BAGHDAD, Nov. 27, 2007

GIs Fire On Iraqi Bus, Kill At Least 5

Dead At Military Checkpoint Include Child; Elsewhere, 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed

  • U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Brigade combat team of 101st Airborne Division look through scopes on their rifles during a patrol mission in the town of Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007. Photo

    U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Brigade combat team of 101st Airborne Division look through scopes on their rifles during a patrol mission in the town of Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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(CBS/AP)  American troops fired on vehicles trying to drive through roadblocks in Baghdad and north of the Iraqi capital, killing at least five people - including a child - in two separate shootings, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The shooting in Baghdad took place in a northern neighborhood known to be a Shiite militia stronghold as the driver collected employees of the Rasheed bank, police said. U.S. troops fired warning shots when the bus reached the U.S. roadblock Tuesday morning and tried to drive through, killing as many as four passengers - including three women, police and hospital officials said.

"As I understand it, some of the warning fire ricocheted and may have killed two to three individuals," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman.

Smith said the driver was traveling in a lane restricted to passenger cars. In an earlier statement, the U.S. military said two people were killed in the shooting and four wounded. A manager at Rasheed bank also said the shooting claimed two lives.

A Rasheed employee wearing a bloodied white T-shirt who was hospitalized after the shooting said the passengers initially did not know whether the bus had been hit by bullets or bombs. He said U.S. troops immediately came to the bus to help

"Later, we found out that the American forces opened fire at us. But the thing that I cannot comprehend is that the same Americans who opened fire at us, came immediately to help us," the man, who identified himself only as Yasir, told AP Television News.

During a U.S. operation Monday against al Qaeda in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, American troops shot at a vehicle speeding toward a roadblock after firing warning shots, the U.S. military said in a separate statement. Two men in the vehicle were killed immediately, and a child traveling with them died later of his wounds.

"We regret that civilians are hurt or killed while coalition forces work diligently to rid this country of the terrorist networks that threaten the security of Iraq and our forces," Cmdr. Ed Buclatin, a U.S. spokesman, said in the statement. Two terror suspects were killed earlier in the operation, the military said.

In other developments:

  • A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

  • The military said two U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion north of Baghdad. They're the first U.S. combat deaths reported in five days. And in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, police said a burst of violence has killed at least 11 Iraqis, including seven who died when a suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters.

  • Iraq's top Shiite cleric renewed his call for an end to sectarian violence in the country and for Sunni and Shiite Muslims to unite, according to a Sunni cleric who met him Tuesday in this holy city south of Baghdad. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's plea for peace and unity came as a group of Sunni and Shiite clerics met in Najaf in the latest attempt by clerics from both sects to stem the violence.

  • U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday signed a deal setting the foundation for a potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq, with details to be negotiated over matters that have defined the war debate at home - how many U.S. forces will stay in the country, and for how long. The agreement between Mr. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirms that the United States and Iraq will hash out an "enduring" relationship in military, economic and political terms.

    The Shaab neighborhood in northern Baghdad where Tuesday's shooting took place is the same district where masked gunmen on Sunday killed 11 relatives of a journalist critical of the Iraqi government, according to colleagues and the media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

    Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf, however, denied the Sunday killings had taken place. "The killing of the 11 family members did not take place and that is totally confirmed," he told The Associated Press Tuesday.

    In Amman, in neighboring Jordan, the journalist challenged the Iraqi government's account and accused the Interior Ministry forces of involvement in the deaths. Dhia al-Kawaz said they raided a wake in Iraq for his slain family Tuesday in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, tearing down banners commemorating the dead.

    Al-Kawaz, who has lived outside Iraq for 20 years, said the killing of his family members was "a message to me and to any journalist inside Iraq or outside Iraq who opposes the policies of the Iraqi government."

    Around Baqouba, the capital of violent Diyala province about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, a suicide bomber targeting the local police headquarters killed six people, including three women, according to police. East of the city, mortar rounds apparently targeting a local radio station instead landed near homes in the vicinity, killing two people, while a roadside bombing killed one civilian, police said.

    © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Add a Comment See all 144 Comments
    by mcvet November 27, 2007 6:40 AM PST
    What do you call a busload of Hodji''''s getting shot to ribbons with 1 empty seat?



