Newshoggers Comments
or Falluja!
No. Haditha was the ultimate in revenge killing; it started with the guys in the taxi and continued for most of the day.
This was immediate-aftermath-bullet-spraying. Wrong, terrible, demanding of investigationa and accountability, but not quite like Haditha.
However, the coverup by commanders is like Haditha, and it's worth remembering that there would never have been any investigation into Haditha had it not been for video shot by a resident just after the soldiers finally left (which pushed Time to ask questions and interview survivors).
Lessons learned: Remove all photos immediately.
What bothered me most about this incident was that none of the MSM tried to analysis it. The military, as I recall, went on and on about a "complex ambush" whatever that may mean but likely that the enemy is crafty and NATO is sloppy. So shooting up everything in sight could mean that the troops who maybe naturally scared have no real training to fall back on and, worst of all, have developed a dehumanized stereotype of any Afghan. The last two or three incidents the Canadians have been involved with they have shown the same characteristics - shoot everything then scurry away and let some PR flunky make excuses to the "bed" MSM by spinning the usual BS about the enemy being cowardly and hiding behind the citizens the troops have just gunned down. Again, what I think these type of icidents may indicate is that some of the enemy is more disciplined then the NATO warriors. Leaves wondering what NATO would do if they couldn't call in aircraft to save them.
Hi Nell, good points about the differences and parallels with Haditha.
Geoff, a couple of years ago I was saying the other western nations should be using the British "hearts and minds" counter-insurgency paradigm instead of the Israeli "subjugation by force" one. The latest US military manual shows I was right, they wrote the paradigm change in at the most basic level. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have gotten as far as the front lines yet. Meanwhile, the Brits have become more Israeli-like in their operations, mostly due to Blairite neocon-in-Leftie-clothing political meddling.
Regards, C
The only sin that is inexcusable in either iraq or Afghanistan is the sin of getting caught. Remember how the scandal of Aby Ghraib resulted not in more stringent control of prison gaurds, but in the removal of any imaging utility. There have also reportedly been more journalists killed in these conflicts than were killed in any other recent hostility. I really wonder if the media was allowed to do their job how many more of these incidents would come to light.
As far as the more aggressive stance by NATO soldiers, when commanders do not allow the troops to take responsibility for what would seem to be illegal actions, then the troops likely lose all fear of committing these actions. Couple this with the dehumanizing that must affect soldiers charged with sanctioned killing and you may have a explosive situation.
I can see an argument for impounding the images (but not one that flies if you've allowed the reporters in in the first place), but deleting them is contrary to every rational evidentiary procedure known to man.
And all this time here in America we're putting up with these fucked up yellow ribbons telling each other to "support our troops". Too bad that neither the MSM nor the Generals (nothing more than Bush yesmen) support the troops either. Oh, I'm sure the US troops in Afghan are "happy" to see this going on (sarcasm on this sentence).
Commenting by HaloScan
