Dead bodies a common find on 101st Airborne’s patrols

[TexasLawyer]

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Dead bodies a common find on 101st Airborne’s patrols


By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, April 29, 2006



Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division came upon this
drawing about 20 miles northeast of Camp Anaconda. On one
wall of a hut were crudely drawn pictures of human forms
with bullet holes in them along with rusted, spent AK-47
cartridges on the ground.

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq — The body’s stomach is bloated. It is greenish yellow from sulfur used to cover the stench. And it shows signs of torture — an apparent victim of insurgents, Staff Sgt. Jacob S. Finger said.

Finger, 27, and his troops with the 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, came upon the body when they found what looked like an insurgent training area while on patrol.

He ordered the body hoisted out of the bottom of a well when his troops came upon it to make sure it wasn’t that of a soldier. There were no indications the body was that of an American soldier. Once the body was winched out of the green slime, troops removed the hood from its head and found a screw in its skull, showing the victim was tortured before being shot in the head and dumped, said Finger, of Denver.

Troops say these are common insurgent tactics. The body was left on the ground for the Iraqi army to pick up later.

<snip>

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36823

[Erika]

1. How horrid n/t

[TexasLawyer]

2. It just breaks my heart --

not only what happens to the Iraqis, but to our own soldiers. The ones who survive are going to have a hard time coping mentally with what they have been through. It's hard to read this stuff-- Imagine how hard it must be to live it.

From the end of the article:


Sgt. Diego Barros, 24, of Loveland, Colo., said it is not unusual to come across dead bodies because of the frequency of kidnappings in Iraq.

“Just another day in the hellhole,” joked Pfc. Adam Scott Josey, 20.

Troops with the 3-29th seem unfazed by the gruesome discoveries of that day. “I just let it roll of my back. Sure, bad stuff goes on, but so does life,” said Josey, of Weatherford, Texas.

Finger said he has become desensitized to such scenes. “It will screw with us once we slow down, but we do this every day,” he said.

[DELUSIONAL]

3. Is this the sort of freedom that bush is bringing to Iraq?

Death brought freedom from torture for these poor souls.