    A *** shame =)


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Posted by didnt_inhale at 06:31 AM : Nov 27, 2007
    + report abuse

    You Nazi''s are truly a sick bunch! VERY sick indeed!!
    Reply to this comment
    by ikez78 November 27, 2007 6:44 AM PST
    That''s right with CBS and U.S. troops in Iraq. Guilty until proven innocent.

    The newswriters at CBS couldn''t be any more openly anti American and celebratory of anti American news. You people really are scum.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth November 27, 2007 6:49 AM PST
    Gosh.

    Isn''t that sweet?

    Bush''s buddy al-Maliki rounds up and murders journalists, their families, and any other political opponent, just like his other best friend Musharraf.

    Dictators hang together, and share a love for imprisoning, torturing, and murdering the innocent.

    Yep. Three peas in a pod.

    And what of our our soldiers?

    They are left in a place so unstable and terrifying, causing most nerves to frazzle after more than a year, that they begin to jump at even a perceived shadow, and shooting at anything that moves, resulting in the regular everyday murder of innocent civilians. And their official "rules of engagement" tell them to do just that. Shoot first, and we''ll cover your behind later.

    Yep, that Iraqi war is one heck of a success. We''ve murdered hundreds of thousands, multiplied our enemies a hundred fold, and destabilized the entire middle east, leaving it in far more chaos and turmoil than when we came to deliver "democracy" (or was that to eliminate WMD''s, or ...).

    And Iraqi''s still don''t have regular power, or health or sanitation services.

    In the end all we''ve done is show the world that America actually cares nothing about democracy or human rights at all. Disgracing our name, and sealing our fate.
    ST


    "And so together we shared the fate of all the failed democracies before us, joining those pitiful beings who had held the light of freedom in one hand, and put it out with the other."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by gkc99 November 27, 2007 8:13 AM PST
    "What do you call a busload of Hodji''''s getting shot to ribbons with 1 empty seat?
    A *** shame =) "__Posted by didnt_inhale


    Better check with your Fuhrer Bushit''s security apparatus before posting such things! The official story is that we are in Iraq to help and save the Iraqi people, not gun them down.

    But maybe you unwittingly spoke the truth. Even liars can slip up once in a while. This is the real attitude of the Neoconscum--murder the Iraqis and grab their petrol.

    Thanks for telling the truth!
    Reply to this comment
    by antoniof123 November 27, 2007 8:27 AM PST
    It was said by one of the founders of the United States of America that this country would not fall by the might of the sword.

    But by someone (or group) carrying the US Constitution in one hand and the Bible in the other.

    Sound familiar, we have allowed our country to become worst then our enemies. Now America it is time to show anyone political group that WE THE PEOPLE are the deriders not them.
    Reply to this comment
    by antoniof123 November 27, 2007 8:28 AM PST
    Reading these type of articles makes me want to puke.

    Posted by singinrick at 08:25 AM : Nov 27, 2007

    So move to Iraq see how they deal with these types of articles. Have fun over there Nazi neo con.
    Reply to this comment
    by myidoncbs November 27, 2007 9:07 AM PST
    The Sinner Rick says, "they [the so-called "liberal media"] nit pick a story that they dug up to make our troops look like the bad guys."

    Nice choice of words, sinner! According to you, this isn''t "journalism", it''s just "nit picking"! They didn''t do "research", they just "dug this up"! And, they have no interest in reporting the truth [US troops kill civilians in Iraq to "save" them from the "terrorists"], they just want to "make our troops look like the bad guys"!

    How would you like it, little ricky, if Canada invaded the US "to give us free health care" and they started shooting up bussloads of civilians? How would you like it if they blew up all our roads, schools, power plants, banks, shopping centers, etc., killing millions of people? If some news agency reported on the deaths, would you label them "traitors", as you have labelled the authors of this story?

    BTW, re: "ignoring warning shots": its a WAR ZONE! Gunshots are exploding all the time! If you were in a car, or bus, or whatever, and you heard gunshots, would you stop, or would you put the pedal to the metal to get the h3ll out of there as quickly as possible?

    War: the only winning move is not to play the game.

    Whatever the h3ll it is we''re supposedly doing in Iraq, the truth is, they don''t want us there. We should get out immediately.
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 9:07 AM PST
    How do we establish a legitimate presence in Iraq (occupation and/or invasion forces are NOT legitimate) when the government is seen as a puppet regime elected under duress and definitely collaborators of the invading country?

