A Soldier on Haditha

[Skylark-69]

Sorry for the cut and paste, but you have got to read what an American solier who served in Iraq had to say.


June 01, 2006
Amariyah
[Greyhawk]
"We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us."
--Osama bin Laden

Many anticipate - some eagerly - that the Haditha incident will enrage the people of Iraq, perhaps even stir the rage of the oft noted and much broader "Arab street".

Many are wrong. There are numerous reasons for this misjudgment, not the least of which is the inability to comprehend a culture that seemingly places more value on the physical incarnation of it's scriptures than it does on human life, that will rise up over cartoons of the prophet but accept the will of Allah when children are gunned down.

And in Iraq above all live a people who interact with American soldiers on a daily basis, and long ago made up their minds whether they were angels or demons, or merely fellow human beings. To assume they will consider a few individuals as representative of the whole is to assign an undeserved ignorance to the mass of humanity, the equivalent of saying they aren't ready for the benefits of free society, or other arguments made all too often by those quite wrongly confident in their personal superiority to members of a lesser race, to children of a lesser god.

But Osama was wrong too. They don't love death. But thanks to him they know it's face quite well - Baghdad's civilian death toll in the past three months is roughly 3,000, more than the US loses during three years of war.

Not from attacks by US Soldiers and Marines, but in attacks by Osama's own:

Harith says the insurgents began arriving in Amariyah after the deadly US assault on Fallujah in April 2004. The first jihadis sought haven with relatives, many of them former senior officers in Saddam Hussein's Army.

The new neighbors roamed the streets at night with rifles and heavy machine guns, planting bombs targeting US patrols. "We'd peer through the blinds and watch them firing mortars at the Americans from my street,'' recalls Harith, a Shiite Arab from Amariyah who asked that his full name not be used. "We decided it was safest to ignore them. They were leaving us alone."

But that didn't last. Not content with having found a haven, the militants set about transforming the demographics and social mores of the area.

"At first it was just the outsiders, but some of the young men - surrounded by these people telling stories about what the Americans did in Fallujah and these preachers telling them it was their duty to fight - joined up,'' says Aqeel, a former resident of Amariyah who fled in February.

Soon, graffiti praising Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and promising death to traitors proliferated; new prayer leaders took over mosques, issuing strident demands for jihad over their loudspeakers every Friday; leaflets were distributed warning women not to work and to cover their hair, men not to trim their beards or wear shorts; then bodies started to appear on street corners.
<...>
But residents say hundreds have been killed here this year by Sunni extremists aligned with Al Qaeda. Shiites mostly, but Sunni shopkeepers, bus drivers, and former Baathists, too. For a while, bound and mutilated corpses were dumped frequently outside the popular Honey Sweets Shop on once-bustling Public Works Street. Most of the shops there are now closed.

Amariyah's pain demonstrates the evolution of Iraq's war, from one in which faceless Sunni Arab insurgents targeted mostly US and Iraqi forces with roadside bombs and suicide attacks to one in which killing squads - both Shiite and Sunni - are focused on unarmed fellow citizens. And they are seeking to transform neighborhoods into enclaves of fear. Baghdad's civilian death toll in the past three months is roughly 3,000, more than the US loses during three years of war.

""We decided it was safest to ignore them. They were leaving us alone."

But that didn't last. "

It rarely does.

0ne Sunni Arab neighbor had joined the insurgents, and explained their choices of targets, he says. "This guy told me that 'if we focus on the Americans they grind us into dust,' " says Aqeel. "So they prefer to hit the Iraqi police, Shiites, translators, people they think are too secular. That's easy for them."
But Americans have moved back in, and according to the story, "Over the past few weeks, however, conditions in the area have improved."

So perhaps there is yet hope for Amariyah.

In America we will wring our collective hands in horror as we await further word on whether our boys killed two dozen innocents in Haditha. And that is right and good, and a luxury reserved for we who don't live in a cold world beneath a burning desert sun.

[Red Regal T]

Just listened to that idiot Colmes saying, more than a couple times, we're having this investigation of this alleged misdeed, to prove to the Iraqis, and the world I guess, that the US will not condone this. I say, what do they care. Enemies of the US will not change their views no matter how good we are. The 'world' is too cowardly to step up and do the right thing...and we need to impress them? The US, afterall, is the most powerful force for good in the world, that has ever existed, and yet we hear the American left whining we've lost our place in the world. How astonishingly stupid and naive are these leftists?

[Skylark-69]

Look how we handled Abu Ghraib. We're going to let this slide without checking it out? What BS. The left says nothing when the terrorists cut some innocent persons head off, but have a fit over college level hazing...done by Americans. That seems to be the only decider of when they will speak up-when an American does it. They give the terrorists a free pass, but call themselves patriots when they smear our military and country.

