reply to post by deltaboy
Calling BULL# on Rolling Stone
The online edition of the Rolling Stone story contains a section with a video called “Motorcycle Kill,” which includes our Soldiers gunning down
Taliban who were speeding on a motorcycle toward our guys. These Soldiers were also with 5/2 SBCT, far away from the “Kill Team” later accused of
the murders. Rolling Stone commits a literary “crime” by deceptively entwining this normal combat video with the Kill Team story. The Taliban on
the motorcycle were killed during an intense operation in the Arghandab near Kandahar City. People who have been to the Arghandab realize the extreme
danger there. The Soviets got beaten horribly in the Arghandab, despite throwing everything including the Soviet kitchen sink into the battle that
lasted over a month. Others fared little better. To my knowledge, 5/2 and supporting units were the first ever to take Arghandab, and these two dead
Taliban were part of that process.
The killing of the armed Taliban on the motorcycle was legal and within the rules of engagement. Law and ROE are related but separate matters. In
any case, the killing was well within both the law and ROE. The Taliban on the back of the motorcycle raised his rifle to fire at our Soldiers but
the rifle did not fire. I talked at length with several of the Soldiers who were there and they gave me the video. There was nothing to hide. I
didn’t even know about the story until they told me. It can be good for Soldiers to shoot and share videos because it provides instant replay and
lessons learned. When they gave me the video and further explained what happened, I found the combat so normal that I didn’t even bother publishing
it, though I should have because that little shooting of the two Taliban was the least of the accomplishments of these Soldiers, and it rid the
Arghandab of two Taliban.
www.michaelyon-online.com...#-on-rolling-stone.htm
Do you know the difference between a chest rig and a bulletproof vest? Geez... 
It had to be the usual "I'm disgusted at..." post. It's done. The duo that got killed were militants. Overkill but justified and legitimate.
Mistakes will happen when you are in a war. Especially when you are in a war with a cowardice and selfish moral. Anyone who uses the
civilians as their sheilds and camoflauge is going to cause a few instances of mistaken identity. I think any person who is sitting on the side lines
crying, "how could they," should be put on the front lines to help the soldiers make the important decisions. After all, they have the infinate
wisdom and all-knowing of hindsight. The soldiers aren't the bad guys, it is the people who put them/or drawed them there.