    In other words, the agreement we draft with our puppets has as much credibility as Musharraf and his kangaroo judges or any other sham. From the minute Bush mandated a certain type of election be held in Iraq--the country was not doing things by choice but at the bidding of those who invaded them. So it can''t be legitimate and neither is Al Maliki''s government*


    * Maliki was NEVER elected, he was appointed one year later, as a handpicked Bush choice after the first PM proved not to be so easily controlled.

    America should be ashamed of themselves. We fool no one except ourselves.
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 November 27, 2007 9:07 AM PST
    "Reading these type of articles makes me want to puke."
    Posted by singinrick at 08:25

    Then don''t read them. Continue to pretend that we are actually over there doing something for the good of the Iraqis. Go to sleep secure in the delusion that killing innocents somehow is justified because they are of a different religion, culture, or ethnicity. Wake up tomorrow to $3 per gallon gasoline, and console yourself with the lie that if we hadn''t invaded Iraq, prices would be even higher. Lastly, feel grateful that Bush cares enough about you to send US soldiers, some of whom might be your loved ones, to their deaths based on lies, and remain one of the few who still believe them, in hope that he might share some of the profit with you..
    Reply to this comment
    by bareemperor November 27, 2007 9:09 AM PST
    WE
    CAME
    FOR
    OIL

    IRAN
    IS
    NEXT

    BU$H
    LIED
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 9:11 AM PST
    SearingTruth ,

    I took a look at your little web page and I have to tell you, from your "about ST" section, you come off as someone wSearingTruth ho is very much into himself. I qoute" However, the impetus behind everything SearingTruth has done is the betterment of humankind. In parallel to his primary career, SearingTruth has always written and spoken out about the critical issues and events that affect his people, which constitute every citizen of this earth. This has allowed him to step back, always viewing our world as a whole, instead of a disparate group of conflicted entities. " You think that everyone on erth are "your people" seems to me that you aspire to the world domination" that you potray yourself as fearing. Did someone write that bit for you, or did you write it yourself in the third person? I think the later. you come off egotistical at the least, a megalomaniac at worst. Your a sad man.
    Reply to this comment
    by trillion1 November 27, 2007 9:12 AM PST
    What''s wrong with just shooting out the tires or the retractable spike strips cops use in this country every day?
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 9:15 AM PST
    I think the later. you come off egotistical at the least, a megalomaniac at worst. Your a sad man.

    Posted by navyChief8 at 09:11 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    and yet, Bush and Cheney not only espouse like words and ideas, but back it up with torture and mass killings--of the 3 "sad men" I''d take ST''s approach to mankind over the man who cannot keep food or truth in his mouth and who sees a war opportunity at every turn--any day, of any week of any era.


    Reply to this comment
    by lochlan-2009 November 27, 2007 9:19 AM PST
    trillion1- I was thinking the same thing. I don''t think we have the whole story here though.
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 9:20 AM PST
    What''''s wrong with just shooting out the tires or the retractable spike strips cops use in this country every day?

    Posted by trillion1 at 09:12 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    That sounds too much like common sense. The whole point is to create and sustain a little violence to justify our presence there. Besides, even in America we will probably move away from the spikes and shooting tires---the popular move today is to kill the driver or the coke can/hair brush/chocolate bar holder . Either our police will start shooting by gun or taser==that''s the new ticket.
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 9:27 AM PST
    What''''s wrong with just shooting out the tires or the retractable spike strips cops use in this country every day?

    Won''t work. Vehicles can roll a long way on blown out tires. When you are dealing with a VBIED you have to stop the threat. Period. I know the situation sucks. I am not discussing politics here, just tactics and procedure. Your placed on the road a check point. The vehcle doesn''t stop, it ignores posted signs, ignores warning shots. What do you do? YOu have to protect your post, more importantly, your buddies. You have to make a tough decision. Put yourself in the soldiers boots before you rush to judge. Do you really think we want to kill civilians? I have a wife and a three year old son. I know what humanity is. But I also know what it is to be put in a tough situation where hesitation kills (everyone). So you fall back on your training and do the best you can.
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 9:34 AM PST
    That sounds too much like common sense. The whole point is to create and sustain a little violence to justify our presence there. Besides, even in America we will probably move away from the spikes and shooting tires---the popular move today is to kill the driver or the coke can/hair brush/chocolate bar holder . Either our police will start shooting by gun or taser==that''''s the new ticket.

