Bowing down to our own violence

April 22, 2007

By Norman Solomon

Many days after the mass killings at Virginia Tech, grisly stories about the tragedy still dominated front pages and cable television. News of carnage on a vastly larger scale -- the war in Iraq -- ebbs and flows. The overall coverage of lethal violence, at home and far away, reflects the chronic evasions of the American media establishment.

In the world of U.S. mainline journalism, the boilerplate legitimacy of official American violence overseas is a routine assumption.

“The first task of the occupation remains the first task of government: to establish a monopoly on violence,” George Will wrote on April 7, 2004, in the Washington Post. But three years later, his Newsweek column laments: “Vietnam produced an antiwar movement in America; Iraq has produced an antiwar America.”

Current polls and public discourse -- in spite of media inclinations to tamp down authentic anger at the war -- do reflect an “antiwar America” of sorts. So, why is the ghastly war effort continuing unabated? A big factor is the undue respect that’s reserved for American warriors in American society.

When a mentally unstable person goes on a shooting rampage in the United States, no one questions that such actions are intrinsically, fundamentally and absolutely wrong. The media condemnation is 100 percent.

However -- even after four years of a U.S. war in Iraq that has been increasingly deplored by the American public -- the standard violence directed from the Pentagon does not undergo much critical scrutiny from American journalists. The president’s war policies may come under withering media fire, but the daily activities of the U.S. armed forces are subjected to scant moral condemnation. Yet, under orders from the top, they routinely continue to inflict -- or serve as a catalyst for -- violence far more extensive than the shooting sprees that turned a placid Virginia campus into a slaughterhouse.

News outlets in the United States combine the totally proper condemnation of killing at home with a notably different affect toward the methodical killing abroad that is funded by the U.S. Treasury. We often read, see and hear explicit media commendations that praise as heroic the Americans in uniform who are trying to kill, and to avoid being killed, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In recent decades, the trends of war have been clear. A majority of the dead -- estimated at 75 to 90 percent -- are civilians. They are no less innocent than the more than 30 people who suddenly died from gunshots at Virginia Tech.

It would be inaccurate to say that the bulk of U.S. media’s coverage accepts war launched from Washington. The media system of the USA does much more than accept -- it embraces the high-tech violence under the Pentagon’s aegis. Key reasons are cultural, economic and political.

We grew up with -- and continue to see -- countless movies and TV programs showing how certain people with a handgun, a machine gun or missiles are able to set wrongs right with sufficiently deft and destructive violence.

The annual reports of large, medium and small companies boast that the U.S. Defense Department is a lucrative customer with more and more to spend on their wares for war.

And the scope of political discourse, reinforced by major news outlets, ordinarily remains narrow enough to dodge the huge differences between “defense spending” and “military spending.” More broadly, the big media rarely explore the terrain of basic moral challenges to the warfare state.

Everyone who isn’t deranged can agree that what happened on April 16, 2007, at the campus of Virginia Tech was an abomination. It came about because of an individual’s madness. We must reject it without the slightest equivocation. And we do.

But the media baseline is to glorify the U.S. military -- yesterday, today and tomorrow -- bringing so much bloodshed to Iraq. The social dynamics in our own midst, fueling the war effort, are spared tough scrutiny. We’re constantly encouraged to go along, avidly or passively.

Yet George Will has it wrong. The first task of government should not be “to establish a monopoly on violence.” Government should work to prevent violence -- including its own.

Norman Solomon’s book “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” is out in paperback. The world premiere of the “War Made Easy” documentary film will happen in New York City on May 14. For information, go to: www.WarMadeEasy.com

Video: The US used neutron weapons in the battle of the airport

This is four days old news, but for Arabic speaking people I have the video of the interview with former republican guards leader Saif Al-Din Al-Rawi.

Al-Rawi reveals in this interview all the hidden details about the Battle of Baghdad, details that blocked by western media.

Al-Rawi says that the US used Neutron and thermal weapons against Iraqi troops in the battle of the airport, but the Iraqis kept fighting until the last man and nobody survived the fight.

Some more details about the courageous Iraqi military fighters, very interesting to watch.

Watch the video here [Arabic]

Pentagon opens civilian claim files against military: Chilling accounts of fatalities

Related
ACLU Releases Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq: See story and link to database following this story.
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Chilling accounts of civilian fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan released under freedom of information act.

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Friday April 13, 2007
The Guardian

Chilling accounts of hundreds of fatal encounters between the US military and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing a rare glimpse of the confusion and chaos of daily life in the conflict zones, were released by the Pentagon yesterday under the freedom of information act.

Four hundred and ninety-six files deal with Iraqi claims for compensation for family members killed by US forces between 2003 and 2006 and 17 from Afghanistan. The files, including handwritten notes from some of the soldiers involved, record the deaths of civilians killed mainly at checkpoints, or in their homes, or when US forces sprayed roads with gunfire to protect convoys.

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Many of the deaths result from a failure of communication between US forces, most of whom do not speak Arabic, and civilians. Among the files is one relating to a mother shot dead and her two children wounded when the taxi they were in went through a checkpoint at Baqubah, north of Baghdad, in February last year.

The US defence department file said: "While the matter is still under investigation, there is evidence to suggest that the warning cones and printed checkpoint signs had not yet been displayed in front of the checkpoint, which may be the reason why the driver of the taxi did not believe he was required to stop." The case has since been resolved and the US military has paid out $7,500 (£3,750).

Another file, from the 101st Airborne Division, deals with a claim for $4,800 from a father whose son was shot dead in a car at a checkpoint between Baghdad and Kirkuk in 2005. A sergeant dealing with it writes: "How was he supposed to know to get out of the vehicle when they fired warning shots? If I was in his place I would have stayed put too." In spite of his comments, the claim was turned down.

The defence department paid out $2,500 in another case, near Tuz in eastern Iraq, in which four family members were killed at their home in March 2004. The file records that more than 100 rounds were fired, so indiscriminate that 32 sheep and a cow were also killed.

