Missing Soldier's Uncle Criticizes U.S.

[sabra]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5899052,00.html

Missing Soldier's Uncle Criticizes U.S.


DALLAS (AP) - The uncle of a U.S. soldier who disappeared after a firefight in Iraq lashed out at the government Tuesday after learning two bodies had reportedly been found not far from where his nephew and another soldier were last seen.

``The news is going to be heartbreaking for my family,'' Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life,'' he said.

MacKenzie said he had not received confirmation from the U.S. military that his nephew had been found. Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed announced the finding in a statement early Tuesday. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report.

...

MacKenzie said the government should have offered a $100 million reward and offered to exchange mujahideen detainees for the soldiers' lives. It seized enough money from Saddam Hussein to afford it, he said.

[hadrons]

1. "It seized enough money from Saddam Hussein ...."

that money went right into Dick Cheney's bank account

[matcom]

2. jeeze. another LIEburul 'Cut-N-Runner'

wonder why he hates 'Murica and refuses to support our troops!

:extremely sad: :sarcasm:

[leftchick]

3. Link to his Today Show Interview

with that scum matt lauer....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13432770

[geardaddy]

12. Lauer is a POS Republican apologist

That is all...

[xchrom]

4. mr mackenzie simply makes sense.

seems like a soldier has to be killed before the media reports one one with someone who makes real sense out of the absurdity that this war really is.

[rodeodance]

5. wonder if the US media will print this headline>

[ComerPerro]

6. Wait till the Bushbots get ahold of him

[Supersedeas]

16. prepare to be Swiftboated.

[jarnocan]

7. they seemed to try to divert him and then cut him off on MSNBC

Seemed like they were trying to get him to just say how well the family was holding up, and then when he mentioned "cannon fodder" they cut away quickly.

[progressivebydesign]

8. "I'm defending my Country", Menacha's phone message...

How utterly sad that this young man was killed, and that he believed that somehow being in Iraq was "defending his country", when nothing is Iraq had anything to do with defending the U.S. I makes me so angry that they sell that bill of goods to these young people, and entice them to fight their pointless wars. This so-called war is pointless.. and does nothing to secure America, in fact it makes it less safe. RIP to those young men. I hope that his belief that he's making us safer in his death, however misguided, is a comfort to his family. That's all some of these families have to hang onto.. and I can't criticize that.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. "I'm defending my Country" by occupying some other country

by force.

[kskiska]

10. "Oh, just another of those 'victims' the Dems have 'trotted out'

that the Repugs aren't allowed to attack." Coulter et al seem to think that Dems all meet in a back room somewhere to assign various people these roles.

[chill_wind]

11. They will savage and trash him. Watch then do it.

via their paid surrogates.

No one, even at the height of their grief, loss and horror, is exempt.

[ShortnFiery]

13. He will be secure with the fact that it is THE TRUTH ...

Plus, more and more Average Americans are growing sour with this seemingly never ending OCCUPATION misnomered "A WAR ON TERRA."

IMO this man comes across as one who is at peace with himself ... a man of the same quality as Nick Berg's Dad. :hi:

On edit: I remember that it has been said --> "all it takes for evil to thrive is for GOOD MEN to BE SILENT." This dear man spoke up and may God Bless his courage to speak the truth. May we all find the strength to speak out and stand strong in the future. ;)

[chill_wind]

15. You are so right.

I just know the ghouls will be out in full force. My heart breaks for the survivors,the families and the horror twice over. No less than I am sickened anew every day for the endless horror constantly being lived by Iraqi people. We will pay and pay for this as a human race. Bring the troops home. Now.

[arewenotdemo]

14. "I'm defending my country,'' Tucker says on the recording.

What country would that be?

[Raine]

17. Yeah but that money

is earmarked for an officials pocket, you can't take it for a soldier! :sarcasm:

[BenDavid]

18. But, hey at least according to

CNN, bush had a fantastic week last week. More power to bush.

[sabra]

19. Relatives appalled by media reports on missing soldiers

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=0F623135-99FD-4694-A05B-A2A41005AC77

Relatives appalled by media reports on missing soldiers

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - An uncle of one of the American soldiers who disappeared in Iraq says it's "very upsetting" to hear news reports that he was tortured.

Relatives say they're outraged to hear about their loved one's fate through TV.

Private First Class Kristian Menchaca's mother had heard reports his body was found before a member of the Army's casualty assistance office arrived at her Texas home today. The soldier told the family it could take a few days for DNA testing to confirm the identities of the bodies found south of Baghdad.

Her niece says Menchaca's mother is "hanging in there." The niece says the mother still hopes it won't be him.

