Drunk US Soldier Shoots And Kills Rare Tiger In Iraqi Zoo

Hehe, don�t know if its so bad to be un-human. If I really am a human, I�m ashamed of it. I would never feel comfortable claiming that any species is more worth than another either� I don�t like humans much, but who am I to claim that they are less worth than any other animal?

Also, I just read that the people who run the zoo told the media that the drunken soldier went INSIDE the cage to feed the tiger (how did he open the cage? And how is it possible to be that stupid even though you�re drunk?). If this in fact true, that the soldier was inside the cage when the tiger attacked, I can�t blame the killer for shooting the tiger. I would probably have done the same thing if my friend were in a similar situation, if it was either my friend or the tiger I would have shot the tiger even though it would have been wrong of me to do so (it�s wrong to capture an animal and put it in a cage in the first place� humans # everything up, the earth would have been a lot better of without them). I do however feel that the drunken soldier deserved death more than the tiger� but again; who am I to deal out death and judgement?

When I think about it, the soldier may have done the complete right thing anyway. Cause if he didn�t shot the tiger, the tiger would have killed the drunken soldier and would probably have been put to sleep the next day anyway� and then you would end up with two dead creatures instead of one. But this is again only if the life of the drunken soldier was in danger, if he was INSIDE the cage when it attacked and not just on the outside sticking his hand through the bars.

A great analogy for the entire conflict I would say.

I'm only sorry the tiger didn't bite his balls off!

Btw, this whole thing is like a bad duplicate of Apocalypse Now! movie..

As there is this 'part' when Captain (Martin Sheen) and the 'Chef' go to the Jungle to get some mangos..

And get jumped by the 'Tigger'..

Fulcrum - I think you might have nailed this - it is just a little too similar to the AP movie.

I dont want to cry foul about this just yet but ....

Im still a little curious about just where this booze came from. I have been reading an awful lot of Bloggs from serving forces since the start of the war - and the one common thread is that there just isnt any booze available. This includes reading about atendees at evens where I would have thought - at least like Saudi consumption would have been ignored.

A second point on this - they were with Iraqi police forces - who let them drink as well ?. Something in this story just makes me wonder - but I will go see if i can find this verified by another source.

Seems I was mistaken in part

www.debka.com...

Looks like there is an entrerprising trade in beer from Israel going on in country.

However - in the sites I checked on the story - there is no mention of Iraqi forces being present just the soldiers "who had been drinking beer" and the fact that the tiger attacked the soldier who had his arm through the cage bars - and was not "inside".

This adds nothing to the debate about the rights or wrongs I know - Im just a stickler for getting facts - despite a long held tradition in the press of "never letting the truth get in the way of a good story"

I asked the same question earlier abou the Booze in a previous post.

Where the hell did they get booze? How did they get booze?

Unless it was the typical desert moonshoine variety people made since we got sent there, using either anti freeze or grape koolaid, or even cough syrup.

Im still waiting for an answer on this.

Where the hell do GIs get the booze from?

Skadi - I just posted something above that might answer your question (btw I do treat Debka with a degree of scepticism).

But as to the quantity of beer involved or just downright stupidity i guess we will never know.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
I asked the same question earlier abou the Booze in a previous post.

Where the hell did they get booze? How did they get booze?

Unless it was the typical desert moonshoine variety people made since we got sent there, using either anti freeze or grape koolaid, or even cough syrup.

Im still waiting for an answer on this.

Where the hell do GIs get the booze from?

Didn't they loot tons of 'goodies' from Saddam's personal stash? I heard that Uday had what amounted to a whole house filled with various types of very expensive booze. My guess is that a lot of the spoils of war are still floating around the country.

People you must remember:

US troops corrupt people (souls and minds..) of the countries they occupy.. with $$$.. dirty $$$.. blood $$$

Germany, UK (during ww2 when there were more GI:s than Brittish men around..), Saudi and former 'South-Vietnam'.. list is endless..

So, it is no wonder that these Iraqi police officers didnt say nothing about their booze drinking..

Fulcrum -

but wasnt this once a sanioned policy called "hearts and minds"

but i digress - as to the main contentious issue - it seems that someone was acting stupidly and had the consequences. As to the tiger i would have to agree Im afraid it would have been euthanized(sp) after the attack - regardless of the circumstances.

(I had the misfortune to visit London Zoo shortly after the keeper was accidently killed last year - and had to explain to my daughter why the elephants were no longer there.)

