Throw The Gun On The Fire
July 28, 2008, Matthew Good It’s as if it were simply publication errata, not the admission that innocent people had been killed – never mind the blatant lies involved…
“The U.S. military said Sunday that the three people killed last month after U.S. soldiers shot at their car in one of the most secured areas of Iraq were civilians, not criminals as the military initially reported.
The correction came more than a month after a bank manager at a branch inside the airport, Hafeth Aboud Mahdi, and two female bank employees were shot at by U.S. soldiers as they sped to work on a road within the secured airport compound. The road is used only by people with high-level security clearance badges. The car veered off the road, hit a concrete blast wall and burst into flames.
The original statement said that Mahdi and the two women were “criminals” and that an American convoy on the side of the secured road came under small-arms fire from the vehicle. Soldiers said they shot back. A weapon was found in the debris and two U.S. military vehicles were struck by bullets from the attack, the statement on June 25 said.
“When we are attacked, we will defend ourselves and will use deadly force if necessary,” Maj. Joey Sullinger, a spokesman for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, said in a statement at the time. “Such attacks endanger not only U.S. soldiers but also innocent civilians, including women and children, traveling the roadways of Baghdad.”
On Sunday the story changed and the tone was apologetic. A military statement said that neither the civilians who were killed nor the soldiers were at fault for the deaths. An investigation found that “the driver and passengers were law-abiding citizens of Iraq.”
Soldiers had pulled off the road because one of the vehicles in the convoy was having maintenance problems. As they worked on the vehicle they saw Mahdi’s car and thought it was moving too quickly toward them, the statement said. Believing they might be in danger, the soldiers warned the car. When the driver ignored the signals they shot at the vehicle, the statement said.
The alleged attack and the weapon that was said to have been recovered from the burned vehicle were misunderstandings, the statement said.”
So the individuals in the car did not fire on the US convoy and, according to new versions of the event, the ‘weapon’ recovered was a ‘misunderstanding’.
Translated for the layman: No shots were fired by those in the car, those that fired on the car, after discovering their mistake, probably plugged a few rounds from an AK into one of their vehicles and then threw the weapon into the wreckage to make it appear as though they had come under fire to cover their asses.
Sound about right?
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Particularly heart-rending is the account given by his son. Disgraceful.
I can’t believe there are still Iraqis willing to cooperate with the US. No one with dark skin is safe as long as the US military and its goons are around.
Wow, what a load of shit. Sad.
Another in a long list, it’s almost as if they want to make the list so big that it dehumanizes each occurrence. Did they not get caught planting weapons cache’s on the street so they could snipe anyone who touched it?
“He dropped to the ground and wept as his father burned inside the vehicle.”
Leaves one speechless…………..
“When the driver ignored the signals they shot at the vehicle, the statement said.”
That sounds about right.
Either way, it’s a no win situation.
[quote comment="59675"]I can’t believe there are still Iraqis willing to cooperate with the US. No one with dark skin is safe as long as the US military and its goons are around.[/quote]
You’re very ignorant and should be banned for this comment. We’ll see…
[quote comment="59709"]“When the driver ignored the signals they shot at the vehicle, the statement said.”
That sounds about right.
Either way, it’s a no win situation.[/quote]
If it “sounds about right ” why the need for firing and planting the weapon?
[quote comment="59714"][quote comment="59709"]“When the driver ignored the signals they shot at the vehicle, the statement said.”
That sounds about right.
Either way, it’s a no win situation.[/quote]
If it “sounds about right ” why the need for firing and planting the weapon?[/quote]
Why the need for firing? They were following their ROE. Why did they plant an AK? They killed innocent civilians. It’s very simple but unfortunate for both parties.
“they sped to work on a road within the secured airport compound. The road is used only by people with high-level security clearance badges.”
I heard today that this has happened again with children,
a father had survived. What is it? Open season on civilians??????
I’m trying not to jump to conclusions because suicide bomers could be anywhere in any form car, boat, plane men, women. It just saddens me, especially when I hear that childern have lost thier lives???
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080728.wmackay0728/BNStory/International/home
[quote comment="59722"]I heard today that this has happened again with children,
a father had survived. What is it? Open season on civilians??????[/quote]
How many more ignorant posters are we going to have today?
[quote comment="59726"][quote comment="59722"]I heard today that this has happened again with children,
a father had survived. What is it? Open season on civilians??????[/quote]
How many more ignorant posters are we going to have today?[/quote]
This incident with the father surviving happened in Afghanistan. NOT Iraq. If this was the case and the driver did ignore repeated warnings then that is the SOP. It is, a shame that lives were lost.