[LSparkle]

20. This is what BushCo has brought us

This is a new kind of war, with no rules, no "decency." I'm especially discouraged that the first reports about their "barbaric" death came from an Iraqi official. BushCo somehow has the ability to keep us from hearing about PM al-Maliki wanting us to set a withdrawal timetable yet this news -- about the way these poor men died -- they couldn't control? If it works to their advantage -- these "enemies" of ours are truly SAVAGE!!!! -- then they let it out, regardless of how it may affect the grieving relatives. Makes me absolutely sick.

[lindisfarne]

24. BushCo stepped back from Geneva Convention and US soldiers

are tortured - I am only surprised that it took so long to happen, especially with Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and other Iraq prisons. BushCo bears a lot of responsibility for this (aside from the obvious that Bush started the war in Iraq).

My heart goes out to the families of these soldiers and I am horrified that the soldiers had to go through what they went through. But I am not surprised. When we stoop to the level of barbarians, we should not be surprised if our soldiers end up tortured. Yes, this might have happened regardless, but BushCo's decisions regarding US treatment of prisoners has made it more likely.

[The_Casual_Observer]

30. no "decency."

This whole thing isn't exactly a game of chess. We are waging a war with Jihads now. Civility is out the window.

I don't think that the average US citizen has any idea how brutal this thing is going to get.

[Canuckistanian]

36. This ain't no War of the Roses

Where uniformed armies line up nicely behind banners on an open field and use "attacks", "flanks" and "retreats".

This is guerilla war, on both sides. If you see the enemy, kill him, even if you're not even sure who the enemy is.

[daleo]

38. The War of the Roses was a civil war, so there was unpleasantness

For example:

"The three month period from late December 1460 through late March 1461 was one of almost continual warfare, including the largest, bloodiest battle fought on English soil up to that time. Queen Margaret, whose son was thus disinherited, raised an army and defeated (1460) the Yorkists at Wakefield(December 30). York, his eldest son, Edmund, and several other important adherents were killed in this battle, and his claims devolved upon his son Edward, but Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, became the real leader of the Yorkist party.

The queen then moved eastward while burning and pillaging the countryside that had supported the Yorkists.

...
The two armies, with a combined number of about 35,000 soldiers, met near Towton on March 29 and proceeded to hack at each other savagely. Although somewhat outnumbered, the young King Edward fought brilliantly and fiercely, eventually breaking the Lancastrian line. Thousands died in the rout which followed; perhaps 10,000 men died on both sides during the battle and aftermath. The queen, her helpless husband and their son fled to Scotland. "

Torture and removing heads was actually pretty common back then, I think. Even when war had "rules", savagery was the order of the day.

http://homepages.shu.ac.uk/%7Econseal/history.htm

[pokercat999]

31. When will we learn THERE ARE NO RULES IN WAR!

The moment the first shot is fired, the moment the dogs of war are unleashed, all decency, all respect for life is gone. The only thing remaining is death and hate. When will we grow-up and stop believing in John Wayne's war? This is not the big screen, our side their side they are all criminals in every real sense of the word. Soldiers murder, they get paid, they get medals and they get the respect of their fellow soldiers, for murder. Gee we don't like it when "our team" loses and our guys get killed, too bad.

We went thousands of miles to kill other humans that were not bothering us and we're looking for decency? Dropping bombs from airplanes is decent? We are all out of our fucking minds.

Please describe a decent war, show me the decency in war, show me how to kill, but in a nice way.

:crazy:

[LSparkle]

33. That why I used quotes ... war has never been decent

but BushCo didn't even show what little decency they may have left by keeping the Iraqi officials from describing the brutality of the soldiers' deaths before their families were made aware. It's bad enough that those guys died the way they did, but it's worse that their family members weren't forewarned about their fate before it was splashed all over the media, for propaganda purposes (to rally people against the barbaric "insurgents").

[pokercat999]

35. I'm sorry. I'm just too overwhelmed by it all. I've lost the

ability to respond to madness in a civil and thoughtful manner.

[Corgigal]

37. actually in the begining

see Jessica Lynch, they were brought to hospitals and not tortured. That seems like light years ago now. All the rules have changed.

[genie_weenie]

42. Those weren't the guerilla fighters of today.

But, the disillusioned and conscripted soldiers serving under Saddam.

[genie_weenie]

41. 'We Shot them under Rule 3-0-3!'

The fate of Breaker Morant is what awaits our troops after this war. While Cheny and Bush will get to bloviate about fighting for freedom....

[fishnfla]

21. I fear it could be much worse

The jihadists are using the internet and video now for recruitment and fundraising.

[LiberalPartisan]

22. That damned First Ammendment!!!

There is such a thing as an off switch on both TVs and radios and computers.

What the hell do these people expect - they should be consulted beforehand?

It's a war (which they probably support) and soldiers die. If the news didn't report this then you can be sure these same people would be grousing about how thier soldier son was being disrespected.