    Posted by b-easy63 at 09:20 AM : Nov 27, 2007

    I am overwhelmed by your breadth of experience and knowledge on the subject. And just what are your credentials to make these "assumptions"?
    Reply to this comment
    by joyous88 November 27, 2007 9:37 AM PST
    there is no excuse for killing unarmed civilians -

    do not believe the military police/state rhetoric

    there is no reason to kill someone that has not attacked you first, its an american police state and they kill anything that gets in their way.
    Reply to this comment
    by joyous88 November 27, 2007 9:39 AM PST
    NavyChief -

    why should we believe that you have any experience on this subject

    WHEN you sound exactly like a loyal bushie, and we all know how much combat experiencethey saw in Vietnam
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 9:46 AM PST
    NavyChief -

    why should we believe that you have any experience on this subject

    WHEN you sound exactly like a loyal bushie, and we all know how much combat experiencethey saw in Vietnam

    Posted by joyous88

    You know, I am not hear to sound off my credentials. i would hope that my handle would give a little insight as to my experience. Also, I am glad that you are trying to lable me. Actually, to use your handle, I am "joyous" about it.

    Anyway, tell me your experience on the subject, and maybe I will share a little.
    Reply to this comment
    by barbjc1 November 27, 2007 9:52 AM PST
    Leave the soldiers alone. Is there something wrong with you people. The soldiers are being fired upon everyday. Keep your mouth shut unless you are over there. How would you like to have someone shooting at you, or trying to blow you up?
    Reply to this comment
    by oscarez November 27, 2007 9:55 AM PST
    "Sunday killed 11 relatives of a journalist critical of the Iraqi government"

    "Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf, however, denied the Sunday killings had taken place. "The killing of the 11 family members did not take place and that is totally confirmed," he told The Associated Press Tuesday."

    I''m sure that we in the U.S.A know more about what is happing in Iraq than the people in Iraq. At some point the Iraqis will say enough and kick the U.S. out of Iraq. On the other hand 130,000 U.S. troops in country can control the population. Look at Germany in France during WWII.
    Reply to this comment
    by clestes-2009 November 27, 2007 9:56 AM PST
    Another child lost to the world but more progess made towards the ever changing goal of "winning" in Iraq!!

    Bush, Cheney, Feith and the whole neocon scumbag crew should burn in hell, haunted by the ghosts of all the children killed since March 2003. Even that would not be punishment enough for the crimes they have committed.

    I pardon the soldiers who are only trying to do their job under difficult circumstances. But the leaders of this fiasco have no pardons.
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:00 AM PST
    Posted by sunsetbillyb at 09:52 AM : Nov 27, 2007

    Look, I am not discussing politics with you fella, I am in the Military. I don''t go around killing women and children, Do you know what range the vehicles were engaged at? I don''t think you do. I think it is a high probability that those vehicles were fire on at a range that was significantly far away to not know who or what was in the car/minivan. You don''t make the decision to shoot or not shoot when the car is ten feet away. By then it is far to late.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth November 27, 2007 10:04 AM PST
    "SearingTruth ,

    I took a look at your little web page and I have to tell you, from your "about ST" section, you come off as someone wSearingTruth ho is very much into himself. I qoute" However, the impetus behind everything SearingTruth has done is the betterment of humankind. In parallel to his primary career, SearingTruth has always written and spoken out about the critical issues and events that affect his people, which constitute every citizen of this earth. This has allowed him to step back, always viewing our world as a whole, instead of a disparate group of conflicted entities. " You think that everyone on erth are "your people" seems to me that you aspire to the world domination" that you potray yourself as fearing. Did someone write that bit for you, or did you write it yourself in the third person? I think the later. you come off egotistical at the least, a megalomaniac at worst. Your a sad man."
    navyChief8


    ***.

    Another neocon who doesn''t like my website.

