Rampage by U.S. soldier kills up to 18 Afghan civilians

[Athan]

This might help subside their revenge motivation:

It's a usual reminder: "We at the US gov are fucking incompetent. Don't expect our public statements to be truthful or Hallmark quality sentimental either."

 

[Tudo]

Correct , we are the good guys.

LOL and there are those who actually believe that

 

[Barrex]

Few minutes ago on news in Croatia:

US army on highest alert. Talibans preparing revenge because of killings of women and children.

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

Oh, I'm sure they'll offer them a couple of goats to go along with the apology. No worries.

Imagine that these occupying fools kill your sibling/parent/child and some asshole says "Sorry! Hope these goats make up for your loss! Good luck, and stay away from that pesky Taliban."

I don't know what they get for the death of a family member but in the documentary Restrepo (embedded journalists film soldiers in battle. its a really good film) they killed a guys cow because it got tangled in some barbed wire and cut up really bad. He wanted the money he would have gotten for selling the cow and instead they offered him the weight of the cow in sugar, beans, rice, and flour. He did not accept the offer.

 

[Endgame]

That's pretty much the definition of neocon.

Look at any right-wing forum and you'll see whole threads full of apologists and sympathizers, comments along the lines of "fuck the Afghan civilians, it's not like Afghan soldiers haven't been going on shooting sprees in our bases" etc. Lots of Lieutenant Calley wannabes.

 

[olehounddog]

I don't know what they get for the death of a family member but in the documentary Restrepo (embedded journalists film soldiers in battle. its a really good film) they killed a guys cow because it got tangled in some barbed wire and cut up really bad. He wanted the money he would have gotten for selling the cow and instead they offered him the weight of the cow in sugar, beans, rice, and flour. He did not accept the offer.

they killed a guys cow because it got tangled in some barbed wire and cut up really bad.

They killed the cow to eat. Wire was an excuse. Or that was the impression I got because of the sacastic voice during the report to higher up. And didn't they fly in a cook for the special occasion?

 

[angelatc]

Even if some of these people are rallying to get out of Afghanistan, it's not for the right reasons and they still aren't thinking for themselves.

The cynic in me thinks that there may be an Afghanistan pullout because the troops are going to be sent elsewhere.

Yeah, don't mistake my remarks for optimism. If Bush was still CIC, they'd be drooling at the opportunity to take it up a notch. This is politically expedient - nothing more.

 

[angelatc]

Few minutes ago on news in Croatia:

US army on highest alert. Talibans preparing revenge because of killings of women and children.

Meh - because the public opinion has been swayed. We've been bombing women and children for at least a decade now.

 

[moderate libertarian]

Meh - because the public opinion has been swayed. We've been bombing women and children for at least a decade now.

Deaths of civilians there rose sharply since Obama took charge of that war.

 

[DerailingDaTrain]

they killed a guys cow because it got tangled in some barbed wire and cut up really bad.

They killed the cow to eat. Wire was an excuse. Or that was the impression I got because of the sacastic voice during the report to higher up. And didn't they fly in a cook for the special occasion?

Yeah, they did have the cook from the base come up the OP and cook it.

 

[Barrex]

What does your media reports today about it?

In Croatia there are pictures on Afghan people burning puppet that represents Obama. Talibans promising beheading of US soldiers. Thousands of protesters screaming "Death to US". Karzai brothers shoot at. Situation was never so hostile since invasion/liberation.

 

[moderate libertarian]

Don't know. Seems like prime time US media has moved on to hot shows like fashion reality show featuring Jessica Simpson.

 

[Goodspeed]

USA army should have been given a time-frame to end the Afghanistan war by year 2005.

Success or failure, withdraw by december year 2005 from Afghanistan.

 

[Tyler_Durden]

It appears the Afghanis aren't buying the "one man shooting spree" story...

http://rt.com/news/massacre-kandahar-soldier-american-705/

Could there be a cover-up? Was it a lone solider or a group of drunken soldiers?



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/11/us-afghanistan-civilians-idUSBRE82A02V20120311

If this is true, is urinating on dead bodies or burning dead bodies a new thing for some of these alleged war criminals? Their holy books were allegdly burnt accidentally, what is the official line for burning of dead bodies/urination?

