(no subject)

[mrph]

From the BBC Iraq news, here.

Peter Hunt :: Doha, Qatar :: 2130GMT

This afternoon, a vehicle, possibly a van, approached a military checkpoint near Najaf.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division signalled for to stop. It didn't. They fired warning shots and then fired into the engine.

The vehicle continued moving towards them. As a last resort, according to a Central Command spokesman, they fired into the passenger compartment.

There were 13 women and children inside. Seven of them were dead.

I just don't have the words to respond to this.

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

fwiw the soldiers are now letting people through whether they stop or not apparently, so that they don't do that again.

[lougarry.livejournal.com]

Great :( Now any one can get through and back doo the troops. Just what the hell is a security check point for, and if they're not going to check things, then why bother having it in the first place.
Bloody americans.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Fair point. They're rattled, on a military level and on a political level too - I don't see a clear strategy here, just a desire to cut the PR blunders...

[lougarry.livejournal.com]

Trouble is, it doesn't take a lot in the line of casualties for troop moral to take nose dive.
With the amount of us troops KIA - and mostly in stupid things like suicide bombings, they're not feeling so hot, not to mention they've probably exhausted by now. This kind of thing makes occurances like the chap rolling grenades under tents all too common.
I can honestly understand the poor buggers opening up on a van that wasn't stopping - ion war it's a kind of 'them or us' attitude...if you have seen Full Metal Jackt you'll know what I mean, it really does illustrate the point pretty well. Also, look at the the guerrilla tactics used by the VC during Nam. A lot of women were fighters, not necessarily having to take up arms, but they would secure jobs in base camps and then pass on the info to the VC outside the compounds...very effective...
And this is kind of what is happening over there, we dont know who is friend or foe anymore, because of all the regs and irregs being in uniform.

The other problem we have is that the Coalition side is so desparate to show that they are friendly and have intentions to liberate that they are now risking the lives of the troops (certainly the english ones) by getting them to wear the berets instead of hard helmets...apparently berets are friendlier looking than the helmets...anyone remember why we wear helmets in a war zone...?!?!

Propaganda is such a god-awful tool.