[Red Regal T]

Originally Posted by Skylark-69

Look how we handled Abu Ghraib. We're going to let this slide without checking it out? What BS. The left says nothing when the terrorists cut some innocent persons head off, but have a fit over college level hazing...done by Americans. That seems to be the only decider of when they will speak up-when an American does it. They give the terrorists a free pass, but call themselves patriots when they smear our military and country.

Everybody knows that placing panties on someones head is a much greater crime against humanity than chopping off someones head.

Vote Kerry! Vote Murtha!

[JSAautomotive]

More internet B.S. being circulated by the propagandist liars from the left.

Where's the persons name?? His outfit?? His e-mail so we can confirm this?? yeah.... I'll be waiting for your proof.

Originally Posted by Skylark

Look how we handled Abu Ghraib. We're going to let this slide without checking it out? What BS. The left says nothing when the terrorists cut some innocent persons head off, but have a fit over college level hazing...done by Americans. That seems to be the only decider of when they will speak up-when an American does it. They give the terrorists a free pass, but call themselves patriots when they smear our military and country.

Are you mad?? The left says nothing when Berg got his head removed?? Are you serious or just a lunatic?? But how are we any better of we murder or kill innocent women or children. Skylark.... you and Red need to enlist and go to Iraq since you are so passionate about being attacked nearly 80 times a day.

You guys keep on tying together Al-Queda and the Sunnis in Iraq. Jihadists are the ultra minority today that are doing all the killing. I know your demented mind can't seem to grasp this. But there is a full blown civil war going on in Iraq and it's between warring religious fundamentalist factions. Get your hiney out of your head.

The left (as you call it) wants us out of Iraq. So does 70% of this country. Who's the other 20-30%?? Leftists?? Nope..... Americans. Even Republicans that have a brain. Unlike some here. We are no longer effective there. Plain and simple. Generals are calling for this also. Who are you??? Nobody. Nobody in cyberspace.

And you condemn Murtha. When did you serve your country??? Skylark?? Red?? How many medals do you hold?? How many does Murtha hold.

You guys are cowards.

[Red Regal T]

Originally Posted by JSAautomotive

More internet B.S. being circulated by the propagandist liars from the left.

Where's the persons name?? His outfit?? His e-mail so we can confirm this?? yeah.... I'll be waiting for your proof.

Your self-importance is really typical for leftist elitists and you have repeatedly described yourself as a pretty important fellow. In the leftist coward's mind, an account such as this can't be true? I find nothing incredulous about the account, but then, I'm not an arrogant leftist elitist.

Are you mad?? The left says nothing when Berg got his head removed?? Are you serious or just a lunatic?? But how are we any better of we murder or kill innocent women or children. Skylark.... you and Red need to enlist and go to Iraq since you are so passionate about being attacked nearly 80 times a day.

Yeah.....the left had plenty to say. They bashed the Bush Administration and the idea of fighting the war on terror for political advantage. Then they went back to their plan of giving aid and comfort to the barbarian decapitators.

Unfortunately, what's happening in the military is a rush to bow down to the PC correct gods on the left. A military court is deciding today, whether to give a dog handler at abu gharib a year in prison or not. His crime? Holding his dog, and allowing it to bark in the face of a prisoner. A year in jail. In comparison, bleeding heart liberals insist gangbangers in big cities all over America, be given probation for vicious physical assaults, and defend them to the hilt.

The left has been feminizing American society since the 60s and it has made a negative impact, not only on Americans in general, but on the military. To make the comparison that we are no better than them because of an incident where civilians were killed, is leftist jibburish and only shows how PC you are and how much you've been feminized. This incident will be another rallying cry for the cowards in our midsts who would rather collaborate with the enemy than support the country. What really needs to be done, is for the military to do their thing in their way. Batiste was probably expressing his frustration at not being able to unleash shock and awe on the enemy, something , because of PC we haven't done, not because we were in Iraq.

You guys keep on tying together Al-Queda and the Sunnis in Iraq. Jihadists are the ultra minority today that are doing all the killing. I know your demented mind can't seem to grasp this. But there is a full blown civil war going on in Iraq and it's between warring religious fundamentalist factions. Get your hiney out of your head..

Making things up because that's what you want to happen in Iraq, to advance your argument. Just like the leftist media does, day in, day out. I can't say this more plainly...........There is no civil war.

The left (as you call it) wants us out of Iraq. So does 70% of this country. Who's the other 20-30%?? Leftists?? Nope..... Americans. Even Republicans that have a brain. Unlike some here. We are no longer effective there. Plain and simple. Generals are calling for this also. Who are you??? Nobody. Nobody in cyberspace..