The files were released after a request by the American Civil Liberties Union and amount to only a fraction of civilian deaths at the hands of US troops and the compensation claims lodged. Of the 496 Iraq claims released yesterday, cash payments were made in 164 cases.

Marc Garlasco, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch, said what he found shocking was the lack of consistency in deciding who was entitled to compensation.

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ACLU Releases Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq (4/12/2007)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

Americans Have a Right to Unfiltered Information About the Human Costs of War, ACLU Says

NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today made public hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed or injured by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU received the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in June 2006.

The hundreds of files provide a vivid snapshot, in significantly more detail than has previously been compiled and released, of the circumstances surrounding reports of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Since U.S. troops first set foot in Afghanistan in 2001, the Defense Department has gone to unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human costs of war," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "Our democracy depends on an informed citizenry, and it is critical that the American people have access to full and accurate information about the prosecution of the war and the implications for innocent civilians."

The ACLU pointed out that during both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Defense Department has instituted numerous policies designed to control information about the human costs of war. These policies include:

• Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed overseas;
• Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive accounts of the U.S. war effort;
• Inviting U.S. journalists to "embed" with military units but requiring them to submit their stories for pre-publication review;
• Erasing journalists' footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan; and
• Refusing to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.

The files made public today are claims submitted to the U.S. Foreign Claims Commissions by surviving Iraqi and Afghan family members of civilians said to have been killed or injured or to have suffered property damages due to actions by Coalition Forces. The ACLU released a total of 496 files: 479 from Iraq and 17 from Afghanistan. The documents released by the ACLU are available online in a searchable database at www.aclu.org/civiliancasualties

Most of the Iraq claims range from early 2003 to late 2006; the majority are from 2005. Most claims from Afghanistan are from May 2006, with one dating back to 2001. Based on the number of deaths represented and the variation in number and location of claims per year, the ACLU said it believes there are additional documents being withheld and is pressing the Defense Department to disclose them all.

Of the 496 files, 198 were denied because the military found that the incidents arose "from action by an enemy or resulted directly or indirectly from an act of the armed forces of the United States in combat," which the military calls "combat exclusion."

Of the 496 claims, 164 incidents resulted in cash payments to family members. In approximately half of the cash payment cases, the United States accepted responsibility for the death of the civilian and offered a "compensation payment." In the other half, U.S. authorities issued "condolence" payments, which are discretionary payments capped at $2,500 and offered "as an expression of sympathy" but "without reference to fault." Claims based on incidents that were not reported in the military's "SIGACT" ("significant act") database, despite eyewitness corroborations, are generally denied for compensation although a condolence payment may be issued.

The files provide a window into the lives of innocent Afghans and Iraqis caught in conflict zones. In one file, a civilian from the Salah Ad Din (PDF) province in eastern Iraq states that U.S. forces opened fire with more than 100 hundred rounds on his sleeping family, killing his mother, father and brother. The firepower was of such magnitude that 32 of the family's sheep were also killed. The Army acknowledged responsibility and the claim resulted in two payments: a compensation payment of $11,200 and a $2,500 condolence payment. In another file, a civilian in Baghdad states that his only son, a nine-year-old (PDF), was playing outside when a stray bullet hit and killed him. The Army acknowledged responsibility and paid compensation of $4,000.

"As these files remind us, war imposes heavy burdens on innocent civilians," said Jameel Jaffer, Deputy Director of the ACLU's National Security Program. "Although these files are deeply disturbing to read, they allow us to understand the human cost of war in a way that statistics and the usual platitudes do not."

The ACLU noted that a significant number of the files - 92 of 496 - relate to deaths at checkpoints (50 files) or near American convoys (42 files). In one file, a civilian states that his son drove up to a checkpoint (PDF) in Kirkuk, was shot at through the roof of the car and hit in the abdomen; he later died from his wounds. An e-mail in the file from an Army sergeant states: "How was he supposed to know to get out of the vehicle when they fired warning shots? If I was in his place I would have stayed put too." The claim was denied although the sergeant suggested that the civilian might seek a condolence payment.

In another file, a civilian states that his mother was killed (PDF), his four-year-old brother suffered shrapnel wounds to the head, and his sister was shot in the leg after the taxi they were riding in ran through a checkpoint in the eastern Iraq town of Baqubah. An Army memorandum states: "[T]here is evidence to suggest that the warning cones and printed checkpoint signs had not yet been displayed in front of the checkpoint, which may be the reason why the driver of the Taxi did not believe he was required to stop." The Army suggested a condolence payment of $7,500. It is not known whether it was granted.

Attorneys on the FOIA project are Jaffer and Nasrina Bargzie of the national ACLU.

In a separate project, the ACLU filed a FOIA request in October 2003 for records concerning the abuse of prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. To date, that request has resulted in the release of more than 100,000 pages, all of which are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia. Litigation regarding that FOIA request is ongoing.

Turkish Commandos Cross Into Iraq to Destroy Kurdish Terrorist Camps

This conflict could blow up the whole world.
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Assyrian International News Agency

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Posted GMT 4-11-2007 4:13:6

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The Turkish army crossed 20 kilometers into Iraq in an effort to destroy camps located to the east of Zaho. Elsewhere in northern Iraq security forces went 30 to 40 kilometers in, up to the rural areas of the Haftanin, Sinaht and Pirbela provinces.

Sources from the military confirmed that platoons from the Kayseri province had earlier been deployed near the Iraqi border closer to the terrorist camps in northern Iraq. Sources said on Tuesday that the army would get to work clearing landmines that could impede them in an over-the-border operation against PKK camps in northern Iraq.To this end a 60-person bulwark team has been formed to clear landmines from Çalışkan village outside of Şırnak, regions near the Habur border crossing and the area around Hakkari's Çukurca and Şemdinli districts.

