Iraqi photos

[thebullet]

At present it is hard to blame anyone for what these pictures show. But why are we in a position to allow things like this to happen?



US soldiers in Iraq approach a car after opening fire
when it failed to stop at a checkpoint. Despite
warning shots it continued to drive towards their dusk
patrol in Tal Afar on 18 January.
Chris Hondros a photographer with Getty News was on
hand to record these pictures.

WARNING: This gallery contains graphic images

Photos here

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Because it's war.

Not trying to sound harsh or unfeeling but tragedies are going to happen and we can only watch in horror and thank God or whoever you believe in that it's not in our backyard.

 

[Belegon]

I'm with Abs on the "just be thankful it is not here" train.


If the soldiers were to wait until they could absolutely positively tell they was a danger before opening fire....well, we would have a lot more dead soldiers.

The vehicle behaved in a manner that they had been trained to identify and deal with, and they responded as trained. The fact that the vehicle turned out to not be what it was likely to be is painful, but as Thebullet said, it is hard to place blame there.

It is also worth remembering that denizens of that part of the world have shown a willingness to place women and children in fire zones and actually use them as combatents. Even seeing th mother in the front seat would not have been enough to indicate a lack of danger.

 

[scheherazade_79]

Sad, but hardly surprising. This is what war is all about. If truth is the first casualty of war, then common sense runs a close second.

At the end of the day, we don't tend to recruit Harvard / Yale / Berkeley / Oxford / Cambridge graduates as canon-fodder. Neither do we recruit the sons and daughters of teachers, doctors, lawyers and other skilled professionals. As Michael Moore highlighted in Fahrenheit 9/11 , most of our military recruitment drives are held in deprived areas, where people have a lower level of education and little hope for anything better in life.

Our military personnel are trained to fight, and have their primeval instincts of survival fine-tuned to an aggressive hatred of the government's chosen enemy. They are pumped up, afraid and in no real position to be making accurate decisions quickly. Besides - the course of action chosen by the US and her allies means that everyone in that part of the world is a potential enemy. The car could just as easily have been transporting a suicide bomber.

When those children grow up, I wonder how they'll feel about the western world. I wonder how long they'll need to think when they're asked if they'd like to join a terrorist cell. I also wonder when our leaders will realise that dealing with political situations with military force is probably the worst tactic.

We aren't stopping terrorism - we're breeding it and killing innocent people in the process.

 

[TheEarl]

When those children grow up, I wonder how they'll feel about the western world. I wonder how long they'll need to think when they're asked if they'd like to join a terrorist cell. I also wonder when our leaders will realise that dealing with political situations with military force is probably the worst tactic.

We aren't stopping terrorism - we're breeding it and killing innocent people in the process.

I knew I liked you.

The Earl

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Question: Why would it be any more tragic if it happened here?

I don't understand.

---dr.M.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Well, if you're not going to answer my question above, at least tell me this:

Why were these pictures published by the BBC but not any American news service?

---dr.M.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Well, if you're not going to answer my question above, at least tell me this:

Why were these pictures published by the BBC but not any American news service?

---dr.M.

Because we don't want Americans to know it happened?

 

[scheherazade_79]

Well, if you're not going to answer my question above, at least tell me this:

Why were these pictures published by the BBC but not any American news service?

---dr.M.

It's all part of the great American propaganda machine, which, at the moment, is far better oiled than the British equivalent.

 

[LadyJeanne]

Well, if you're not going to answer my question above, at least tell me this:

Why were these pictures published by the BBC but not any American news service?

---dr.M.

It wouldn't be seemly, you know, to air those photos during the inauguration festivities. Might put a damper on all the parties and such.

 

[cantdog]

We don't do civilian death counts, of course. The actions of the soldiers are completely understandable, given the circs. I just want to undo the circs, myself.

Iran is to be the next chaos zone, then? Some Persians instead of Arabs, for a change? Swell. And we go in with DU rounds, no cleanup, as before? Does anyone get to ask these questions?

cantdog