Everybody wants to be out of Iraq, but not until the government of Iraq can defend itself. After that, I want to watch them. I want to see if it is freedom and liberty they'll be interested in, or will it be the violent teachings in the Koran. I note that a great majority of Americans are blinded to the intentions of Muslims because of political correctness and leftist propaganda.

And you condemn Murtha. When did you serve your country??? Skylark?? Red?? How many medals do you hold?? How many does Murtha hold.

You guys are cowards.

We support the all the armed forces. Murtha and his ilk are lefitst turncoats, who revel in demonizing the military, looking forward to smearing the entire military, with the assisstance of the media, for the mistakes of a few. Shame on all of those with anti-American tendencies. America could do much better without these turncoats.

[weester87]

Making things up because that's what you want to happen in Iraq, to advance your argument. Just like the leftist media does, day in, day out. I can't say this more plainly...........There is no civil war.

No civil war? LMAO

The insurgents are IRAQI citizens and they are KILLING thousands of other IRAQI civilians because of their religious differences....Sounds like a CIVIL WAR to me!

[weester87]

"I want to see if it is freedom and liberty they'll be interested in, or will it be the violent teachings in the Koran. I note that a great majority of Americans are blinded to the intentions of Muslims because of political correctness and leftist propaganda."

You claim that the moslems are VIOLENT, so why do you support them? Makes no sense! They are a people with a very violent history and you think that bringing democracy to Iraq is going to change them? The only way to do this by your own logic is to ban their religion, is that what you want?

If you believe that democracy will work in Iraq, then you will also have to believe in its people. AND THEY ARE MOSLEM......

[Skylark-69]

You guys keep on tying together Al-Queda and the Sunnis in Iraq. Jihadists are the ultra minority today that are doing all the killing. I know your demented mind can't seem to grasp this. But there is a full blown civil war going on in Iraq and it's between warring religious fundamentalist factions. Get your hiney out of your head..

Sorry, but even your leftist media says they have been working together. So keep trying to say there is a full blown civil war going on to support your doom and gloom Iraq fantasy.

[weester87]

Al-Queda isnt the problem, its sunnis killing shiites and shiites killing sunnis=Civil War!

[Red Regal T]

The My Lai Lie

By Michael Reagan
June 2, 2006

If you pay close attention to the media firestorm over the incident in Haditha, you’ll discover constant references to the war in Vietnam in general and My Lai in particular.

That’s no accident. The crazed American left in and out of the media is trying to accomplish in Iraq what they accomplished in Vietnam – a shameful American defeat wrested from the jaws of victory.

Make no mistake about it, these traitorous anti-war zealots are salivating over the possibility that they can exploit whatever happened in Haditha last November just as they exploited the My Lai massacre and thousands of G.I. deaths in Vietnam.

Without any real knowledge of the Nov. 19 deaths of 24 civilians and the role if any played in the killings by United States Marines, the despicable Democrat Rep. John Murtha is charging that members of the Marine Corps killed those civilians in cold blood.

The media is trumpeting over Murtha’s accusations, showcasing him on radio and TV broadcasts and egging him on, something scarcely needed since he’s been all too anxious to clutter up the air waves with his egomaniacal blatherings.

This is all a matter of déjà vu to those of us who remember what happened in Vietnam, and how the same media now ranting and raving about Haditha helped drive us from Vietnam – where we were winning – an outcome that cost the lives of over a million Vietnamese and Cambodians.

Central to the attempt to drive us out of Vietnam were the phony atrocity stories peddled by the likes of Jane Fonda and John Kerry and the story of My Lai where somewhere between 300 and 500 Vietnamese villagers were butchered by an out-of-control U.S. Army unit – a real atrocity that bolstered Kerry’s phony accounts of American misbehavior in battle.

In Vietnam, the Left learned their lesson well and they are now applying it to Iraq, where they hope to obtain similar results – the mightiest nation on the face of the earth cutting and running from a conflict against a ragtag foe we are slowly and painfully winning.

The worst aspect of this duplicitous activity is the motive behind much of the antiwar hysteria – an insane hatred of George W. Bush and the overwhelming lust of the Democrats to regain control of Capitol Hill no matter what it costs the United States of America in blood and treasure.

Don’t make any mistake about it – that exactly what is driving John Murtha. This war’s John Kerry – and that of his conscienceless colleagues. They didn’t care that their part in causing the U.S. to back out of Vietnam caused over 58,000 of our fellow Americans to have died in vain. And today they couldn’t care less if the grieving survivors – moms, dads, wives, and children – of the soldiers and Marines who laid down their lives in Iraq have to face the possibility that their loved ones’ deaths were meaningless.