Security check points have been set up throughout Turkish regions near the Iraqi border by the army in order to cut off access to arms, ammunition or food to terrorists hiding out in the mountains. Military units have been set up in mountainous regions near the Iraqi border, and while activity in the region has increased over the past week, reinforcements are still being deployed to the area. The military units in place along the border are carrying out constant scanning and patrolling of the area, and reports indicate a large convoy of armored vehicles and tanks on their way to Cizre and Silopi. It is speculated that in addition to the special force units already placed along the border, another 200,000 soldiers have been moved to the region.

The army's spring operation comes at a time when Kurdish Iraqi leader Massoud Barzani threatened in televised conferences to stir unrest in Turkey's Southeast. A Web site based in northern Iraq also claimed on Tuesday that the Turkish military attacked the northern Iraqi town of Zaho, close to the Turkish border, during Sunday's operations. A man named Mustafa Shilani, identified as a being from Zaho, said he had witnessed Turkish troops opening fire.

The Turkish army pushed ahead its spring operations in the fight against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in eastern and southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, despite having lost nine soldiers and one village guard in the past three days.

About 15,000 Turkish troops took part in an extensive operation launched by the military against the terrorist PKK organization in the Southeast. Security forces have been pursuing terrorists trapped in the countryside following operations launched in mountainous regions. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed near Tunceli to capture fleeing terrorists.

Sources in the military confirmed that terrorists who fled the operations in Tunceli, Bingöl and Diyarbakır were hiding along the Elazığ-Bingöl border, where security forces are trying to capture them. Likewise, terrorists who escaped to mountainous areas following the operations in the Şırnak province close to the Iraqi border are being pursued in regions close to Siirt.

www.todayszaman.com

DPRK blasts US-RoK war games

SEOUL: North Korea on Monday condemned a US-South Korean military exercise this week as an attempt to halt progress made on nuclear disarmament talks regarding the communist nation.

Rodong Sinmun, the North’s powerful ruling communist party newspaper, described the week-long US-South Korean war games which began on Sunday as “a criminal artifice to ... check the progress of the six-party talks and the implementation of the agreed articles.”

The paper fell short of following on Sunday’s warning by Pyongyang’s state newspaper Minju Joson that the drills “may entail such serious consequences as ... scuttling the six-party talks” on North Korea.

Last week’s round of six-party talks in Beijing ended abruptly when Pyongyang refused to negotiate further until it received $25 million of its funds frozen in a Macau bank—due to accusations of money laundering—that the US had agreed to release.

The US-South Korean war games, called RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and Foal Eagle, began across South Korea Sunday. The allies say the exercise is purely defensive. But the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a separate dispatch late on Monday the drills could spark a war. “Due to this reckless play with fire, the situation on the peninsula remains so tense that a war may break out there any moment,” the KCNA said.

An Iraqi's firsthand view of a U.S. sweep

It's nerve-racking when troops roll in to search your neighborhood and want to have lunch -- at your house.

March 26, 2007

BAGHDAD — The writer is an Iraqi employee of The Times' Baghdad Bureau. His name is being withheld to protect his safety because the account mentions the area of the capital where he lives.

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It was 7:30 a.m. and I was sound asleep when the troops arrived on my street.

My neighbor called me on the cellphone and said, "The Americans are blocking the street." Because I speak English, he thought I might go talk to them and find out whether we would be allowed to go to work that day.

I stayed in bed 15 more minutes Saturday morning, wondering what to do. It was nice that my neighbors counted on me to help in situations like this, but it was a delicate thing to approach U.S. soldiers. What if they thought I was a suicide bomber?

I live on the edge of Ghazaliya, a Sunni Arab neighborhood in the westernmost part of Baghdad where there are often bombings and assassinations.

Before the current "surge," the military crackdown in the capital, the mosques would always call residents to defend the area from attacks by Shiite Muslim militiamen. The men would grab their AK-47s and fan out on the rooftops. Sometimes the shooting went on for an hour.

It had been quieter lately because the Shiite militias were lying low. But we knew it was only a matter of time before U.S. and Iraqi forces would come to search for armed militants.

I finally decided to get out of bed and unlock the gate. At least that way, the soldiers wouldn't feel the need to break the lock. Once outside, I found the courage to go over and talk to the American troops. A Stryker armored vehicle was blocking the end of my street, and soldiers were putting up barbed wire.

Before I drew near them, the Americans waved their hands and shouted to me in Arabic to go back.

"I came to talk to you!" I shouted back in English. "Can't I talk to you?"

But I don't think they heard me over the roar of the Stryker's engine.

I tried again: "I speak English."

That's when one of the American soldiers took a closer look at me and said: "Aha. And how are you?"

"I'm just fine," I said, relieved.

He and a colleague explained that they were going to search the area and asked whether I had seen any weapons coming through. I said, "No, our street is cool."

Walking back to the house, I wondered what to do next. I didn't want to miss work because I have been employed by The Times for only two weeks. But I didn't want to leave my parents, who are in their late 70s, to face the troops alone.

Last time our house was searched, I annoyed one of the Iraqi soldiers by talking to the Americans in English. He stayed behind after they left and warned me, "If I arrest you now, the Americans won't be able to help you."

I decided to stay home. I told my parents to put all their money and cellphones in their pockets, as we had heard many stories about things being stolen during these searches.

About 11 a.m., I heard the gate open and my father talking to someone. I opened the kitchen door to an Iraqi soldier and welcomed him inside.

He was a pleasant person and we shook hands. Behind him was an American, who asked whether we had a room where the soldiers could have their lunch.

Surprised, I told him he could use the empty room upstairs.

Two Americans and several Iraqis first did a short search and asked whether we had any weapons in the house. I said no, which was the truth.

One of the Iraqi soldiers asked me to sign a paper stating that my house had not been damaged in the search. "Well, I should be signing that when you leave," I said, "but looking at your faces, I guess it is OK to do that now."

Then they went upstairs to have their meal.