It is the saying. Its Gonna Be Him Or Me. And It’s Not Gonna Be Me.
Cold. But true.
Now what was their exact signal? Position? I mean come on, if these people weren’t people whom most mistake for terrorists(as msot people in the US seem to think all people in the Middle East are terrorists, And soldiers, are no more or less human than us. So does it some how justify what they did. No.
I mean look at it this way, if there was another Iraqi in the area, and he said something that incriminated the soldiers, it would not be taken into account most likely. My(the US military and government have no reason to want justice, if they can persuade people to think it is an accident, it is not that hard. Because in most situation the people involved with the investigations or that are asked questions are from the US.
Heh, wonder what it’d be like if the situation were reversed, and was as is said as the official story(well for maybe a week) in this?
Its sad and horrible that these events occur. However, the way I see it, these things wouldnt happen if there werent people around willing to load up a car with explosives and detonate it in an area full of people. I mean, lets be real here, can you honestly believe that a group of soldiers would open fire on a vehicle for no reason? Hindsight is always 20/20, isnt that how the saying goes. I mean, like I said, its horrific and tragic, but to condemn the soldiers for what they did isnt a proper solution. Mind you they shouldnt have tried to cover it up (if they did attempt to) but still…..
“whoops”
They were innocent little CHILDREN…
a two year old and a four year old
in the Car that got blasted
by a Canadian Soldier on Sunday…
hmm some of the comments on this thread are hurting my brain.
I’m going to say this: it’s easy to simplify these types of situations into “us” versus “them” and say things such as, “if the situation was reversed;….if there weren’t people like that….etc.” That is missing the point completely. I don’t think the point of writing a post like this one, describing the consequences of war, is about blame. I don’t think intelligent discussion includes generalizing statements like some of the ones above.
I have been on many blogs and love the fact that people can have discussions about sensitive and pertinent topics, and this site has some very bright and intelligent participation. So please, think about what you want to say and how you want people to respond to what you have written.
[quote comment="59789"]I mean, like I said, its horrific and tragic, but to condemn the soldiers for what they did isnt a proper solution. Mind you they shouldnt have tried to cover it up (if they did attempt to) but still…..[/quote]
Indeed. For all we know the ‘cover up’ was initiated by those in the Pentagon’s press room, and not the soldiers on the ground. The supposition that the soldiers directly involved in the incident planted a weapon among those who died in this accident, or plugged a few rounds into their own humvees to hide that they opened fire on innocent Iraqis is exactly that; supposition and speculation. Only the people there at the time can say for certain what took place.
Frankly I think that spending time conjuring up conspiracy theories about these tragic events is really rather a waste of time. What deserves our time is addressing the question of how do we keep such events from re-occuring. It seems to be a staple of the news coming from both Iraq and Afghanistan to hear a story of an innocent civilian not heeding the warnings of the military convoys, coming to close and then being fired upon. Are the signals not clear enough? Are the translations used to verbally or visually give warnings accurately translated? These are much better questions to be asking, and ultimately more helpful in my opinion.
Tony Shucraft and Kanji. You both are compressing two stories into one. It happened in Afghanistan… to Afghans. Not in Iraq. Canadians Not Americans. There was also no attempted cover up. Read the story
and connect the dots.
Sorry agent-k but there is a history of cover-up and conspiracy, should we just wait for the pentagon report on it? Do you really think it will be objective? In less than 2 months it will be a year since the Blackwater massacre, where is that report? I agree avoiding these situations should come first but maybe showing you will be accountable for your actions over there might also help … or did we lose all our humanity with 9/11 and the 2 wars?
[quote comment="59830"]Sorry agent-k but there is a history of cover-up and conspiracy, should we just wait for the pentagon report on it? Do you really think it will be objective? In less than 2 months it will be a year since the Blackwater massacre, where is that report? I agree avoiding these situations should come first but maybe showing you will be accountable for your actions over there might also help … or did we lose all our humanity with 9/11 and the 2 wars?[/quote]
No where in my comment did I deny the possibility of a cover-up or conspiracy. Nor did I advocate waiting for some official Pentagon report on the incident. What I did do was state that saying the soldiers involved in the incident initiated such a cover-up or conspiracy is litle more then unfounded speculation and mere supposition. Further, I stated that dwelling on such unfounded ideas was a waste of our time and that we ought to spend our time focusing on other items… such as questioning the lack of a report on the Blackwater Incident (to take your example).
my mistake, I offer apologies and cookies for the offended.
And this ends the comment portion of this entry.