freecounterpoint: more outliers

Friday, June 02, 2006

more outliers

sweet marines waging peace in Ishaqi this time.

12 comments:

The Darkroom said...: and a little slap on the wrist for a pig. Bad little piggy got confused.; 6/02/2006 12:18 AM
Tecumseh said...: No problemo in Ishaqi.; 6/02/2006 5:42 PM
The Darkroom said...: the military says that the military did nothing ?; 6/02/2006 10:58 PM
Tecumseh said...: Who said the militray did nothing? The military is in the business of doing _something_, not just sitting there like a potted plant. And their business is killing the baddies. Period.

As in any war, there will be collateral damage, and/or transgrssions to the rules of war. Apparently, such transgressions (which the Left, in its infinite wisdom, believes is the norm for the US military), did not happen in Ishaqi. But of course, if one believes all US soldiers are by definition baby-killing Genghis Khans (as John Forbes Kerry, for one, said), then I guess no matter how they will investigate such incidents, they will not satisfy the doubting Thomases. Oh, well, c'est la vie.; 6/03/2006 7:28 AM
The Darkroom said...: i was referring to the military investigating - and absolving - itself; 6/03/2006 9:50 AM
Tecumseh said...: That's how the Constitution set things up. Got a problem with that? Try amending the Constitution...; 6/03/2006 3:20 PM
The Darkroom said...: the constitution provides for people investigating themselves ? which article ? if so, that would have all the charms of a banana republic !; 6/03/2006 9:19 PM
Tecumseh said...: Here is a discussion of the Constitutional foundations of military court-martials in the US. What's "banana republic" about that?; 6/03/2006 10:24 PM
The Darkroom said...: >>What's "banana republic" about that?

what is banana republic about the jury, the judge, and the accused to be one and the same ? I don't know - but I know what the outcome of the investigation will be.; 6/04/2006 12:52 PM
Arelcao Akleos said...: And academics investigate themselves, and government officials are investigated by...other government officials.
Shame on the perfidious military for being so unoriginal.; 6/06/2006 12:34 AM
Tecumseh said...: A letter from an US officer to Taranto:

I am currently stationed here in Iraq and have been here for the past 11 months; I am an adviser to the Iraqis and meet them on a daily basis. I have been in many locations in the country and am involved on a daily basis together with the Iraqis fighting the insurgency.

The media manipulation by the insurgents is brilliant and extremely effective. The press has become a puppet for the insurgents; the insurgents know exactly what they are doing with these "massacres" (quoted here because the investigation has not been completed, nor have any charges been filed) and the political nightmare they will cause the current administration. Bodies are produced for film, and there is zero fact-checking by the media--the media eat up this "news" like there is no tomorrow. A couple of hundred bucks paid by the insurgents to a few guys/ladies in the town where this "massacre" occurred to make up some bad news and pine for the BBC's or CBS's or whoever's cameras is a nice month's salary for many and money well spent by the insurgency.

All the Arabs (Sunni and Shia), Kurds and Chaldeans I have come to know well here will tell you that Arabs are emotional people who tend to exaggerate. A lot. Experience has shown that "50 insurgents hiding out in XX location" is five, at most 10. "Three hundred dead" at the morgue is at most 40. "A huge cache with WMD" is 45-50 weapons. It is a cultural norm and is accepted over here as a norm. It is reported in the West as fact. With no fact-checking.

When we convoy, all in the town/village know when and where there is a bomb/IED/VBIED that is targeting coalition forces. This is not so true in Baghdad, but in the outlying towns all know. What is the culpability for those people in the village/town? Would the Marines be guilty in the U.S. under the same circumstances?

I do not know whether or not the Marines are guilty. A Marine's job is to "close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver," and I can guarantee its effectiveness. But the insurgents have the ear of the press. Hopefully the politics will be put aside for the investigation and the facts will be told, whatever they may be.; 6/06/2006 5:22 PM
The Darkroom said...: academics investigate themselves in criminal matters ?

i undderstand whatt you are saying but there is such an effort at covering up all these "incidents", that combined with the obvious conflict of interet that the military is arguably not the best place to go for an unbiased investigation.; 6/07/2006 5:32 PM