I don't like armed forces much, either American or Iraqi. But I thought: They are in my home, and it is Arabic custom to offer something. I brought them two big bottles of soda.

Before they left, they offered some of their unused MREs. I accepted with a smile as I like the American Army food. But to my disappointment, I discovered later that one of the packets contained pork ribs, which Muslims are forbidden to eat.

My parents were relieved when they left. "Thank God they were nice and polite both times," my mother said. I never told her about my exchange of words with the Iraqi soldier the last time.

The Americans later reported that they discovered two car bombs, two weapons caches and detained 16 suspected terrorists during the search in my area.

One of them, I learned, was my friend's 22-year-old son, who had been staying over at his buddy's house to fool around on the computer. His father called me that afternoon and pleaded with me to have a word with the Americans.

The soldiers seemed surprised that anyone had been arrested and promised to look into it. But they told me there really wasn't much that they could do because he was detained by Iraqi forces.

I went back to my friend's house. His wife was sitting outside with a sad, worried look on her face. I told her the Americans would try but had made no promises. I just wanted to give her a little hope.

U.S. launches show of force in Gulf

MSNBC.com

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Aircraft carriers, warplanes feature in maneuvers off the coast of Iran

The Associated Press

Updated: 6:17 a.m. MT March 27, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran.

The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes.

The U.S. exercises come just four days after Iran’s capture of 15 British sailors and marines who Iran said had strayed into Iranian waters near the Gulf. Britain and the U.S. Navy have insisted the British sailors were operating in Iraqi waters.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl said the U.S. maneuvers were not organized in response to the capture of the British sailors — nor were they meant to threaten the Islamic Republic, whose navy operates in the same waters.

He declined to specify when the Navy planned the exercises.

Aandahl said the U.S. warships would stay out of Iranian territorial waters, which extend 12 miles off the Iranian coast.

Simultaneous French operations
A French naval strike group, led by the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, was operating simultaneously just outside the Gulf. But the French ships were supporting the NATO forces in Afghanistan and not taking part in the U.S. maneuvers, officials said.

Overall, the exercises involve more than 10,000 U.S. personnel on warships and aircraft making simulated attacks on enemy shipping with aircraft and ships, hunting enemy submarines and finding mines.

“What it should be seen as by Iran or anyone else is that it’s for regional stability and security,” Aandahl said. “These ships are just another demonstration of that. If there’s a destabilizing effect, it’s Iran’s behavior.”

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Video: American soldiers shooting civilians

Video

Comments

USAn: ...and feeling kind-of sick...
Absolutely incredible, absolutely incredible...

What we have here are TYPICAL AMERIKKKKKKKKAN THUGS....ARROGANT, FASCIST, RACIST, STOMACH-TURNINGLY VILE, THUGS - NOT HUMANS AT ALL, BUT MONSTERS. ABSOLUTE, NON-HUMAN, MONSTERS. As far as I'm concerned, THEY HAVE FORFEITED THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE ON THIS PLANET.1

March 24, 2007
Resistant: The voices of imperial racism
Custer & company before the Little Bighorn.

2

March 24, 2007
homero: ...
There is the joy of cooking; the joy of love; the joy of music. For many of our soldiers in Iraq it is the joy of killing. This is what the videos shows: the joy of it. These American boys are truly and really enjoying themselves. And sooner or latter these same boys are going to come home. They will be working in the Post Office, or as Police, or better still as prison guards. 3

March 24, 2007
GreyRaven: The American pantywaiste culture
Don’t feel bad. It’s just a couple of war criminals committing some war crimes that you’ve seen. You were able to watch it live on UTube. Isn’t that exciting? But it’s also sort of terrible isn’t it? Just to make you feel better though, I’d like to remind you that America is still the Greatest Country in the World.

So, come on, man. Who gives a shit? It’s just a couple of ragheads they're firing upon, isn’t it? Nobody cares about them fuckers. Just shoot them up and take the fuckers down. Nobody is going to miss them.

As it happened, there were just innocent civilians in those cars.

I sort of wonder what America would think if this had taken place in downtown L.A. Can you imagine how everyone would be crapping in their pants right now? They would be screaming holy shit, the hypocritical bastards.

As you sow so shall you reap, the saying goes. I wonder how America will deal with that which it shall reap. It will probably be really messy. We shall then see who the pantywaists really are. Some of the big talkers will fit right in, I'm sure.

4

March 24, 2007
Not_An_American: Well one thing is for certain
They aren't what I would call professional soldiers...and I bet every one of them would have soiled their pants if they received some incoming. Pity a really good Iraqi sniper didn't off one of them to give them a taste of it.5

March 24, 2007
USAn: ...
They are all exactly like the young, ignorant, whitebread, suburban, republican, big SUV driving, young USAn males, currently filling all the in the bars on Carson street right now, watching basketball...

In the name of GOD I hate USAns! And hating my neighbors and everyone around me is not good for my health. Look at what happened to Prof. Tanya Reinhart, she was in fine health but died of a stroke at 62. She left Israel for good, disgusted with her own people last December, but the damage to her health had apparently already been done.6

March 24, 2007
lovepeace: ...
A sick war getting sicker.Despicable and mind boggling.7

March 24, 2007
Dante: ...
Circumstances don't make people --- they REVEAL THEM.8

March 24, 2007
unity: support your tropps
totaly sick

and deaf dumb and blind americans wonder why the world hates them

these sicko's will come home, totaly devoid of soul, totaly addicted to killing and totly devoid of whatever it was that made us humane - and this is what supporting your troops are all about - these 'men' cold bloded killers disquised as soilders were somebodies son. shameful shameful - and the murdered, nameless faceless demonised people were someone esle father, son, brother uncle or cousin, shot by illegal invaders - shame on you amrica shame 9

