How Special! A US Soldier Patting Down a Little Iraqi Boy...

[leftchick]

That poor child....



Picture released by the US army shows a soldier with a special operations unit patting down a young Iraqi, 2004. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered an outside review of US special operations forces to determine how well they are positioned for a growing role in the war on terrorism(AFP/US ARMY/File)

[Rufus T. Firefly]

1. Awww...that's going on the WH Christmas card.

[VolcanoJen]

7. Indeed.

Greetings From Iraq!

[Deep13]

2. I wonder if that guy is a priest...

...when he is not in the Army.

[hiabrill]

3. Checking if the boy has a weapon

hidden between his legs...!

[arwalden]

14. Not Yet... Just Wait Till He Gets To Be Fifteen Or Sixteen.

[Judi Lynn]

4. The child doesn't even have shoes for his tiny feet, yet they wonder

if he's "packing heat!"

All this from a Bible-waving administration whose religion instructs it to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, etc.

[ck4829]

13. I was thinking the same thing

Freedom's on the March, yet the Iraqi children have no shoes.

[cassiepriam]

5. Just like Viet Nam. AGH...........

[Horse with no Name]

6. A picture says a thousand words

and this one is no exception.
Notice that the boy will not look this soldier in the eye.
His eyes are fixated on the submachine gun the other soldier is holding.
Is that a sign of trust or WHAT?:sarcasm:

[FreedomAngel82]

12. Poor little guy

I wonder if his parents are around.

[LibDemAlways]

8. Can you begin to imagine the outrage

if an American child was photographed being patted down that way by a foreign soldier in an occupied America? Think Americans might be trying to rid themselves of the occupiers? Yet millions buy the ridiculous notion of an "insurgency" as though the average Iraqi enjoys being treated this way.

[Igel]

10. I'm still trying to understand the

mother who's infant was checked, and a hand grenade was found under the kid. This wasn't in Iraq, however.

It would be of interest to see if any munitions have been found on youngsters that small in Iraq, and if they enjoyed being treated that way.

This kind of oddity is the natural consequence of asymmetrical warfare.

[me b zola]

9. That is ugly here or abroad

I saw video on CNN of a little black girl being checked with a wand before entering one of the shelters housing Katrina survivors. :grr:

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Remember in Nam kids that old brought hand grenades to the

troops, so exactly how is this NOT like Nam again

[leftchick]

15. I know the similarities are endless

I just hope we don't reach the same number of dead on both side before this insanity is over.

:(

[gatorboy]

16. He's looking for those chocolates we're owed...

For the liberatin', dontcha know!

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. That little guy reminds me of my old neighbor, Bader. I hate the thought

of someone frisking him like that. x(

---------------------------------------------------------------
Tired of nutty in your face fundies? Me too!
http://www.livejournal.com/community/thought_express/14905.html

[johnnie]

18. I despise the war as much as the next person but

I think they feel they might have to do that. From people I know who have been there, they try to be good with the kids.

I am just hoping that you meant this as an attack on the bullshit war and not on the soldier.

[peacebaby3]

20. Thank you. My husband was one of those soldiers and he loved

the kids. He got me to send toys and candy, etc. that he took to the orphanages. We actually talked to the International Red Cross about adopting one of the children from the orphanage but were not allowed because we are not Muslim.

BUT, he also had to be safe and there were times that they had to be careful around anyone including the children. Unfortunately, there are many people that will use children because they think the soldiers will be less likely to feel threatened by them and they have a great deal of sympathy for the children (both of which are true in most cases). Checking the children is not only a safety precaution for the soldiers but for everyone in the immediate area.

I hate the war as well and think none of our soldiers should have ever been there, but they are, and they have to do things within reason to stay safe.

It's all very sad.

[leftchick]

21. of course

I recognize the soldiers are doing their jobs. A job they should not be doing. I have had relatives there and a couple that will be soon. I blame the assholes in charge for all of the atrocities.

[johnnie]

22. I thought so

I wasn't accusing. :hi:

[cranston36]

19. Oil For Food Over

The Independent Inquiry Committee has today issued a Report on The Manipulation of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme.
What does it contain?
A bunch of tables that list countries by the score and numerous companies that did business with Iraq.
Is it an indictment of these countries or is it something else? There are many private companies from many nations around the earth.
The situation that it grew out of was an intent to relieve everyday Iraqis from the weight of sanctions.
Sanctions had been imposed on Iraq by a small group of countries led by the United States and spurred on by Great Britain – one of Iraq’s principal competitors in the world oil trade.
The sanctions as applied were killing large numbers of children and throwing millions of Iraqis into poverty. They didn’t do anything to Hussein’s army or air force.
The Americans and British then tried to apply sanctions by removing the sanctions and allow Iraq to buy food with profits taken from oil sales.
The Iraqis have long been self-sufficient in food production – I believe the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates is known as the cradle of modern farming.
In any case many companies began trading in Iraqi oil. Sometimes there were extra ‘fees’ that needed to be paid.
The numbers quoted by the Committee are fantastic especially in light of the fact that much of the money went into the Iraqi economy rather than to buy weapons.
The conclusion then would be that the program was run poorly and business competed effectively to get their share.
When we look at who took the most, however, we get names like Vietnam, Russia and Communist China.
When the world is doing one thing and only one voice is raised in opposition there are two possibilities.
1. The voice being raised is the voice of reason and we should all listen to it. Like the voice of an innocent like Jesus Christ, Bhudda or Mohammed.
2. The voice being raised is that of a fanatic.
The United States and Great Britain in the case of Iraq are not innocents so that leads me to believe that we are listening to fanatics.
No matter which way you slice it the invasion and occupation of Iraq remains an illegal act which has undermined international cooperation and raised war to the level of an acceptable level of diplomacy.
Will the United States and Great Britain now punish each and every nation and company that acted in their own best interests in the international market when dealing with Iraq?
Let us pretend that the will of the American people can be stretched to believe that the United States has the power to be the world’s lawyer (solicitor). In what court will these cases be heard? What nation would knowingly submit itself to the laws of the United States when the United States does not even obey them?
Shall we allow President Bush and Tony Blair to sit in government of the world and trade practices that have been in place for time immemorial?
Are they the saviors of the world or are they just mad because when they stole the whole pie they found the plate to be empty?

You can read the pompous and poorly prepared document at :
http://www.iic-offp.org/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. "We're here to bring you freedom, ya' little terrorist."

At least they didn't shoot him first and claim another glorious victory.

[Freedomfried]

24. The "rubber gloves" bullshit is what really gets me..

it must seem to them that Americans don't want their skin to come into contact with an Iraqi.