What these modern-day Benedict Arnolds are attempting to do is the recreate the shameful spectacle of battle-scarred veterans coming home from Vietnam to be cursed and spat at and called baby killers by the very people they risked their lives to serve.

Their crocodile tears over the killings in Haditha – which for all we presently know may or may not have been justified by the exigencies of combat – masks their delight that they may now have a new My Lai. Never mind that My Lai caused hundreds of deaths while in Haditha just 24 people died in what, once again, for all we presently know for certain, may have been the heat of battle. With the enthusiastic cooperation of the media the two incidents are compared to sap the morale of the American people to the point where they will accept a shameful defeat and leave the people of Iraq to the same kind of tender mercies shown to the betrayed people of Vietnam and Cambodia.

I want to tell the veterans of Vietnam that this is what they did to you and this is what John Murtha and the rest of the radical Left are now trying to do to the brave men and women in Iraq. They want to turn their image into that of baby killers. You should be the ones marching in the streets against the Left and John Murtha. You must not allow what happened to you happen to the men and women in Iraq.

[JSAautomotive]

Originally Posted by Weester

You claim that the moslems are VIOLENT, so why do you support them? Makes no sense! They are a people with a very violent history and you think that bringing democracy to Iraq is going to change them? The only way to do this by your own logic is to ban their religion, is that what you want?

If you believe that democracy will work in Iraq, then you will also have to believe in its people. AND THEY ARE MOSLEM......

Yeah.... this makes me laugh. The poor confused individual Red. Sez he hates the Muslims and their religion, but then guys like Skylark and Red won't condemn Saudi Arabia and the Wahabiists for putting "hate" into their school books.

They'll call them towelheads and such, but then fight for them to have an independant Iraq

Mentally confused individuals.

[Red Regal T]

"makes me laugh.......DUH!

I'm well aware of the situation with the Saudis and the story about what's in their school books. They are Muslims and deserve no more trust than any of them. It is the left who gives aid and comfort to the enemy by bashing the war effort and the military, so I don't know why you're taking aim at me. Look to yourself. It is you anti-American leftists who are undermining your own country. Shame on you!

[JSAautomotive]

You're a funny guy. In one breath you say monitor all mosques here in the USA because the religion of Islam breeds hate and terrorism. But then on the other hand, you support Islamists in having and creating their own country??

You sound pretty nutty to me.

[Red Regal T]

Originally Posted by JSAautomotive

You're a funny guy. In one breath you say monitor all mosques here in the USA because the religion of Islam breeds hate and terrorism. But then on the other hand, you support Islamists in having and creating their own country??

You sound pretty nutty to me.

Let me put it this way... You want to abandon the Iraqis because you say bringing democracy to Iraq is a waste of time, they can't be trusted not to murder each other and they just don't get it, but don't watch Islamists here who follow the same Religion, because that would be racial profiling.

[Red Regal T]

“Supporting” the Troops
By Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu
June 5, 2006

When dealing with a generation of media that are unable to think of an American war without reflexively placing it into a Vietnam template, you just know that any opportunity to bend events into that mold will be irresistible. Such irrational but compulsive behavior is even more compelling when the newsmen are programmed to be anti-war, anti-US military, and anti-Bush.

So when the sandstorm hit eight days or so into Operation Iraqi Freedom they shrieked about a “quagmire.” When repugnant but highly localized misconduct took place at Abu Ghraib prison they elevated it to such prominence that it became a strategic defeat for America. When Marine Lieutenant Ilario Pantano was accused of murdering two men during combat operations in Iraq they called for his head, ultimately forcing him to leave the Marine Corps despite a court-martial acquittal, to the great loss of his service and his country.


And predictably when Iraq was not a quagmire, when Abu Ghraib was determined after multiple investigations not to be a result of administration policy but of poor supervision and individual misconduct, and when Lieutenant Pantano was trying to put his life together the same sanctimonious media scolds were absent without leave. Such is the parasitic life style they have chosen to live.

Now we are facing another investigation: a report that Marines allegedly killed up to 24 Iraqi civilians in a modest Sunni Triangle town of 90,000 called Haditha. The facts as we know them are limited: Marines have been operating in Haditha for some time and face the kind of entrenched terrorist resistance that characterized Fallujah and Tal Afar before they were liberated and returned to friendly Iraqi government control. On November 19, 2005 an IED exploded early on a morning patrol blowing one Marine in half, wounding several. From here on reports vary but official reports so far seem to confirm that the Marines received small arms fire from nearby houses and returned it. At some point the Marines stormed the houses, clearing them. Twenty four lay dead in the wake. Some were women and children.