March 24, 2007
Dante: Hopefully
they won't come home, or if they do they'll be too dumbed down to even put a pair of boots and step outside. This is the history of the world, from year one and even before people have been killing each other and committing harrowing acts on those earmarked for them as the enemy.
It's not as if the U.S. invented wars and invasions, they're just as brutal as the Romans once were, only less skilled.10

March 24, 2007
lizbitchwitch: What a pathetic display
Truley disgusting! And this is hardly the first one of these sort of films I have seen either. And how lovely they thought they should film it too - to put in their little book of memories! Pathetic - truley pathetic. 11

March 24, 2007
johnhatch: Monstrosity
What a monstrous and evil nation America has become, or perhaps always was. Support the troops? No, put the dumb and demented criminals on trial, and the asshole 'commander-in-chief' also. I grieve for innocent Iraqi dead. There are no innocent Americans, just vicious and crazy ones. I no longer care about American deaths. If I were there, I would do the same as patriotic Iraqis. They have every right.12

March 24, 2007
worldist: State and corporate sponsored Insanity with a view to profit through mass slaughter by mental zombies.
It is gut wrenching to watch the madness unfold with glee by uniformed cowards safely protected behind concrete walls and a strategic high ground. If an equalizing force showed in the distance the cowards would flee in terror. They and their fly boy war crime buddies loaded with DU and phosphorus weapons to use on innocent Iraqi's going about their daily business or feebly trying to defend their homeland from murderous intruders are targeted with impunity. This type of inhuman activity was what the Nuremberg trials of Germany was about. They should all be hanged and all those responsible for putting them there.

Meanwhile let's get on with bringing about a sane and just world society for ALL humanity. Go to; worldsocialism.org13

March 24, 2007
tsullivan: WIth an army made up of moron jarheads...
with a collective IQ no greater than that of an amoeba, what more can you expect? These thugs live by the sword, and they should die by the sword - they deserve nothing better.14

March 24, 2007
tsullivan: Worldist #13
Meanwhile let's get on with bringing about a sane and just world society for ALL humanity. Go to; worldsocialism.org


I still haven't found anything on your site as to HOW this sane and just world society will come about. There's a little about what it will be like, more about what it won't be like, but NOTHING WHATSOEVER concerning how it will brought to fruition.15

March 24, 2007
free expression: War is hell
This shouldn't be shocking to anyone by this point -- even if you've only seen an honest war film like Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. No, obviously I'm not defending this, and yes, it's disgusting. Kubrick's film is apt, because, if the voices off camera can be believed, there was a "sniper round" that hit, I assume, before this shooting spree. The overwhelming force of the response, including, it seems, people who had nothing to do with the sniper fire, is how you win the battle and lose the war. Yes, this war is pointless (more than most), and we never should have been there. This is what happens, and we're doing it, stupidly, and for nothing.

What happens when these kids get back here? Another OKC?

We need to cut off funds for this insane war.16

March 24, 2007
Dude: ...
The video basically showed, cowardice in action and it's celebration.

The results of such action, always tragic.

One immediate, the other, more delayed.17

March 24, 2007
Dude: ...
"Circumstances don't make people --- they REVEAL THEM.8"

Agree 100%.

18

March 24, 2007
kla: no peace time - no draft - just a turkey shoot "war" - really mean weapons – Goliath wins this one
People (thugs) are signing up while there exists (a rarity) neither peace-time nor a draft; thus killing is known to be available if not inevitable, and from a safe distance.

In any collection of humans, there is a fringe with a true warrior mentality, it seems. Perhaps a bit like the SS that went into the Ukraine and hanged people for no apparent reason, other than to set an example.
19

March 24, 2007
Legolas_Greenleaf: Let's keep all these videos archived and documented
One day we will win and all these war criminals will be hanged.

Those two cars that entered into frame after 45 seconds were obviously not part of whatever was going on beforehand, they were target practice. This is (as usual) cut and dried war crimes. They're monsters and they need to die.

One day the US is going to attack the wrong country and the 300 to 1 casualty rate is going to be reversed.20

March 24, 2007
worldist: RE: #15 tsullivan: Worldist #13
I still haven't found anything on your site as to HOW this sane and just world society will come about. There's a little about what it will be like, more about what it won't be like, but NOTHING WHATSOEVER concerning how it will brought to fruition.15


Because Socialism is based on democratic order, it cannot be forced on people. Its necessary that an immense majority become clearly aware of the problem of retaining Capitalism and in so doing the alternative solution will clearly reveal itself. The working-class must organise and strive to abolish Capitalism and implement socialism themselves.

Because Capitalism is a dynamic destructive and progressive system we cannot predict at what point sufficient numbers of people will rise to the occasion and establish socialism. We cannot provide much insight as to the details of the Socialist society that will be democratically established at that time. It would be predicated on being able to predict the future and what those people engaged in the democratic process would be deciding what's best for themselves at that time.

Yes, we will be ridding ourselves of much of the destructive waste of energy expended that's required and demanded by Capitalism both human and natural. So much so that it will enable humans to sustainably live comfortably in a relaxed and constructive environment. Establishing Socialism will include eliminating the whole banking and money system including the military, courts, jails and monetary system. A tremendous amount of commuting locally and around the world will no longer be necessary. Producing goods locally will likely be encouraged to reduce unnecessary shipping and handling.

The more one researches the economics of Capitalism the more one realizes just how extremely destructive and wasteful it really is. Leading us to insurmountable problems that cannot be solved within the constraints of Capitalism. That has long served its use to humanity bringing about an industrially advanced age with technical achievements lately undreamed of in the past. But its destructive nature will bury humanity unless we make the effort and succeed in gaining rational democratic control of our destiny. Go to; www.worldsocialism.org21

March 24, 2007
tsullivan: Worldist #21
Because Socialism is based on democratic order, it cannot be forced on people. Its necessary that an immense majority become clearly aware of the problem of retaining Capitalism and in so doing the alternative solution will clearly reveal itself. The working-class must organise and strive to abolish Capitalism and implement socialism themselves.


