I just watched film of American Soldiers cheering

[JPace]

after they killed an Iraqi on CNN. Yes the man
had a gun and it could be called self defence
by our guys....but still it was chilling to
hear them cheering. My biggest concern is that
this film will be run on Al-Jazeera to further
the hatred of Americans and make our soldiers
even bigger targets. I know this may be naive as
so many bigger atrocities have happened, but
this little clip was particulary chilling to me
and I don't see the point in showing it. Am I
wrong?

[sistersofmercy]

1. I agree even killing an armed assailant is nothing to cheer about. eom

[karlschneider]

2. I support the soldiers, but the fact is they aren't the sharpest tools in

the shed. Few of them have the education or life experience beyond the WOO-AH bullshit that's de rigeur for grunts to have any appreciation of how their actions (and reactions) affect the mission. I do not say this with any glee or derision, two of my neighbor kids who are (or were, at least) nice young fellows, but just not what I'd call bright. For them, the army was a somewhat attractive alternative to a dubious burger-flipping future. (Yes, they are in Iraq - it will be interesting and possibly disheartening to see what they're like if and when they make it back.)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. i saw disturbing footage of our guys cheering after shooting a wounded

downed man laying in the street moaning and no longer a threat...our guys were behind a stone wall and laughing and cussing and cherring and saying "get one"..."get a fucker"....woohoo... the iraqi was laying on his side moaning and our guys laughed and plowed serveral more bullets into him one shot at a time whooping and hollering ...the iraqi died slowly ...our guys made sure of it...they enjoyed it way too much...i felt like puking :puke:

i will take a baseball bat to my own sons and daughters kneecaps before allowing them to be drafted and made to kill another human being....i hate bush!

[DUreader]

5. That was on TV?

Holy Shite

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. yes it was...a few days ago...i was at my daughters and don't recall which

channel....it was truly disturbing

[JPace]

9. "shooting a wounded downed man laying in the street"

this must be the same one I saw....it was
chilling! He looked rather helpless and
non threatening from what I saw....I wish
I had not seem it. Surely this is going
to cause a lot more anger over there which
is going to be more dangerous for our
soldiers. He looked like a wounded deer
caught in a spot light and the laughing
and cheering soldiers....it was awful!

[mike_c]

15. yeah, but gee, those U.S. soldiers are all just innocent kids...

...trying to earn college tuition by killing people.

[TruthIsAll]

33. Support our bloops?

Bush, thanks...for transforming our troops into cowardly murderers..

[maggrwaggr]

34. gee, what do you think they're trained to do?

Don't be naive. They're not trained to be cops. They're trained to kill people and blow stuff up.

That's it. The military is, itself, a loaded weapon.

Soldiers are a tool of those who command them.

That's why they shouldn't be there as "peacekeepers". It's like asking a cat to play security guard for a bunch of mice.

[jonoboy]

4. war is terrible and soldiers actions can be bizarre

but for their own preservation these guys commanding officers should be teaching these guys how to appear to the occupied people. Whipping up needless hate amongst the locals benefits no-one, especially servicemen.

[Woodstock]

6. I saw footage recently

on Frontline where American soldiers shot into a crowd because they thought someone was going to shoot at them. Not because someone did shoot them, but because they thought someone had a gun. Turns out they shot dead an innocent man standing there with his family. They walked over to question the crowd, were assured he was just standing there (and it was clear that was the truth) and they just moved on - not even "sorry."

One of the experts was commenting on the show that soldiers are NOT police - that police are to serve and protect, and that's not what soldiers are all about. He said that is what is needed, but that it's all muddled up now (especially with the resistance.) Poor planning does that.

I also recall stories of callous comments/actions by soldiers during the invasion (remember the "Bubbling Ali" comment, and they refused to fish him out after they bombed him to death?)

But I recall the story of an American soldier in tears when he saw Iraqi children get burned up by explosives then refused medical care by the Americans, and his sergeant comforting him (yes, that famous picture.)

So I think there are some soldiers who don't have a clue, and there are some who do. The older ones I'd hope are more sensitive to what is going on. One even had a blog I was reading the other day. Remember some of them are just 18 or 19, and have been spoon fed right wing propaganda. One would hope leadership (their CO's) would set the proper tone, but I don't think that always happens (likely it happens more than not, I sure hope that is the case.)

It's a damned mess over there. I know many soldiers are suffering, the Iraqi people are suffering, while one person is sleeping like a baby - AWOL W. Bush.

[Lefty48197]

7. I saw that clip and it is chilling and that's why war is so ugly

.

[Clark Can WIN]

10. More and more of this kind of thing is going to keep leaking out

As soldiers who have been there too long in inhumane conditions lose their humanity

Clark talked about how in armed conflict each act of violence generates a reciprocal act of violence until the only purpose served is HATE. That is what kills the hearts and minds. It's hard to make people love you with a gun to their head.

[opihimoimoi]

11. Cheering??? TOP GUN??, Our Prez on the Lincoln? In many of our past

battles throughout history? The winners CHEER and the losers die. Tis Human ... I guess.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. tis' not

[karlschneider]

14. It often is. Evolution has not been kind to some of our species.

:eyes:

[opihimoimoi]

13. Someday, we will reap what we sow......

We are so lolo its pathetic

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Might that day be today?