    What am I going to do? I try so hard ...
    ST


    "The greatest persuader is the ever encroaching power of truth."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:11 AM PST
    Posted by sunsetbillyb,

    Your personnel attacks are a joke. You make your statements from the safety of your home or work place. Have you ever served in the military? Have you ever done anything worthwhile in your life. If these posts are it for you, then I pitty you. I have served my country for the past 18 years. I have had to say good by to my family more times than I can count on two hands. I have done it because I enjoy service to my country. I have seen abject poverty in India, yes I have been to the middle east a few times. Yes I was on station on my ship when 9/11 happened. yes I participated in more that 150 bartime boardings in support of the GWOT. Does that make me a bad person? You tell me, after all, I serve you. You talk like a tough guy, but who are you really, a sad or angry disinfranchised person? How old are you? What kind of experince to you bring to the table?
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:16 AM PST
    Posted by SearingTruth at 10:04 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    No, not a NEOCON, in fact, I didn''t vote for the President. I just think you have a big ego. I read you posts, Usually don''t say much. But when people make generalized statements about my fellow service men and women, I get irritated. We are poud to serve, even if you are not poud of us.
    Reply to this comment
    by notblue November 27, 2007 10:16 AM PST
    The radicals use children as shields. The media reported one of the bombs used in the attempt to assasinate Butto was strapped to an infant. The Muslims radicals the U.S. is currently fighting DO NOT PLAY by ANY RULES. NO rules of engagement, no Geneva convention, no uniforms, use of human shields, purposeful targetting of innocent civilians at markets, weddings, churches, business centers, hotels, schools, hospitals, torture using electricity, portable drills, fire, televised beheadings, the taking of hostages, etc.etc. There is no human decency in there Jihad just death and destruction using any weapon or means they can get there hands on.
    Reply to this comment
    by MIpapaof4 November 27, 2007 10:20 AM PST
    As a veteran myself, I served in Viet Nam. Another war that was hated here at home. Once you have been put into a position, such as this, you''ll never know what really being scared is. My hat is off to all who are and have served in our Armed Services. Semper Fi, carry on
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:23 AM PST
    I get irritated. We are poud to serve, even if you are not poud of us.


    Meant to say Proud. forgive my dyslexic mind. When i get in a hurry I can''t get my words from my brain to my hands very well.
    Reply to this comment
    by joyous88 November 27, 2007 10:29 AM PST
    no one is picking on the troops -

    don''t hide behind that old garbage-

    A lot of us are Veterans - that does not mean we get to support the criminal in the white house without
    being challenged -

    and Yes in Vietnam people used kids to hide behind
    did we think it was OK to shoot them because they might have a gun or ran a roadblock

    NO WE DID NOT
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:30 AM PST
    Posted by navyChief8 at 10:00 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    What you posted on about shooting from a safe distance is right. When a potential vehicular "bomb" is coming your way, you can''t wait until you see the "whites of their eyes" or know who you are hitting. If they don''t stop--then you have to shoot because to delay could mean even greater devastation and the life of the soldiers.


    For you and navychief: here is the problem: We should not be there. Once the rationale we were given to destroy humans and their country was shot down--we should have left. Any reason to stay that includes "goodies and massive profits for oil or American business interests" just dirties the deed even more.

    The fact is, cars with bombs and soldiers being shot at are moot points, when countries stay in their own lands, mind their own business and borders and set about the task of defending instead of offending. We should NOT be in Iraq and those people should not be dying due to our presence. Everything else that happens as a result of our presence in a place we should not be--IS OUR OWN FAULT. And soldiers who are brainwashed so well, that they mistake loyalty and duty even when in the hands of evil---that is their own fault. Good men, being used by evil ones---it takes both--the evil to use, the good to blindly follow and obey.


    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:34 AM PST
    On the other hand 130,000 U.S. troops in country can control the population. Look at Germany in France during WWII.

    Posted by Oscarez at 09:55 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    An occupying army or invaders NEVER control a captive population. They can only be controlled when they cooperate. France, Poland and others were controlled due to turncoats who collaborated with Germany. Fake governments were set up to make the invasion look legitimate, they took their marching orders from Germany. They helped stock the cattle cars with Jews and dissidents and turned their own countrymen in for a profit. After the war, most collaborators were caught and hunted down and murdered by mobs--"vigilante justice for traitors 101"

    Al Maliki is no different than any other traitor to his country. He sized the situation up and joined the winning side--just like the collaborators in Poland, Holland, France and other countries did. And if the tide turns...well...no wonder Maliki wants official protection--we all know what happens to collaborators in the end. there is no honor in betraying one''s own country--not even in helping us.
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:37 AM PST
    and Yes in Vietnam people used kids to hide behind
    did we think it was OK to shoot them because they might have a gun or ran a roadblock