More of the same old rhetoric. The working class must organise? The working class are far too busy trying to put food on the table and maintain a roof over their heads to 'organise'. Even if they were to organise, this 'let it happen' method of bringing about socialism is doomed to failure, because it assumes uniform motivations, desires and thoughts on the part of every member of the aforementioned 'working class' - right down to the abandonment of religious belief.


Because Capitalism is a dynamic destructive and progressive system we cannot predict at what point sufficient numbers of people will rise to the occasion and establish socialism.


Nor can you be sure that what arises in place of capitalism would be what you would consider socialism. Particularly as you don't have any plan of action to ensure that socialism is seen as the natural successor.


We cannot provide much insight as to the details of the Socialist society that will be democratically established at that time.


If, in essence, you have nothing concrete to say, then what on earth is the point of your World Socialist website and the endless advertising for the site?


It would be predicated on being able to predict the future and what those people engaged in the democratic process would be deciding what's best for themselves at that time.


Leaving it to chance (which is effectively what you are saying) will mean that the likelihood of socialism (as you see it) emerging as the new 'system' is as close as is possible to zero.


Yes, we will be ridding ourselves of much of the destructive waste of energy expended that's required and demanded by Capitalism both human and natural.


If you can't predict the future (and I have to admit, neither can I... yet) then how do you know that we will be ridding ourselves of anything of the sort?


So much so that it will enable humans to sustainably live comfortably in a relaxed and constructive environment. Establishing Socialism will include eliminating the whole banking and money system


And replacing it with? Barter? Community Currency? What?


including the military, courts, jails and monetary system.


Again, what will fill the void? Is that to be left to chance as well?


A tremendous amount of commuting locally and around the world will no longer be necessary.


Because it will just happen that way, or because?


Producing goods locally will likely be encouraged to reduce unnecessary shipping and handling.


"will likely"? You couldn't be more non-committal if you wanted to be.


The more one researches the economics of Capitalism the more one realizes just how extremely destructive and wasteful it really is.


For once, I can't argue with that statement.


That has long served its use to humanity bringing about an industrially advanced age with technical achievements lately undreamed of in the past. But its destructive nature will bury humanity unless we make the effort and succeed in gaining rational democratic control of our destiny.


With no blueprint, with no driving force NOTHING will happen.


Go to; [url=www.worldsocialism.org
]www.worldsocialism.org

And come away knowing just about as much as you did before you went there.22

March 24, 2007
greenIs: greenIs
American racism and genocide at its best. Killing defenseless people is fun for them. Iraqis were/are no threat to America. Are these Bush goons totally without a conscience? No wonder they painted insults on the bombs they dropped on sleeping families during "Shock & Awe." If not cheering massacres like this is "unpatriotic," then I guess I'm unpatriotic. I've heard that half or over half of the Iraqi population are children under 15. These are the victims of the war criminal sociopaths/psychopaths. God, gods, the superior being, or whatever it is that created us, values each Iraqi as much as Americans -- believe it or not (I know that's a concept that is difficult for Americans to grasp). Heroes? That's what they're treated as. What monsters. 23

March 24, 2007
Dante: ...
If you grew up playing violent video games and watching stupid yet very violent movies you'll cheer when you see this crap. I do hope those bastards get killed before they leave Iraq. 24

March 24, 2007
kla: Capitalisim - tsullivan
So the opposite of Capitalism is Socialism, as we understand Worldlist? No connection. Preaching socialism completely disregards the fact that the proposed system is to apply to humans and not ants or antelope, and even they have a heirarchy. Humans are not robots, right? Well, so far.

Dante - have you changed your tone since the Cindy article?25

March 24, 2007
paloentucu1: ...
It's the rule rather than the exception....Fucking murderers!!!!26

March 24, 2007
paloentucu1: ...
" NO unarmed people were hurt during the shooting "

" yeah bitch , you are fucking gone.."..."we fucked those people all to hell"

Cowards, stomach turning cowards what a bunch of "brave" fucking murderers !!!!... I say.27

March 24, 2007
hareli: This video needs to be Digg'd, Huffit'd, spread ALL OVER THE WEB
This video needs to be Digg'd, Huffit'd, spread ALL OVER THE WEB. This video needs the widest distribution. Enough! Support the Troops? F**k 'em. This is cold-blooded murder, and permission for this behavior comes from the highest levels in the DoD and Pentagon. These troops need to comes home NOW.28

March 24, 2007
kla: hareli - sure you want them home ?- well, will be needing Halliiburton camp guards (Blackwater contract).
At least in the US civil war, they were fair game on either side across the meadow, same weapons. This is the new sick society. "Civilized" has been sliding downhill for a 100 years.

But it has everything to do the ones (sponsors) that create the atmosphere for which this is consistent. It always comes down to leadership when sheep are involved.29

March 24, 2007
Angel Gabriel: Picking wings off flies
is an early childhood sign of a Sociopathic personality. Dumping employees with 15 years of faithful unblemished service to cut costs and increase profits for the short term budget and stocxkholders interest is the sign of a Corporate Sociopathic personality. Stay the course in an illegal and immoral War against an innocent and weaker opponnent is an Empirical Sociopathic policy.
Remaining silent and not forcing a halt to the mayhem, murder, rape pillaging and burning, child molestation, unflinching cold blooded team assault on Iraqi's, Palestinian's, Lebanese, or any other human being is the pinnacle of mass Societal Sociopathic behaviour.
How do you teach a Sociopath not to be a Sociopath? Isolation? If the rest of the world would hit the Sociopath's in the purse it would stop them in their tracks! Wouldn't it?
Freeze all U.S. funds in International banks, boycott ALL U.S. made products, don't fly on US made Boeing planes, don't buy US made Cars, don't use your VISA Am-Ex, Master Card, break your oil supply contracts and don't sell them oil. Starve the bastards to their knees. Isolate. 30

March 24, 2007
Angel Gabriel: If Move-on.org
is so cozy with Peolosi, maybe someone there would send her a link to this video so it might be shown in Congress. After all, supporting your troops is seeing them in action right?!!