[Tempest]

25. It's my impression they're blaming the administration

It sounds like they're blaming the administration for not keeping them informed.

[fedupinBushcountry]

23. They should be

You know they just don't care. I remember back when my husband's ship was hit in Vietnam and 3 guys died and others were injured. I didn't hear it on the news , thank God. We were called and told about it before it hit the news. I could only imagine what I would have done if I heard a report like that over the news, it was bad enough over the phone, but at least they had the dignity then to let the families know exactly what was happening, before it was blurted all over the news. Luckily my husband was not injured, but I was able to call his parents and mine to let them know the situation and that he was fine, they were back in N.Y. and I was in Hawaii.

[BenDavid]

26. all weekend the story

was not about the 2 mising soldiers, but that bush had a good week. Zarqawi killed. bush flying to Iraq. Looking in the eyes of their leader. Telling the leader that he (bush) agreed with him (Iraq leader)there should be a time line when troops should leave. Back in America, bush telling the news media that he would not accept a date certain proposed by the democrats.House members on the right critical of democrats for wanting to cut and run. Even though the story was out what bush had agreed too with the Iraqi leader. On Friday word came that an american soldeir was killed, and 2 were captured, but cnn and wolf still ran with bush is having a good week and the poll numbers show it with a favorable of 39%. All weekend, bush had a good week and in passing only 20 seconds about the 2 missing soldiers. On Monday CNN ran another poll and it showed a bump for victory in Iraq. Only in passing did the soldiers get any air time. Now we know for sure the soldiers were found dead and multilated.....but as least we all know that bush according to CNN had a good week, last week....

[rodeodance]

27. I feel for them--yet, I also feel that this horrible incident needs to be

public. This may sound harsh but we can not let it be silent. Nor do I think either the dems nor republicans should take political advantage of this trajic incident.

[IndianaGreen]

32. I feel for them too, and I am sorry their sons died in a senseless war

but Iraq has reached the brutality levels of the French-Algerian war, a war that France ultimately lost at great cost to both sides.

[saigon68]

34. It's a Crotch Kicking, Eyebrow Biting, religious civil war with NO RULES

We told them this would happen here in Feb 2003.

No the Bush Criminals and their Quisling Puppets went ahead and made billions of $ and thousands of dead children.

This will be worse than Algeria 1960

[genie_weenie]

43. I always thought the Phillipines Insurrection of 1899-1902

was what the Bush Regime was angling for...

[saigon68]

44. That was a very Nasty War

Read about

Andres Bonifacio.

José Rizal

and

Emilio Aguinaldo

[genie_weenie]

46. Kill everyone over 10.

Turn Samar into a howling wilderness, and let Cholera claim 100,000 lives...

I'm surprised Barry McCaffery hasn't agitated for a return to the good old days of warfare...

[saigon68]

47. I'm sure these Thugs have thought of it

[VegasWolf]

28. Tell BusHillary that staying will just result in far more of this. nt

[DELUSIONAL]

29. This adds a whole new level of anxiety for families of deployed troops

Been there -- done that.

During the cold war -- if planes went down in enemy territory and captured -- we were told to expect the worst -- because the commie "animals" didn't observe the Geneva conventions. The flight crew went through POW training.

Years later as the details emerged we learned that the US government deliberately lied about the location of a plane that ditched in the Pacific.

Now we are in a fast forward era -- the Geneva conventions were trashed by the subhuman bastards controlling the government. Family don't have to wait until the "terror war" is over to learn the details of how their government betrayed their family members.

It was rough being a military dependent during the cold war -- today it would be HELL.

[dailykoff]

39. This story stinks in so many ways.

Two more politically convenient "beheadings" or whatever Kool-Aid we're supposed to be guzzling, helpfully announced on the "Al-Qaeda" webpage. I'd really like to know who did the job and I'll bet it rhymes with Dumsfeld.

[Imagevision]

40. I guess future presidents will wait until 58,000 US. troops are killed

before the "future president" will perhaps call for a peace with honor then scoot the hell outta Iraq...

[Drops_not_Dope]

45. RFID

You would have thought that after kidnappings, beheadings, kidnapping of journalists and other traceable crimes or acts of war, that by now someone would have thought to put chips in the soldiers clothing, or they would have shortened up the period of time before they are embedded in Passports. They are in the grocery store for chrissake. I know this sounds distasteful to many but, beheading is the possible alternative.

[fire123]

48. Ken

I noticed that they never mentioned that my uncle Ken MacKenzie was a Vietnam Vet,and was a L.A county sheriff. He served his duty to his country and understood what it is like. I spoke to him and told him i was very proud of him for expressing how he felt. I also told him i was deeply sorry for there lost.