    NO WE DID NOT

    Look guy, if you are a Viet Nam vet as you say, then you know that what you just said is silly. Bad things happen in every war. War is not pretty, or sterile. I am not trying to come off as someone who likes war. I wish this thing never happened. In fact war should be avoided at all costs. But It did. Now our Service persons have to do the best they can. They are not part of some made up conspiracy. They are professionals.
    Reply to this comment
    by hockeymanvt November 27, 2007 10:39 AM PST
    I am PROUD (and humbled) by the fine men and women who are willing to go off and risk their lives in combat and ASHAMED that we voters "elected" a person with so little integrity that he was willing to sacrifice our most precious resource for his own personal and political purposes.
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:40 AM PST
    I am overwhelmed by your breadth of experience and knowledge on the subject. And just what are your credentials to make these "assumptions"?

    Posted by navyChief8 at 09:34 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    I am a free thinking person and a student of history. Combine those two elements and I can not only see the semblance of the movies of the past, but the markers of the thinking of each side. Your views are very similar to those on one side of past issues as is your rationale. Those who follow evil, take refuge in either divinity, law, rule of law and so called veiled patriotism. None apply in war--but those who do it are sure of their righteousness. They get a wake up call about 20 years later, when the smoke and their own brain fog clears, then they either deny any part in the massacres/genocide or refuse to discuss it. Bet you refuse to discuss these years later--when all who willingly offered up another people for slaughter and mayhem will be shunned as the monsters and busybodies that they are. And military experience means nothing as far as this war is concerned. So what? You shot people? That makes you no expert and gives you no credentials, it only means you come to the table already biased, and tainted with a certain point of view but probably a very limited and controlled vantage point. after all, how much perspective does one have when the view is limited to the sights in a gun? LOL
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth November 27, 2007 10:43 AM PST
    "No, not a NEOCON, in fact, I didn''''t vote for the President. I just think you have a big ego ..."
    navyChief8


    Gosh.

    In any case I guess you missed my earlier post, which unequivocally supported and sympathized with our troops:

    "And what of our our soldiers?

    They are left in a place so unstable and terrifying, causing most nerves to frazzle after more than a year, that they begin to jump at even a perceived shadow, and shooting at anything that moves, resulting in the regular everyday murder of innocent civilians. And their official "rules of engagement" tell them to do just that. Shoot first, and we''''ll cover your behind later."

    I don''t know what could be more sympathetic and truthful than that. They have simply been left in an untenable no-win situation by Dictator Bush, and the rules of engagement have been changed so that they are allowed to throw hand grenades into a house, kick open the doors and spray all the rooms with machine gun fire, and then check to see if there are any bad guys in there.

    I mean my goodness, that''s just insane, and no military personal should ever be placed in a situation where they are ordered to commit cold blooded murder.

    Now that''s really supporting our troops.
    ST


    "Our question is not whether or not we have enemies, or whether or not we should fear them. It is whether or not we recognize our true enemies, and whether or not we shall face and defeat them as Americans."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:46 AM PST
    I have a wife and a three year old son. I know what humanity is. But I also know what it is to be put in a tough situation where hesitation kills (everyone). So you fall back on your training and do the best you can.

    Posted by navyChief8 at 09:27 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    Do you really KNOW what humanity is? I don''t think so or you would not so glibly justify this war. Imagine someone invading America to rid us of Bush. They claim they are doing the right thing but as a result, our neighborhoods, cities and way of life is destroyed. Your own wife is raped and killed and your child at risk...Do you fight for America or join the ones who invaded us--and if you dare to defend and fight off the invaders--are you a good guy or a bad guy?

    Here is the clue--I think more of those in Iraq who RESIST our presence as the invading force than those who cooperate. Because cooperation, while it will allow us a "win" is a testimony of traitorous acts for those who do it. NO country is occupied successfully until those from that country give in and assist the occupiers--usually for power or profit--they PIMP their own country and their own people. As for soldiers--they are in a lose lose. I was a military brat--one must follow orders--not question them--just follow them--it takes a certain amount of discipline to do that--but it also takes blindness and faith. What praytell happens when the faith is misplaced and good soldiers are used to perpetuate evil?
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 10:48 AM PST
    For all the cheese and crackers being passed around with the wine in this thread, I sure hope each of you go out and cast your vote in the comming months. If you don''t, your a hypocrit. As a Sailor, I don''t follow blindly. I follow orders that are Lawful. You may disagree about why we are there. And I have my own opinons about it as well. But as long as I am told to go, will. If you don''t like it, vote. And don''t give me the 2000 election was stolen ***. If enough people had turned out to vote then It would not have mattered. But the fact is, most Americans don''t put their money where their mouths are. We just assume the other guy will.
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:51 AM PST
    There is no human decency in there Jihad just death and destruction using any weapon or means they can get there hands on.