Fulcrum, you can do better than that. For shame. Such a silly statement.

People have been corrupted by thier own devices long before US troops ever got there. Corruption simply is human phenomina. Tsk Tsk.

Im still waiting for you to come up with rational hatred of the US.

That does make sense tho, Silk and OIMD. The booze and crap that Saddam and his boys had was quite legendary.

That leads to another question: Booze is banned in the middle east. Its against regs for any soldier to drink while over there. So..........

what the hell are thier commanders doing?

A little off topic but this is something I have thought about.
An animal kills a person and is put down. A person kills a person,does 5 or 10 years and walks out a freeman.
They say that an animal can no longer be trusted around people,after it has killed somebody. I would think the same would be true with people as well.
After all..when you get right down to it...we are animals as well. Food for thought....

Like i said, couple of times allready:

That drunken monkey (GI) was one stupid mofo..

As he dared the tiger.. tiger that eats lot bigger things than humas.. one GI is only a snack for tiger.

But like somebody just said.. even if this would have happened 'in more peaceful circumstances'.. the tiger still would have been killed or 'put to sleep'..

This was one stupid act by one very stupid GI, but that is all..

Still it is a shame that because of one drunken GI # up, a tiger had to die.

But this really isnt going to get any better.. no matter how much we write about it in here..

Yeah you're all right.
You would be better and stronger every one of you.
You wouldn't break under the pressure.
You are all doing the right thing right now,
criticizing non-stop with now offered solutions.
Most of you live in countries that either Russia would own now or the Nazi's but you attack all day long.
Ungrateful.

On the contrary, I can focus on the stupid behavior of two individuals without seein them as representing the whole political interests of a country, whichever country it may be.

Gratitude or ingratitude is irrelevant.

TheNeo: Most of you live in countries that either Russia would own now or the Nazi's but you attack all day long.
Ungrateful.

? Russia would own my country? The Nazis would? Please explain. I'm criticizing two dumb-ass American soldiers, what the heck do either of them have to do with Russia or Nazi Germany?


jakomo

Originally posted by THENEO
Yeah you're all right.
You would be better and stronger every one of you.
You wouldn't break under the pressure.
You are all doing the right thing right now,
criticizing non-stop with now offered solutions.
Most of you live in countries that either Russia would own now or the Nazi's but you attack all day long.
Ungrateful.

Up yours.. and so on..

News flash:

I live in a country that repelled both USSR and Nazi-Germanys invasions. Only Axis nation of ww2 that wasnt occupied.



And we are tough.. we dont 'break' we just bend if needed.

Suomi Finland Perkele.

There is beer readily available in Iraq.

Beer is older than Islam.

Originally posted by JediMaster
FULCRUM, I made an error in my writing. That does not mean I am stupid which I see is what you are implying. Your just one of those human haters. You seem to think a dirty animal like some stupid moose is more important than a human being. He should not have been drunk,but no one should be torn to death by a tiger. If Ii saw someone being killed by an animal I would shoot that animal,and save that guy even if it was some rare-blue crested eagle dog and only 3 of them are left in the world.

People are worth more than animals. We can build cities they can't.

If the guy was stupid enough to get into the cage with a tiger then he deserves whatever he gets in my opinion. And where the F**k where his friends? Why didnt they stop him from getting into the cage in the first place? Now the tiger is dead because of some stupid moronic idiotic retarded A$$HOLE got in the cage with him.

[Edited on 25-9-2003 by Ocelot]

Reguardless of whether you think its better for the human to be alive than the tiger, the reality of it is that the human lived and the tiger is dead. Now, I can't say thats a good or bad thing as I think stupidity should have its own rewards. The problem now is who to punish and how because truly there needs to be a punishment for this. Ultimatly, the most stearn should be for the idiot who put his life in danger and thus compromised his entire squad, group or whatever. His actions forced a fellow soldier to put down a remarkable and as I take it, endangered animal. I think his commanding officer needs to answer for the booze and an inquiry launched into just who was drunk and who goated who into doing what and then dole out the punishment. These guys are there doing a tough job, and I know they are, they represent the USA and they must remember that. I've argued that if anyone deserves more pay in this country, its them. I've argued that they take the ultimate challenge but also with that comes responsibility and also consequences.

My second concern is the validity of the information that the event happened at all or at all like its been reported. Many of you question news stories that people post that have photos and video to back them up so I'm not out of line to do so with this piece.