Iraqis Drag U.S. Corpses Through Streets
- Thread starter gamalruach
- Start date
Bremer has destroyed my country
Even the pro-US manager of Iraq's Pepsi plant feels betrayed by an occupation which has spawned fear, hatred and chaos
Naomi Klein in Baghdad
Saturday April 3, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1184993,00.html
Even the pro-US manager of Iraq's Pepsi plant feels betrayed by an occupation which has spawned fear, hatred and chaos
Naomi Klein in Baghdad
Saturday April 3, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1184993,00.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0933121180/102-2791062-6065701?v=glance
Just one example of many. When Americans get on their high horse about human rights they need to understand their own history. We've done pretty well lately, but our history has plenty of ugliness.
Read the book "Flyboys" to get a capsule summary of our own sometimes monstrous behavior.
m
Just one example of many. When Americans get on their high horse about human rights they need to understand their own history. We've done pretty well lately, but our history has plenty of ugliness.
Read the book "Flyboys" to get a capsule summary of our own sometimes monstrous behavior.
m
Messer, who's history isn't full of "ugliness"?
NO country is perfect or has the perfect record. In fact, most sane people don't even consider perfection attainable, yet perfection is something liberal pussies are forever judging America against. (Can it get any more pathetic than this?)
Why isn't the good America has brought to her people and to the world allowed to be weighed up against the bad? Hmm? Considering that socialists and their closet-socialist "Democrat" buddies spent lifetimes making excuses for their grand failed experiments like the Soviet Union and Maoist China, ie, sure they might have had a few blunders but their hearts were in the right place, ie, it was their "grand vision" that counted, not the fact that the steps they took to realizing it were fucked up (on a grand scale), why isn't this logic applicable to America?
NO country is perfect or has the perfect record. In fact, most sane people don't even consider perfection attainable, yet perfection is something liberal pussies are forever judging America against. (Can it get any more pathetic than this?)
Why isn't the good America has brought to her people and to the world allowed to be weighed up against the bad? Hmm? Considering that socialists and their closet-socialist "Democrat" buddies spent lifetimes making excuses for their grand failed experiments like the Soviet Union and Maoist China, ie, sure they might have had a few blunders but their hearts were in the right place, ie, it was their "grand vision" that counted, not the fact that the steps they took to realizing it were fucked up (on a grand scale), why isn't this logic applicable to America?
Shut up Fuck, or make some sense. I was responding to all the bozos, probably you included, who go on about nuking the Arabs out of existence, etc, etc, etc.
The point I'm trying to get through to you pinheads is that we are not without blame.
You conservative ass-kissers are all alike. Blind, deaf and dumb fucks.
m
Why an SUV is now the most dangerous vehicle in Iraq
Patrick Graham in Baghdad
Sunday April 4, 2004
The Observer
It has become clear in the past few years that four-wheel-drive SUVs are some of the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Nowhere is this more true than in Iraq.
In almost every deadly attack on foreign civilians, the victims have been in Sport Utility Vehicles, almost invariably white: the occupation car of choice.
The burning wreckage in Falluja last week was unmistakable. The charred bodies of the four Americans were scattered around two white SUVs. The men - Scott Helvenston, from Florida, a producer of extreme fitness videos; Jerry Zovko from Ohio; Wesley Batalona, 48, from Hawaii; and wrestling coach Michael Teague, 38, from Tennessee - were former US special forces members now working for Blackwater, a private security firm that protects Paul Bremer, the coalition's administrator.
Falluja is a centre of the anti-American resistance, where even the police don't support the Americans. US soldiers don't drive through Falluja much. When they do, they have helicopter back-up and heavy armour.
'Almost every foreigner who has been killed here is an idiot,' said one ex-Navy SEAL. Soldiers often show little sympathy for those who fail to follow the right procedure.
He began listing their mistakes. To start with, they were in Falluja, in an SUV. Next, he guessed they had gone through the city before and had met no problems, but were seen leaving an American base - a routine can kill you. Later, they were followed.
'People don't realise that this is war,' he said.
But last week's horrific scenes in Falluja give the wrong impression. Iraq is, in fact, a lot safer than it was last summer.
There is less violence now but it is better organised, more methodical. Especially in the capital. You can tell a lot about the security situation in Baghdad by listening to the city. Last summer, there was almost constant gunfire. The city was in chaos and murders and robbery were common.