    Posted by notblue at 10:16 AM : Nov 27, 2007

    Let''s see...we start a war based on lies, bomb thousands and hide behind a plane in the sky or unmanned missles......the people we invade dare to fight back, by any means they can--then WE complain about how low down they are--and how they don''t fight fair and are not decent.......

    Let''s try this again--WE start a WAR based on LIES and kill thousands in a foreign land--but we have rules for our killing though we break them (by using WP on civvies and torture and concentration camps and firing on civilians) but WE complain when they ignore our broken rules and don''t fight "fair".

    One more time...WE start a war based on lies but do not leave, we keep making excuses, ignoring or lying about the numbers dead, roll through streets at will, kidnap people and detain, and torture them.....".they don''t fight fair"

    Again? We start a war of CHOICE and destroy a country.....
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 10:58 AM PST
    They are not part of some made up conspiracy. They are professionals.

    Posted by navyChief8 at 10:37 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    They are professionals who almost blindly obey. So even if they do their job well (and most do) they still are the tool for any evil person to use. Bush has told so many lies about this war--(from wiretapping to yellow cake to Curve ball to outing agents, to use of WP to rendition, etc) that good men ARE being used for an evil purpose. Funny, how the military teaches blind obedience and abject loyalty but never entertains the idea of what to do if the government is ever run by people who use them for evil. Bush and the brass treat soldiers like they are like all tools--things and not thinking men and women eh? And the soldiers concur by not only acting with no thought to the morality or even legitimacy of what they do--but they also defend it? My dad served for 21 years in the Airforce. From the very beginning, he stated this war was wrong and evil and that Bush was a bad person.
    Reply to this comment
    by random_radar November 27, 2007 10:58 AM PST
    Imagine a young Arab reading stories like this every day about American soldiers killing innocent women and children. Can you understand why he would join Al Queda and fight to rid the Middle East of American imperialist influence? Can you see why he might want to bring the war to us and destroy our nation?

    No? You are so blind you don''t understand the hatred we are creating for ourselves in the world? Okay, as long as we are strong enough to kill everyone, we will be okay. But when the day comes that we have created so many enemies that they overwhelm us, it will be our women and children who are murdered.

    We are sowing the seeds of our destruction by alienating the whole world against us. We are picking fights with everyone from Iran to China to Russia. We have to buy allies who look for ways to avoid us. America is rapidly becoming a friendless bully in the world. The cheers you hear are not friends, but enemies rejoicing in our suffering.

    So good luck with a policy of killing anyone who gets in our way--the American way.
    Reply to this comment
    by iphyt4u November 27, 2007 10:58 AM PST
    Don''t worry America. A bunch of Islamic fundamentalists invested in Citicorp today. You can''t call them terrorist if they invest in American companies. Heck, America loves Arabs as long as they invest in our companies. Halliburtons headquarters are now in an Arab state. And remember when Bush wanted to give managerial control of half a dozen of our American sea ports to an Arab country. America loves Arabs, they may call us infidels and children of Satan, but hey, they''re solving Bush''s housing and financial sector dilema.
    Reply to this comment
    by ramos937 November 27, 2007 11:00 AM PST
    Let''s see, our guys open fire on a bus that did not obey their orders, immediately after opening fire, they realize their mistake and rush to help. I just do not understand what was not apparent before they opened fire and what was apparent when they stopped.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth November 27, 2007 11:01 AM PST
    "For all the cheese and crackers being passed around with the wine in this thread, I sure hope each of you go out and cast your vote in the comming months. If you don''''t, your a hypocrit. As a Sailor, I don''''t follow blindly. I follow orders that are Lawful. ..."
    navyChief8


    Hmmmm ....

    Do you mean "Lawful" according to Bush, or Lawful according to The Constitution of the United States of America?

    If you have followed the current rules of engagement in Iraq, and killed innocent civilians in the process, then what you have done is unlawful, no matter what Bush and his henchmen say.