I sure as hell feel like I'm getting reaped!

[Clark Can WIN]

21. "The winners CHEER and the losers die" you say.......

With the (officially reported) dead and the wounded our nation has now contributed 3271 losers to this wasted cause. This is YOUR description of them, not mine. I cry for all of them every God Damn day and I AM SICK OF IT. I'm tired of thinking about the mothers who have lost their sons and daughters to a wasted cause. I am sick of the pain I feel in my chest when I think of the kids who will never meet their father because of a dishonerable AWOL chimp who couldn't beat Forrest Gump at tic-tac-toe that HAD to have this war.

This was the only thing Bush could do. He was a lousy Gov. He's dumb. He's empty. War was all he had.

[MrPrax]

16. Best Part is that in a few months

we will be sending even MORE seasoned and professional soldiers to cheer on looting, boredom and murder.

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. Yes it is naive

If somebody is trying to kiil you and you do him in instead, I can see that as reason to cheer.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[corarose]

23. What If the person isn't trying to kill you?

My heart breaks for everyone that is in this mess.

F*CKING BUSH SHOULD BE TRIED AS A WAR CRIMINAL!

[Muddleoftheroad]

26. Since you were civil

That was not what I said. I said, if someone was trying to kill you, I can see living through that and winning a reason to cheer.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

25. You do a real disservice to MLK with that picture

I couldn't possibly disagree with you more.

[Muddleoftheroad]

27. I do no disservice to Dr. King

I do him honor by remembering him every day.

[DrWeird]

30. You do a terrible disservice to King.

Not only was he for peaceful resolution, passive resistance, and against fighting pointless wars overseas. The idea that you apologize for people taking pleasure in killing people would have him rolling over in his grave.

It's one thing to shoot in self defense. It's something else entirely to be happy about it.

[Muddleoftheroad]

31. Taking pleasure in surviving

Is very human and very understandable.

Remember, for the soldiers, this is not about right or wrong. This is just about survival. Survival for them and those around them. Anyone who tries to kill them is the enemy. It's just that simple. Have you ever seen the movie, "Glory?" It's about the first African-American regiment to fight for the union in the Civil War. After their first engagement, they cheer in victory. They were exhulting in living. No one can blame them for that.

As for Dr. King, I have been opposed to the war in Iraq from the very beginning. THAT is the kind of action that Dr. King would have expected.

Now we are there and it will take greater minds than those available to extricate us without causing the scum to return to leadership.

[Imajika]

19. Ugh...

Another military bashing threat (even if JPace didn't intend it be).

Is it really any wonder why the Republicans are cleaning our clocks?

"Yes the man had a gun and it could be called self defence by our guys ....but still it was chilling to hear them cheering."

Why is this chilling? They are fighting in Iraq. You may not like to think about guerillas in Iraq as the "enemy", but anyone having to battle them day in and day out would.

Soldiers win one and they celebrate now and again. Big deal, such is life.

"My biggest concern is that this film will be run on Al-Jazeera to further the hatred of Americans and make our soldiers
even bigger targets."

Oh boo hoo. Al-Jazeera runs plenty of material encouraging their viewers to hate us. If they want to twist news footage to make the US look bad it will be neither surprising or anything particularly unusual. Al-Jazeera is about as "fair and balanced" as Fox News.

"I know this may be naive as so many bigger atrocities have happened"

Yes, it is. It brings back memories of the silly article I read a few months ago from a European author who whined and cried about the nose art on American A-10 Thunderbolds.

"I don't see the point in showing it. Am I wrong?"

The media can show whatever they want, so long as it doesn't break any laws.

Imajika

[Walt Starr]

20. I completely understand their reaction and do not blame them

That said, you're 100% right. Televising the cheering Americans will do to the Iraqis what the televising of celebrating Palestinians did to so many Americans in the aftermath of 9/11.

[Clark Can WIN]

24. Violence just perpetuates violence on both sides

I cannot fault a soldier who has killed an enemy after watching his friend die (or be mutilated) and deny his feeling of vindication and revenge. On either side of the conflict.

As for our American soldiers, what else do they have to keep them going at this point?

God save Haliburton?

On edit: What makes this worse is the total absence of any care or plan from the BFEE.

[Neecy]

28. there's another issue....

While yes, we do know that war is hell and that these things happen, I question CNN running footage of a man being shot through the heart.

It was like a goddamn snuff movie. No wonder our public is numbed to violence when you can flip on CNN and watch "reality" television at its worst.

So, CNN shows video of someone being shot and killed, and then in the next breath assures us that lots of 'good things' are happening in Iraq. It's a stunningly mixed message.

[eileen_d]

29. Well, there's reason #3,469 that I'm glad I don't get CNN

anymore. Reading about the war and listening to stories is rough enough. If there was no war, CNN would probably make one up to stay on the air.

[Kinkistyle]

32. These are KIDS folks.

Supposedly our national treasure. 18, 19, 20 year olds jumping straight from a high school football jersey into a flak jacket (which the Iraqi's by the way don't have), and they are getting shot at from all sides watching their buddies die.

How do you think they are going to react? How are these kids supposed to keep their sanity, their very souls with all this happening to them?

yeah, I wish they wouldn't cheer, but to be honest with you, I wonder if I wouldnt't be cheering too if I was in their shoes.