Let them be shown their troops!31

March 24, 2007
Kahoneez: Racist clowns go home.
THEY are racist, cowardly murderers and hopefully they don't run over an IED and get blown up, because I would hate to see their brains spilled all over the beautiful soil of a once sovereign country, before being invaded by Imperialistic, racist, murdering filth.
COWARDS. 32

March 24, 2007
Romira: Romira
These are the wonderful heroic American troops that all the war criminal politions in Washington want to support. God bless them and their humanitarian work in Iraq.. NOT!!. :((33

March 24, 2007
wlh1us: civilians mabey, armed probably, shot dead forsure
war is hell, look what this gov started, back in my day vietnam vets were thought of the same way, just wait till these soldiers come back here with attitudes, im sure they all just love our commander in cheif and love the extended tours they have to live with, and the deaths of their fellow soldiers, and the visions of the sights they have to see everyday..... 34

March 25, 2007
wlh1us: hell will be overflowing
look at the way monsters play35

March 25, 2007
50GOODONES: "Video Shows U.S. Soldiers killing Iraqi Civilians"
U.S. Troops That have lost The war, any war by killing any civilians and living behind, presents and futures of The Looser Warcrimes. Lt. Kelly did it in Viet-Nam and , Etc.

Let me get it straight for those that are afraid of a minority of War criminals although This Video has to be investigated by Intelligence.

Since Viet-Nam, I was there and Thanks to God I did not have to shoot my M-16 Rifle at anyone. I was assign 3 different Cities to Exchange repai parts and although dusters patrolled some spots in The Roads, no one ever Shot any of Us, But off course that they shot us with motors at The compound and may have killed one of Us, also The Viet-Cong blew up one of our Amo-Dumps like a Volcano that wants to meet with The Sun about a mile off our compound and killed several of our Viet-Namese Soldiers. (declassified) The Amo-Dump blew for 7 days and nights slowly winding down.

Any way do not be afraid of War criminals, Those that get away with murder are ussually counselled and suffer the rest of their life from Trauma.

Also do not be afraid of War criminals because there are more of Us than there are of Them. They can not kill us all so they have to Hide and compromise.

Since Viet-Nam there have been several graduations at West Point and other Armed forces institutions. There are millions and millions of Us that condem war crimes.

Our code of Conduct, War Rules of Engagement, Trades of Leadership never teach us to loose The War by killing The Innocent. That includes suspects and all civilians and especially Women and Children.

I have herd of poison minds by War drugs and Savege War crimes like "The ICH Video". But thank God i have never had to witness them. The Viet-Cong were The Worse ever at killing, Raping, intimidating and living behind the Pol-Pot Campuchia (Cambodia experience). Hundreds of Millions have been killed in The last 100 years of imperfect and disbalanced fulfillment of Prophecy, Hope that The near future brings a more peacefull co-existing future.

Thank you for your time and I hope Washington, D.C., of YHWH gets a hold of my comments and act against any and all war criminals. Then again I do not beleive that 4 generals and 9 officers conspired to assessinate the Young football player, butsome deranged ally surely did.
If we were to search The truth about The 4 generals and most of those officers, The Mind reading computer of the future would probably find them not guilty of conspiracy against The Youg football player HERO. My Condolenses to all that loved Him and May our Mighty GOG have Him In His (GOD's) GLORY> Mt.17:1-8, GOD's Children never Die and are in every place and never ending.

See you and thanks for the chance to comment.

'One World Nation Under God, but First Prophecy'.
We need to press towards world peace and make The World better off by eliminating World Ghetto and Wars. We Need Rich Nations and Well OFF Persons co-existing in peace. We must press to cahnge world constitutions as we roll in prophecy so we can preach and teach The kingdoms of our GOD to The great harvest of The World, if not they will be raptured less educated and ignorant to my words, if they never here of God's Dreams $ Visions of revelations for a Perfected Earth Millennium Under Christ Jesus. Webster dictionary. Millenium: A spand of a thousand years under the Rule of The Greatest Angel, Man human God Angel taht have ever exposed The life forms that are loose upon our earth universe.
WE MUST CHANGE THE CONSTITUTIONS THROUGH OUR PRESIDENTS< CONGRESS< SENATE< SUPREME COURTS< ETC., But beginning with ourselfs by becoming a walking rock church filled with knowledge and truth. Matthew 5:18, Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:16-20, Revelation 1:1-5-7. 2 Tim. 3:16,17, John 8:32.

Rapture is near, just as soon as Prophecy fills The moment or Ends The Events.
Mt.24:26-33. Denie GOD and you denie your self (equivalent of starving to death)....

50 GOODONES....
March 24th, 2007 Saturday 8:34 P.M. EST.

P.S. The Government of France have declssified 100,000 thousand New UFO documents (historic)
GO TO http://www.cnes.fr, If you give search a chance, you will find an English selection.36

March 25, 2007
Ironhead: The Few The Proud, The Marines..." Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatch Gonna Do When They Come For You
Yes, then they will be awarded medals for their uncommon valor and heroism, exhibiting the raw courage to kill unarmed civilians, oops I meant 'insurgents'.

"When you got 'em by the balls, hearts and minds will follow..."

Ah, the Power, the Glory...The American Way, "Peace through superior firepower" (over an un-armed 'enemy').

Air superiority (over a country without an airforce!)

Full Spectrum Dominance.

"Here, Bitch, take that!"

Great stories for the children, feel the Pride, show 'em your medals of honor...

Then one day, many years later they found him hanging from a tree...jumped off a ladder.

...to the Proud, the Brave... by your acts of uncommon cowardice and callous disregard for the principles of Humanity, the Geneva Conventions, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, you have SPIT ON THE SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN WWII TO END FASCISM. WWII WAS FOUGHT TO STOP ILLEGAL INVASIONS AND UNLAWFUL OCCUPATIONS AND TO FREE THOSE COUNTRIES OCCUPIED.