    You are an American, and have a patriotic duty and responsibility to act like one, even if someone orders you not to.

    Any who have engaged in the illegal abduction of domestic and foreign citizens, the indefinite incarceration of humans without charge or representation, or torture or murder, has violated not only our Constitution and rule of law, but the very spirit of what it is to be an American.

    And they will be justly punished upon restoration of our Constitution.
    ST


    "Never forsake humanity for inhumanity, despite all disguise."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 11:02 AM PST
    As a Sailor, I don''''t follow blindly. I follow orders that are Lawful. Y
    Posted by navyChief8 at 10:48 AM : Nov 27, 2007

    How ignorant. ANYTHING can be declared lawful by a country at war. That does not make it ultimately legal or right--but countries tend to cover their azzes. Surely you did not leave your conscience at the door when you signed up? Hitler declared martial law, war crimes and gassing the Jews legal--but ultimately they were found not to be. Bush declared his wire tapping and rendition and invasion legal then begged Congress to grant him immunity last year for doing those things and to make the immunity retroactive.

    "Legal" surely you are not as stupid as you are trying to make yourself out to be. THINK. Legal is a guise, used to justify something temporarily--but in the end, decency, honor and conscience should carry the day, not a newly planted "law" that says whatever you do is okay. At least that is how it works of those humans who are not born sociopaths.
    Reply to this comment
    by navychief8 November 27, 2007 11:03 AM PST
    I mean my goodness, that''''s just insane, and no military personal should ever be placed in a situation where they are ordered to commit cold blooded murder.

    Now that''''s really supporting our troops.
    ST
    Murder as defined is to kill with premeditated mallice. A lot of people in this thread are missing what i am trying to get across, here. I am not debating this war. As I said I wish it had never started. What I am tring to do is to create some understanding as to the "why" behind what happened in this article.

    ST, do you think these soldiers acted with premeditated mallice? Do you think that when we deploy we go saying, dang man Im gonna kill everty thing I see"? I hope you don''t. When I stand watch at a gate or a check point or in CIC on a ship, my job is to protect my self and my shipmates as well as all around me.

    do you think these guy acted out of mallice or a recieved threat? I am trying to say that these guys are doing their best. So yes be critical of the war if you want, there is nothingw rong with that. But when people make generalized statements about something they don''t know about. it gets a little old. If they did something wrong, it will come out. But don''t rush to judgement. If you do, then who is taking away the civil libery?
    Reply to this comment
    by b-easy63 November 27, 2007 11:08 AM PST
    I just do not understand what was not apparent before they opened fire and what was apparent when they stopped.

    Posted by ramos937 at 11:00 AM : Nov 27, 2007


    They fire on it from far away because they are afraid of explosives and the bus being used as a huge IED. They stop when the bus does not blow up and realize they have had yet another "OOPs" moment to add to the hundreds of such incidences that mark our presence in Iraq.
    Reply to this comment
    by newz4i November 27, 2007 11:13 AM PST
    Again I hear/read, "War is not pretty." I agree. However, our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with 911. Cheney/Bush/Rice will deny ownership of the bullet that killed this child. However all Americans own the responsibility of this "mistake" which killed innocent Iraqi people. In this case, there''s not an imagined enemy.
    Reply to this comment
    by eastprophet November 27, 2007 11:15 AM PST
    RON PAUL WINS BIG IN NATIONAL POLL
    The results of a nationwide telephone poll, announced by Zogby on November 19th, reveals that Americans want to vote for a candidate who protects liberty; who wants to shrink government; and who wants to immediately withdraw our troops from Iraq - positions of Congressman Ron Paul. As part of a blind-bio, spread poll, likely voters (from all parties) were provided with descriptions of four different Republican candidates and asked to choose who they would vote for based on each one''s resume and political platform. 33% of pollees chose Ron Paul, 19% chose Rudy Giuliani, 15% chose Mitt Romney and 13% chose Fred Thompson. The results clearly illustrate that the country is crying out for Ron Paul, which is why mainstream media has launched a public relations offensive to marginalize his accomplishments and suppress the Congressman''s name recognition. In a seperate question, over 49% of pollees said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who would begin an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. In fact, Ron Paul won in every demographic of this poll including, but not limited to, religious voters, NASCAR fans, military families, African-Americans, etc..
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