Haditha is the tip of the iceberg - Iraq atrocities continue, page 1
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Topic started on 2-6-2006 @ 08:13 AM by rich23
Pretty much ever since the start of the war, Iraqis have been saying that US forces treat the place as a free fire zone. If an IED goes off, the US forces shoot up the entire landscape.

That's why the victims in Haditha were hiding in their house, not that it did them much good.

Previously the focus was on Abu Grhaib, trying to pull the old "rotten apple" trick. "It was just a few rotten apples, we can take care of them." Meanwhile, the systematic aspects of it are subsumed and a few grunts take the fall for their superiors, all the way up to Rumsfeld.

Now Haditha has hit the headlines and the old "rotten apples" excuse is being trotted out again. This is nonsense. This has been going on for years and the tragic racist truth of it is that as long as it was only Iraqis were saying it, it was being IGNORED.

But now that Haditha has hit the headlines, US soldiers who 'served' (nice euphemism, I prefer 'went to Iraq to kill for their leaders') in Iraq are coming out and saying how wrong it actually was.

There will be posters saying I'm just an anti-American and don't (ha!) "support the troops". Actually, I have every sympathy for ordinary people put into that situation. Not as much as I have for their Iraqi victims, but those people who have to live with killing innocents have a tough time of it too.

Here is a link to a BBC clip showing interviews with ex-servicemen. Iraq Veterans Against the War is an organisation that is exactly what it says on the label, and the interviews herein are genuinely moving.

One guy in particular talks about how you could basically kill anyone you wanted if you were driving around. On patrol they would always carry a shovel with them so they could put it by the side of any dead bodies by the roadside - "oh, he was digging an IED". He's ashamed of what he did, but "you just get carried along while you're out there". Groupthink at its most dangerous.

Another guy is in tears as he talks about his guilt for the things he did and witnessed while in Iraq.

Here is the link to the whole programme.

A few extra stories:


The 10.000th Haditha
In another town, Iraqis say US killed civiliansAnother BBC report on Haditha
You can see the reaction of the puppet Iraqi politician here, it's quite illuminating, as is the story of what actually happened on that day. I've been flamed here for using the word "babykillers". Well you know what? It was justified. The youngest victim in Haditha was 2 years old.
New "Iraq Massacre" tape emerges. Here John Simpson of the BBC reports on another massacre in which the US lied about what happened. According to the US version, they raided a house in which an AlQaeda suspect was, according to a tip-off, visiting. a firefight ensued and the house collapsed. Videotape evidence, on the other hand, supports the Iraqi police version which is that US forces entered the house and killed everyone inside including a 2 month old baby.

That word again? Babykillers.

But why wait for babies to be actually born? Why not just shoot pregnant women instead?


reply posted on 2-6-2006 @ 10:36 AM by rich23
Originally posted by smokenmirrors
What remains are allegations.


Ok, miss my point about confessions and spin it how you want.

...Are they going to be investigated, indeed.


What, all of them? It's the tip of the iceberg, a point you prefer not to acknowledge.

Will those involved be prosecuted, likely, but not certain.


My point about maintaining the "few rotten apples" story stands.


I would ask, with the amount of atrocities in any given society during peacetime in this day and age, why does it surprise you that an incident such as this would arise during war?


This is why the Geneva Conventions were written. But Bush and his cronies don't think it applies to them. And the US refuses to sign up to the ICC because they know they'd drown in a flood of prosecutions.

Further, is there a personal satisfaction one receives through the focus on such allegations?


You'd rather I just buried my head in the sand and ignored it like a good little sheep? What kind of sneaky allegation are you trying to insinuate in that question? As it happens I'm a UK citizen who is disgusted that my tax monies should be being spent on this kind of obscenity. It was bad enough when we supported him, just as bad when we were bombing him, and now this.... it beggars belief, frankly, that people can support their leaders in this matter.

And another item, should one choose to do a bit of study of wars past, the things alledged here invariabley occur during war, and have throughout history.


Which is why unprovoked war, like the one the US picked in Iraq and which dragged my country into it, are illegal, and the worst crime in the book. How many Iraqis have to die before someone says, well, maybe we should have left Saddam in power? There's a thread on here that suggests that the average Iraqi is much worse off now. They certainly seem to think they are.


reply posted on 2-6-2006 @ 11:45 AM by smokenmirrors
Originally posted by rich23
What remains are allegations.


"Ok, miss my point about confessions and spin it how you want."

Historically many have confessed to crimes they did not committ. In my country one is innocent until PROVEN guilty.

...Are they going to be investigated, indeed.


"What, all of them? It's the tip of the iceberg, a point you prefer not to acknowledge."

The tip of the iceberg is opinion only.

Will those involved be prosecuted, likely, but not certain.


"My point about maintaining the "few rotten apples" story stands."

And to expect absolute justice in life is quite platonic.


I would ask, with the amount of atrocities in any given society during peacetime in this day and age, why does it surprise you that an incident such as this would arise during war?


"This is why the Geneva Conventions were written. But Bush and his cronies don't think it applies to them. And the US refuses to sign up to the ICC because they know they'd drown in a flood of prosecutions."

Ask the so called insurgent to recite the basic tenets of the Geneva Convention, see what his/her response is.

Further, is there a personal satisfaction one receives through the focus on such allegations?


"You'd rather I just buried my head in the sand and ignored it like a good little sheep? What kind of sneaky allegation are you trying to insinuate in that question? As it happens I'm a UK citizen who is disgusted that my tax monies should be being spent on this kind of obscenity. It was bad enough when we supported him, just as bad when we were bombing him, and now this.... it beggars belief, frankly, that people can support their leaders in this matter."

Nothing sneaky in my question, it is merely fascinating to me that the topic to which we refer, which remain allegations in my book until proof of guilt, sparks such a reaction when it pales in comparison to the treachery so evident elsewhere in the conflict. Should the allegations be true, they would be without doubt terrible in scope, this I concede, however, the beasts which behead innocents shall not merely fade into the woodwork if unchallenged, you suppose the free world should walk away and hope all works out for the best?

And another item, should one choose to do a bit of study of wars past, the things alledged here invariabley occur during war, and have throughout history.


"Which is why unprovoked war, like the one the US picked in Iraq and which dragged my country into it, are illegal, and the worst crime in the book. How many Iraqis have to die before someone says, well, maybe we should have left Saddam in power? There's a thread on here that suggests that the average Iraqi is much worse off now. They certainly seem to think they are."

The idea of unprovoked war is opinion, and as for it's legality, that would be opinion too. I am certain based on ones perspective either case could be argued. There are many Iraqis here in the USA, in Iraq, and elsewhere who would likely disagree with your assessment of the situation in their homeland. It is my belief the limited engagement in Iraq is but a piece of a much larger war being fought across the globe.




Mod Edit: BB Code.

[edit on 2/6/2006 by Mirthful Me]
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