background. And I hear Wolf Blitzer, barking in that constant breathless get-the-kids-excited-for-Christmas, here-comes-another-shiny-pebble pacing of his, mentioning a video of a civilian journalist, Mazen al-Tumeizi, and about a score of other civilians (reports vary) getting killed in a U.S. airstrike . About 60 other civilians were injured.

I didn't actually see the report live -- Wolf had already moved on to his next story -- but I was struck by how casual this was: innocent civilians killed in a U.S. airstrike, and it wasn't even the news hook; the death of the reporter was. (CNN doesn't have a transcript up for the report I saw. They do, however, have one for a later , similar report. Scroll down, or just search for the words "I'm dying." The entire mention of the U.S. inflicting over 70 civilian casualties is exactly four sentences long. The Batman guy, meanwhile, got thirty.)

So, through the miracle of TiVo, I rewound. And there it was.

Video.

Civilians.

Being killed by a U.S. airstrike.

Non-combatants. Celebrating on a disabled U.S. vehicle, granted. But civilians nonetheless. Certainly not in combat against any U.S. troops.

In the foreground, a reporter just doing his job, frowning over some little technical glitch, maybe something he forgot to do...

Bang, boom. No warning. Just an incoming U.S. aerial attack. "To prevent looters from stripping the vehicle," the Pentagon later says, classifying everyone within thirty feet as "looters" and sentencing them to summary execution.

Blood splashes on the lens. The camera spins. Tiny glimpses of terrible carnage.

Without a beat, without reflection, without even a moment of minimal thought, Wolf Blitzer moves on. As do we, collectively.

And that's that. America kills innocent civilians. Lots of them. And it's no big deal now. Not controversial. No reason to ask questions or rationalize or even pretend to soul-search like the national media once did. America kills civilians. Lots of them. Just part of the fabric of things now.

Happens every day.

The military isn't pressed and can't be bothered for a detailed explanation about the incident, other than to blame the victims themselves. "Great care should be taken by all to avoid and keep a safe distance from any active military operation as unpredictable events can occur," the U.S. spokesman says.

"Unpredictable events," they say. Like an earthquake or a lightning strike. Like an unprovoked attack from an Apache helicopter, firing on unarmed civilians, on tape, recorded for all the world to see.

Nobody's responsible. These are "unpredictable events."

I say this next as the most articulate, precisely-worded response I can muster right now, summing up all my emotions quite clearly: F**K.

And yet there's no sizeable outrage in this country I can find. Not in the mainstream, and not even much in the blogosphere, except for a few posts.

We are numb now.

We are killing. We are killing in large numbers. And we are numb to what we are doing.

That's it. Game over. We have lost.

Not the war. Ourselves.

The war and much more will follow, soon, if we can't wake up from our savage numbness.

amen to that. <_<

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I believed that they all had weapons. Who cares. If they are so stupid as to get up on a US armored Vehicle with a weapon in their hand(s) , they are too stupid to be alive.

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

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If you are in a war zone, it is not a good idea to jump up on a US Vehicle with Arms . I believe one would call that sucide. That is whay I said who cares. Shed some tears for the Nick Bergs of the world, civilians my arhse.

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Shed some tears for this Prelude.Click :ph34r: :ph34r:

Sgt Schultz · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 7378 Location: St. Louis area

I watched 10 men make their final trip home as the plane transited the base here today. It's a sight that I or no one else I know wants to see but it's part of our job. What makes me angry is that it's a daily occurrence. :angry:

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

blaming the victims is what cowards do. the people killed were civilians, mind you most of them stupid for approaching the vehicle, and i'm sure some may have had guns, but exterminating the entire crowd (plus a reporter at the scene) is an act of cowardice. what, was the US army too scared to approach and seal off the area on the ground?

even i had my doubts back in 2003 that Iraq would be another vietnam, but thats exactly what its shaping up to be. lobbing Hellfire missiles into a curious crowd is not a good way to win 'hearts and minds'.

when a friend of mine who barely follows the news in Iraq much, when he calls me and says "did you just see what i saw on CBC? a missile flew into a crowd of onlookers, and the reporter was screaming 'I'm Dying!' what the hell is going on in there? i thought they wanted to save Iraq from Saddam!"... you gotta sit back and look at the bigger picture... just what the hell are they doing in Iraq? Saddam is already caught, the shiites and sunnis are all targets, and civilians keep getting caught in the crossfire.

I believe Richard Perle himself said back in September 03 that 'i wouldnt be surprised if one year from now, there is a statue of Bush in Baghdad'. if this is 'liberation', then just drop a nuke in baghdad and get it over with quickly.

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Sgt Schultz · Joined: Dec 07, 2002 Posts: 7378 Location: St. Louis area

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Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

yes sip, this is that crazed ARMED crowd that you keep mentioning:

oh, and the helicopter attack took place almost an hour after the bradley was abandoned. and now the US is claiming they fired into the crowd (NOT at the bradley to destroy it) after receiving well-targeted ground fire, even though the video:

has absolutely NO evidence whatsover of ground fire and gun shots preceding the attack.

From BBC:

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

and to further show how nobody (especially the US media) gives a rat's arse about this 'incident', a transcript from CNN that day reveals 4 sentences being said about this attack, while 9 sentences was spent to describe that idiot who dressed up like batman in britain.

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DUMB MUSLIMS PICTURED ABOVE.

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

sippy, read it again. the fight was over for nearly an hour. it occured in a RESIDENTIAL area. journalists were all around. if a vehicle was on fire in your street, and all is peaceful for an hour, and TV crews start appearing, wouldn't you venture out to take a look too?

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

Outshined · Joined: Dec 09, 2002 Posts: 4409

A disabled military vehicle, especially a Bradley or Abrams, is destroyed if it can not be recovered. There are classified items of communications equipment and even some structural details that are classified. Most US troops aren't allowed to watch when parts of the Abrams are worked on.

Usually the crew will set a demolition charge, but in this case they chose to use a missile. Unfortunate for those who elected to use it as a stage for celebration, but it had to be destroyed, and it's unlikely they'd move if asked.

tiredmother · Joined: Aug 09, 2003 Posts: 1312

Civilians who take up arms against others are not acting as civilians are they? When the farmers took up arms and joined the militia men in the US fight for Independence, they were no longer civilians but not really military either as they were free to leave when they chose.

Think about what you would do if you were in any city, not one in a war zone, and saw a burning military vehicle. Would you stand around it wishing you had a marshmallow to roast or would you walk away from it? These people are living in a war zone. It's horrible and awful and I personally wish that they were not living in a war zone but they are and they have been for some time now. The way to survive in a war zone is to stay away from the war to the best of your ability. The vehicle was attacked by insurgents so it's not as though there is a shortage of hostiles in the area.

Was the US military's reaction too severe? According to some, yes. According to others, no. But, you know what, you're not there and neither am I. Even the cameraman's footage doesn't tell the whole story because he wasn't there when the Bradley was attacked in the first place.

As for prelude's original post, since when does how much time CNN spends on a story guage this country's feelings? It gauges CNN's feelings, not mine. I'm sick about the loss of life. I would like it to stop right now. The insurgents caused this chain of events. Radical Muslims contributed to this chain of events. If Saddam was still there, he could be murdering as many civilians as he wanted and we wouldn't even know about it.

Prelude76 · Joined: Jul 14, 2004 Posts: 676

exbritinca · Joined: Dec 05, 2002 Posts: 323