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1


Can someone explain to me how our soldiers can butcher 9 children and not resign en masse?


What kind of a person kills that many innocent people and doesn't care?

And then, even worse, continues to fight in a war that guarantees many more innocent men, women and children will die.

What kind of a monster can do that?

Posted by Original Andrew | October 11, 2007 6:43 PM
2

@1

Have you ever seen Jarhead? I think that depicts the general attitude(s) we have out there.

"Did you get a kill? No?"

Sucky, bra!

"I didn't even get to fire my gun."

Oh. Bummer, man. "Well you can fire it now." Oh boy.

Posted by Mr. Poe | October 11, 2007 6:50 PM
3

ANDREW

The kind of monster that would be scarred for life by war and live forever on very strong mind numbing medications to cope with reality.

I didn't sign up for Iraq but it happened. I got out soon as I could and many others felt the same as me-USED by our own administration!

Posted by mla | October 11, 2007 7:21 PM
4

Unfortunately, Dan there's always a new "number two Al-Qaida-In-Iraq Leader" out there, because the third-in-line just gets to move one step up the rung.

It's that pesky, bothersome "Number One Al-Qaida Lead" position that seems so much harder to take out, now isn't it?

Oh, right. We don't care about that one any more.

And yeah, Mia, for every gung-ho "kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out" personality type in-theatre, I'm sure there are probably three or four of the type you describe. And I can only imagine what kind of Hell they have to go through when something like this happens.

Not much consolation to the survivors, knowing the person who killed your family might actually feel remorse over it, I admit, which is just one more reason why this stupid, pointless, wasteful war should end as soon as possible.

Posted by COMTE | October 11, 2007 7:56 PM
5

Can we at least agree that it suck all around?

Posted by Jude Fawley | October 11, 2007 8:06 PM
6

"Sucks" I mean. Obviously.

Posted by Jude Fawley | October 11, 2007 8:22 PM
7

Sue is listening...shhhh!

Posted by Mr. Poe | October 11, 2007 8:26 PM
8

There is a very clever dark logic at work here. Follow me here.
The more children you kill the more you bolster the resistance. The more you bolster the resistance, the more likely it is that any given child will become a member of the resistance. So if you kill enough children you will in fact justify your actions by making it true that you were merely killing individuals that would almost certainly become members of the resistance.
Also note that resistance is in fact the appropriate term to use. Insurgent refers to someon rising up against an established government, which is simpl not the situation in Iraq. It's clearly a resistance movement against an occupying power. Note that it's only in the US that you will here it refered to as an insurgency, and in some conservative Brit media. Everywhere else it's simply the resistance.

Posted by kinaidos | October 11, 2007 9:13 PM
9

Much as I am loathe to agree with Mr.Poe, I do in this case. I spent two tours in the military, and there are more of these types of guys in our military than we would like to admit. Sometimes the more heinous gung ho knuckle draggers in our own military used to scare me more than our supposed enemy. To them it is all a video game, but with real blood... much more of an adrenaline rush that way.

And as mia points out, war plays mental havoc on any sane person.

Posted by SDA in SEA | October 11, 2007 10:46 PM
10

Reading this made me think of a song by Michael Franti, Light Up Ya Lighter.

"....
So Come on Come on, Sign up, Come on
This one’s nothing like Vietnam
Except for the bullets, Except for the bombs,
Except for the youth that’s gone

...

Tell me President tell if you will,
How many people does a smart bomb kill
How many of em do you think we got,
The General says we never miss a shot
And we never ever ever keep a body count,
we killin so efficiently we can’t keep count
In the Afghan hills the rebels still fightin,
Opium fields keep providin
The best heroin that money can buy
and nobody knows where Osama bin hidin
The press conferences keep on lyin like we don’t know"

Stories like this just make me sad. When someone can write such amazing lyrics that could so easily be prevented.

Posted by J in Montana | October 12, 2007 1:09 AM
11

Al Gore just won the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with the UN IPCC.

Posted by Gabriel | October 12, 2007 3:05 AM
12

Hey Mr. S.
I thought you wanted this 'war'.
Can't complain NOW sweetie.

War sucks no matter the reason.