Today, there are police on the streets and it is much safer. The problem is that, while the police presence reduces some kinds of crime, there is nobody in control of the city. For a careful criminal, there are no consequences.
The other day, we drove by a café in which gangsters hang out. If someone wants to kill you, this is where they can go. It costs $100 to have someone shot. The killers know they will never be caught.
For all the media reports about foreign deaths, life is far more dangerous for Iraqis, especially Iraqis who work for foreigners. And while three journalists have been killed in the past month, they have all been killed by the American army. And they were Arab or Iraqi.
This is what Iraqis complain about when they say ' maku amin ', no security. If you anger somebody, he can kill you with impunity.
A foreign newspaper bureau here recently tried to fire one of its guards for sleeping on the job. A driver quietly explained that, if the guard were fired, he would hire someone to take revenge. The guard stayed.
If you can't threaten someone with a vendetta, then you have very little leverage in negotiations. As a result, the tribeless Christian community has been one of the worst hit by kidnappers. In Baghdad, we listen to bombs exploding rather than chaotic gunfire.
One woke us up last week, rattling the windows, blowing in the curtains. Five Iraqis were killed. What were they driving? An SUV.
· Two attacks on Iraqi police south of Baghdad yesterday left four dead, bringing to 350 the number of policemen killed by shooting and suicide bombings in the past year.
Patrick Graham in Baghdad
Sunday April 4, 2004
The Observer
It has become clear in the past few years that four-wheel-drive SUVs are some of the most dangerous vehicles on the road. Nowhere is this more true than in Iraq.
In almost every deadly attack on foreign civilians, the victims have been in Sport Utility Vehicles, almost invariably white: the occupation car of choice.
The burning wreckage in Falluja last week was unmistakable. The charred bodies of the four Americans were scattered around two white SUVs. The men - Scott Helvenston, from Florida, a producer of extreme fitness videos; Jerry Zovko from Ohio; Wesley Batalona, 48, from Hawaii; and wrestling coach Michael Teague, 38, from Tennessee - were former US special forces members now working for Blackwater, a private security firm that protects Paul Bremer, the coalition's administrator.
Falluja is a centre of the anti-American resistance, where even the police don't support the Americans. US soldiers don't drive through Falluja much. When they do, they have helicopter back-up and heavy armour.
'Almost every foreigner who has been killed here is an idiot,' said one ex-Navy SEAL. Soldiers often show little sympathy for those who fail to follow the right procedure.
He began listing their mistakes. To start with, they were in Falluja, in an SUV. Next, he guessed they had gone through the city before and had met no problems, but were seen leaving an American base - a routine can kill you. Later, they were followed.
'People don't realise that this is war,' he said.
But last week's horrific scenes in Falluja give the wrong impression. Iraq is, in fact, a lot safer than it was last summer.
There is less violence now but it is better organised, more methodical. Especially in the capital. You can tell a lot about the security situation in Baghdad by listening to the city. Last summer, there was almost constant gunfire. The city was in chaos and murders and robbery were common.
Today, there are police on the streets and it is much safer. The problem is that, while the police presence reduces some kinds of crime, there is nobody in control of the city. For a careful criminal, there are no consequences.
The other day, we drove by a café in which gangsters hang out. If someone wants to kill you, this is where they can go. It costs $100 to have someone shot. The killers know they will never be caught.
For all the media reports about foreign deaths, life is far more dangerous for Iraqis, especially Iraqis who work for foreigners. And while three journalists have been killed in the past month, they have all been killed by the American army. And they were Arab or Iraqi.
This is what Iraqis complain about when they say ' maku amin ', no security. If you anger somebody, he can kill you with impunity.
A foreign newspaper bureau here recently tried to fire one of its guards for sleeping on the job. A driver quietly explained that, if the guard were fired, he would hire someone to take revenge. The guard stayed.
If you can't threaten someone with a vendetta, then you have very little leverage in negotiations. As a result, the tribeless Christian community has been one of the worst hit by kidnappers. In Baghdad, we listen to bombs exploding rather than chaotic gunfire.
One woke us up last week, rattling the windows, blowing in the curtains. Five Iraqis were killed. What were they driving? An SUV.
· Two attacks on Iraqi police south of Baghdad yesterday left four dead, bringing to 350 the number of policemen killed by shooting and suicide bombings in the past year.