For those of us who have been exposed to combat this brief summary yields more questions and answers. Of the dead how many were men, were they armed? Who were they, Iraqis or al Qaeda foreigners? Were the women or young people armed? What was found in the houses – weapons caches, explosives, jihadist materials? What kind of fire killed the Iraqis – long range, point-blank, or grenades? Were the wounds caused by US weapons or by AK-47s? These are just a few questions and answers to them will generate many more. But the point is that we need to have an idea of what happened before we have a rush to judgment. After all, these are America’s finest, the Marines who are all volunteers and who have risked their lives on a daily basis to defend us. They deserve at least the same presumption of innocence that we give to murders in the States, don’t they?



Apparently not, at least not in the eyes of media and certain human rights organizations. CNN, Time, mainstream and global media outlets, have convicted the US troops and are calling for punishment. They strain to make comparisons to the infamous Vietnam killings at My Lai. Marc Garlasco, of Human Rights Watch, told reporters recently, “What happened at Haditha appears to be outright murder. The Haditha massacre will go down as Iraq’s My Lai.” When Garlasco appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show to discuss his views with Hannity and retired Marine colonel Oliver North, Garlasco immediately back-pedaled, admitting under questioning that he had “no idea of the facts” in the situation. Like his fellows he steadfastly refused to allow his ignorance to prevent him from judging the Marines. As one Marine said, “killers like O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson received more respect from the press than our fellows are getting. It’s disgraceful.”



Nor do the Marines receive respect from one of their Corps veterans. Representative John Murtha (D-PA) who has a track record of insulting and slandering our troops has hit new lows. “These were wanton killings done in cold blood,” he told reporters, thereby passing judgment on a situation of which he is woefully ignorant. The anti-American media such as al Jazeera delights in Murtha quotations which boost terrorists’ morale as they prepare for their next strike against our troops.



So what was Haditha really? A pastoral Iraqi village filled with farmers and merchants trying to go about daily business? Maybe not. According to the Guardian Haditha was a “Sunni citadel” ruled by “brutal insurgents.” Murders, the British newspaper reports, took place daily at dawn on the Haqlania bridge. Victims, local Iraqis that the terrorists claimed were Coalition and Iraqi government “agents,” were beheaded with knives. Their prone bodies were left on display, pointed in the direction of Baghdad. If you were not a sufficiently early riser to catch the executions live, not to worry, you could get a DVD that afternoon in the local market. The terrorists give them out free.



Haditha is a “miniature Taliban-like state,” where the insurgents call all the shots. Who lives or who dies today is the most terrifying decision they make. With that power little wonder that civilians cooperate either out of fear, coercion, or the desire to be on the side of the knife wielders. Insurgents set the economic rules, the social mores – totally Sharia Islamic rules, by the way, and what news the people receive. Headscarves for women are mandatory, alcohol banned, music forbidden, and relations between the sexes closely monitored. Break the rules? You have a one-way trip to the bridge at dawn.



While a local group, Ansar al-Sunna ostensibly holds power, the real force is the al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Haditha is yet another example of what the entire country of Iraq will become if the U.S. pulls out precipitately. We ignored Afghanistan after the Soviet debacle to our bitter regret. Ignoring Iraq and turning it over to the murderous thugs like Zarqawi, giving him a bright population funded by billions in oil revenues, could be a suicide pact for America.



So in the face of such hellish conditions in which our Marines must slog their way through on a daily basis until the insurgents are killed, captured, or chased from the city, would it not seem charitable at the very least (forget legalities, that seems to obsess the media when discussing civil crimes but not apply to American military charges) to give our troops the benefit of the doubt until the facts in the case are known? We owe them that much. At the moment three independent investigations are ongoing, one by the Navy, another by Central Command, and a third by the Iraqi government.



The US military has proved that it polices itself well, despite hysterical muttering from the fever swamp left. There are Uniform Code of Military Justice procedures, similar to grand jury investigations, currently underway, that must be completed, reviewed, and recommendations forwarded before decisions to prosecute are made. While we wait for those investigations we would be respectful of our brave military by avoiding inflaming an already volatile Muslim population that will ultimately kill and wound more as a result of the hysterical, accusatory publicity.



That is certainly wistful thinking in regard to willful, venal politicians eager to win power by stepping on the bodies of American soldiers, and media willing to write stories with their blood. What can we do? Switch TV channels, cancel your subscription, and vote out those politicians who are so hungry for position that they would sacrifice the welfare of our soldiers to achieve it.

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