Posted by old timer | October 12, 2007 10:21 AM
13

According to Torah, the children and wives of the enemy are not really "human". So no "human beings" were killed in this case. It's very important to understand Torah halaka when viewing Iraq.

Making Israel safe is the number one issue. Anyone who murders a Jew is not "human" and therefore cannot have a "human" family. For this reason what's happening in Iraq is not "killing human beings". These islamo-fascists hate Jews and are therefore not "human". Wiping them out is the same as cleaning dog shit off your shoe. Nothing immoral has happened.

Posted by Issur | October 12, 2007 10:36 AM
14

US Military spin: We've killed so many members of al-Qaida, the children are the senior leadership.

We're winning! We're winning! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Posted by CB | October 12, 2007 11:12 AM
15

I hate you issur. you disgust me and I wish you'd stop saying you are a jew. you are a crazy disgusting freak. I am a jew. not you.

Posted by Philly | October 12, 2007 12:37 PM
16

Screw you and the golden calf you rode in on Issur. Even if you were some elaborate troll, you are as disgusting as the Hinnom gulch. If you are speaking earnestly, it is no wonder you have all the time in the world to spout your twisted ideology on the internet to people who at first could not give an effort to give a damn, and then disgust them.

Posted by Shini | October 12, 2007 3:45 PM
17

Human life is so important to Jewish law that it is permitted to kill an attacker to prevent a murder. The Torah doesn't say "thou shalt not kill" it says "thou shalt not murder".

It's justice to kill as many people as possible, women, children included if it prevents the murder of one Jewish human being. That's the Torah study it and put it in your hearts. We've got to stand strong for Israel and the Torah will help us do that.

Posted by Issur | October 12, 2007 3:55 PM
18

As an agnostic, I would find these religious 'arguments' amusing, except for the widespread slaughter. Sorry to say, but Issur is correct on how the Torah views 'infidels'.

Funny, ain't it, that this perspective is not too far away in spirit from the recent (last 50 yrs. or so) radical Islamist philosophy towards the relative worth of innocent civilians, regardless of age, sex, or religion, to promote a 'purer' Islam. Tactics, of course, do make a difference.

Think of it as a 1000+ yr. civil war. They are related more closely than either side cares to admit, which explains why the conflicts and hatreds are so fierce.

Fuck 'em all. The world's overcrowded enough as it is.

**** ducking to avoid the rocks and small arms fire ****

Posted by Drewl | October 12, 2007 10:04 PM
19

@18,

unfortunately you are right, but to think anyone would consider innocent civilians to be nothing more then 'dog shit to wipe off one's shoes' simply because of relation, or religion absolutely sickens me (I consider myself agnostic).

Though you have a point IE: radicals being too similar to each other.

Too bad we can't put them all on an island, and let them vote themselves off in their own special way.

Posted by Shini | October 13, 2007 10:30 AM
20

Torah is the beautiful law of this world. It's been around longer than Christianity and the Jewish people existed before the Word came into being.

Jews have a right to their religious view, and killing murderers is justice, Tikkum Olam. A murderer is nothing, an evil emptiness. Those who oppose Israel in the Middle East even women and children are lower than dog shit, they are nothing. The Torah allows Jews to clean themselves of this filth.

Posted by Issur | October 13, 2007 11:30 AM
21

@ 15, 16, 18: If Issur is really Jewish I'll eat my shoe. He's a troll who cops an Eldders of Zion persona.
That said, it doesn't make the collective bloodlust of the "Word of God" any less freaky.
Like I always say, if our religious nuts keep pissing off their religious nuts pretty soon we're all gonna be screwed.

Posted by chi type | October 13, 2007 12:20 PM
22

If nine American children were killed in a random act of violence--say, in a school shooting, or because some lunatic dropped a bomb in a Chuck E. Cheese--the entire country would grind to a halt so that we could cry and pray and ask why? and figure out who to blame and propose feel-good solutions that would do absolutely no good whatsoever.

I don't live under a rock or anything, and this is the first I heard about these nine kids.

Funny.

Posted by alex51324 | October 13, 2007 11:07 PM
23

Oh, and this:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28151

My favorite piece of post-9/11 coverage, but it applies to...well, just about everything in this thread.

Posted by alex51324 | October 13, 2007 11:09 PM

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