Why would they burn bodies afterwards after getting drunk and killing civilains including children and women in house? In an incidence in Iraq in Mahmudiyah killings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_killings ) when some soldiers were convicted of going into a house after getting drunk, killing civilians including women and children and burning bodies afterwards were also accused of raping a 14 year old girl. There is abolutely no such accusation here, what were they trying to accomplish by burning bodies if they indeed did that?

One soldier could kill over a dozen and injure others, but it doesn't make sense how that one soldier could burn them too. I am apt to believe the eyewitness reports of a group of drunken soldiers. When I was in the Marines, we did some crazy shit when we were drunk......this is bad news.

Standard issue is 30 rounds per mag. One guy is certainly capable, but my gut tells me the witness accounts are accurate and the damage control being done now is to make it look like an isolated incident by one soldier. Or perhaps one soldier carried it out and others came along to torch the bodies. Either way, there's alot of unanswered questions. And yes, it's tragic.

The more I read into this, the more I smell a cover-up. This was not a one-man incident:



http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/11/world/asia/afghanistan-us-service-member/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I'm telling you - the more I read into this, the more I smell a cover-up. This wasn't a one-man incident. This development of the official story stinks to hell. I'm starting to read articles that don't include the witness reports of multiple drunken and laughing soldiers.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/11/world/asia/afghanistan-us-service-member/index.html?hpt=hp_t1




how does a soldier walk off a secure base at 3am?

"...a U.S. service member stationed at a U.S. base in the southern Kandahar province walked off the base around 3 a.m. local time......"
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...vice-member-investigated-for-alleged-killing/

 

[bluesc]

Support the troops.

 

[moderate libertarian]

It appears the Afghanis aren't buying the "one man shooting spree" story...

http://rt.com/news/massacre-kandahar-soldier-american-705/

Yea, there are various reports in world media. Even US media stories in general are all over the place as happens in the fog of a war crime.


In other news, soldier accused of Afghan civilians massacre has retained high profile defense lawyer who had defended serial killer, rapist Ted Bundy.

And Kuwaitis were pissed when he was flown to base there without their knowledge:

Afghanistan: U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians was drinking, official says


The details emerged as the Taliban suspended peace talks with the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded that NATO withdraw forces from the small, rural outposts that are at the heart of its military mission here. The double blows represented a major setback to the Afghanistan end game that U.S. President Barack Obama outlined this week.

The developments are the latest in a cascade of challenges to the measured exit the administration and its coalition partners are planning, including a gradual turnover of security responsibility to Afghan troops, paced U.S. and NATO withdrawal and a negotiated peace with the Taliban. Thursday’s statements sparked new concerns that the U.S.-led operation here could unravel as trust erodes between Afghans and the U.S.

The American military was preparing to move the sergeant to a prison in the U.S. as early as Friday, just a day after he was flown to a detention site in Kuwait from Afghanistan. The sudden transfer is the result of a behind-the-scenes diplomatic uproar with Kuwait, which learned of the sergeant’s move to an American base on Kuwaiti territory from news reports before the U.S. government could alert them, the senior U.S. official said.

“When they learned about it, the Kuwaitis blew a gasket and wanted him out of there,” the official said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...s-out-of-rural-areas-taliban-breaks-off-talks

 

[AnythingButPaper]

One word, IMPEACH! This is 100% Obama's fault. He alone has the power to take out troops out of Afghanistan. Now let us rub the Obama supporter's noses in the bullshit we call American Foreign Policy.

 

[TheTexan]

I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner,,,, actually, it probably has.


(totally stole pcosmar's commas)

 

[moderate libertarian]

Yea happened and reported are not always same.

By the way, if this was done by same "stressed out" or "drunk" sniper or some other soldiers using a drone, would same civilians killings have been dismissed by declaring them suspected militants or it would have got same attention?

Neither of the two would probably take Obama or his masters in front of international war crimes court but public reaction seems very different.

 

[A Son of Liberty]

I am so SICK of this GOD DAMNED empire. Pardon my language - I seldom say things like that here, but it is eminently appropriate, here.

I will not link to it, for it is too, too awful, but Michael Rozeff posted a link to some Iraq war pics at the LRC Blog today. I'll leave it at that, other than to say that prepare yourself.

The people who have brought this, and who have perpetuated it, deserve every punishment they can get. I am appalled. I'm so sick and tired of this.

In honor of St. Patrick's day, Young Ned of the Hill - and when they say Oliver Cromwell, replace it with Bush, Obama, and the rest: