Reply #31: they are 19 year old kids scared shitless being supervised by

[caligirl]

22 year olds scared out of their minds. they have no idea who is in those vehicles until they stop. Ever since a truck in Beirut drove through a checkpoint when the sentry did not have a bullet and did not shoot at the guy, there have been very carefully crafted rules about how to man checkpoints and when to shoot. You may recall 242 Marines were killed by that truck. The media went nuts on this, when every one found out the guard did not have a loaded weapon everyone screamed our troops were being hamstrung by stupid rules. So now they make better rules,but they are 19-22 year olds with a rule that says they have a few seconds to make a decision. What 19 to 22 year old do you know that gets it right every single time? The blame properly belongs with the policy of us being in Iraq. Also they pick kids to fight wars because they are physically in better shape to do the job. Someone in say their mid thirties with more judgement experience isn't nearly as easily trained. And they aren't going to carry 70 pound packs for 20 miles. Maybe Lance Armstrong could, but look around you and see how many can walk around in 120 degree heat with a 70 pound pack. The hardship of military service is to tough for most of us.


I hate that this has happened and sent the photos to my paper the SF chronicle asking them to publish them. But these guys did not necessrily go about intentionally murdering their parents. They most likely never new who was in the car. They followed the rules of war, they are young people trying to do the right thing. Bad things happen to good people and these troops are no exception. War is heinous and should never be gone into like the Bushies did. It is in my opinion the ultimate crime on humanity.