Your day will come. 37

March 25, 2007
50GOODONES: "VIDEO SHOWS U.S. SOLDIERS KILLING UNARMED IRAQI CIVILIANS"
I do Apologize for mispelled words.
50 GOOD ONES: Should read, GOD and not GOG. although we co-exist with Gog, but as they come of age, they may awaken to GOD ALL MIGHTY. We either co-exist or perish.

I am a Dav*" Psalm 33:12, Revelation 5:5, "I Shall Return To Be Seen".
"In God We Trust", "*GOD IS....LOVE, MAGICAL, ETC..*".
RRR. (*"DAV*") Disabled American Veterans.
Peace Thru Strenth, Trade, Truth and The Persuit of happines.

GOD brings The Rains for The Good and The Bad should learn to also be thankfull and heal from The wounds of imperfection. By The way it is raining here in Hialeah 6:00 P.M. Rains and gentle winds.

Any comments for me, please treat me as I would treat you. LIFESAVERS.

38

March 25, 2007
PC Fong: Hard day at the local store! Buying groceries was never so risky in the "f$#%!n'" USA!!!
I've blogged this at http://pc-fong.spaces.live.com with an approximate transcript:-

"'You beaut! ....get that f....r off! (rocket grenade) ......I let that f....r off, dude ......he got thirty rounds!" "Cease fire, cease fire!" "Waa-hoooo!" "...(Laughing) ...we f....d those people ......all that shit down there!....." "I shot that dude in the white car ......and he ran into the f....n' building! ....... "You see those two people .....I f.....g ripped them!" (Laughing)...more, more ......did you get that on recorder - or what?"
39

March 25, 2007
PC Fong: So much for the "Iwo Jima" company of US 1/5 Marines!
The courage and sense of duty of their fellow Marines on Iwo Jima breathes dignity into their own acts, even 55 years down the road........." http://www.geocities.com/sniper1_5/IwoJima.html

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) "...The main characters all have an interesting story to tell. But in the end the message is clear. War is futile..." http://iwojimathemovie.warnerbros.com/lettersofiwojima/framework/framework.html

Quote from 1/5 Marines website(?): ....The Vietnam War was not a Movie. It was not a 'Conflict'. It was not a game or a form of entertainment. Vietnam was a war. Real men fought it, real men bled and real men died in it. This site is to Honor those men...... http://www.geocities.com/sniper1_5/Notice.html - http://www.usmclinks.com/ - http://www.geocities.com/sniper1_5/
1st Battalion 5th Marines (1/5) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors. They fall under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/1-5.htm

40

March 25, 2007
gakabani: ...
Americans are today what Germans were during Nazi Germany. The so called army of the US has become simply a mercenary army for the oil industry.
What you see here is the essence of the so called US army. Do you think anyone cares in the USA? I think not. They are sleeping. 41

March 25, 2007
PC Fong: An exciting day at the office......killing "gooks"
Some more of the "glorious history" of the 1/5 Marines http://www.vietnamheroes.com/photoalbums.htm42

March 25, 2007
Dante: KLA
No I haven't changed my tone KLA, I understand the causes and the reasons, but I don't look forward to having those creeps driving around here or carrying guns, coming to my house to repair something, or just having them around at all. How is anyone who behaves like those beasts going to settle down into an ordinary life once they come back to the U.S.? Isn't enough crime around here as it is? So what can we expect when the boys return home? 43

March 25, 2007
cat48: Why I don't support them
As I was driving out of town today about 6 military vehicles passed the opposite way.
They were all suited up. I felt like flipping them off. If I had seen this earlier
today I probably would have. (Plus, I can't figure out why they were out here in nowhere
land).44

March 25, 2007
Fatima: now i know , stupid is as stupid does.
people wonder why other countrys hate usa, just look at the video, and you will understand.
Those men think they can kill, people cause they wear a unform, NOT.THSES MAN IF YOU CAN CALL THEM THAT ACT LIKE LITTLE BOYS PLAYING WAR
45

March 25, 2007
NguyenKha: Simply Animals! The GIs are simply animals.
Every where They come they do the same thing. They murder innocent people like playing sport.
Like playing PC games. They are just animals.
They did the same thing in My Lai Viet Nam. They do the same thing again now in Iraq.
And they all laugh.
Yeah.. They still claim they are decent people.. decent my ass!!!
Such thick face.. They all have thick face.
Sicked. They are sicked. America is a sicked country.
The land of criminals, terrorists and hypocrites.period.

Nguyen Kha

46

March 25, 2007
ChavezResistance: Pass this on!
If every one of you on this board who is disgusted with this passes the link to this on - it will get known. Target middle America put the link on boards about sport, driving SUVs, whatever, SOME people there will have a conscience, and if we can enlighten some then it is a job well done, those Iraqi people slaughtered for these boy's amusement may not have died in vain. Do it now - find a message boarsd somewhere and post the link, then do it again every day for the rest of the week. Channel your rage into action. 47

March 25, 2007
buthaina: American Heroes
These are the heroes that American People support !! You may have noticed that the US killers are standing on a roof of an ordinary Iraqi house. I wonder what happened to the people of that house before your killers could seize the roof.48

March 25, 2007
buthaina: Your terrorists
When these US terrorists (what do you call those who travel thousands of miles to other countries to kill innocent people whom they even do not know, just for the kick of killing and because they are hired for this duty by the peopele-elected US government)come home dead, they will be called "fallen heroes" and they will be wrapped in US flag which will be presented to the greived family in a solemn ceremony. Moreover, this assassin people-elected government passed a law where anyone who does not support the killing would be considered unpatriotic! So American patriots go on support your terrorists.49

March 25, 2007
jerrygates7: jerry gates ; Get thes guys out of there, now
Tom Feely contributes this film of United States soldiers killing a man in cold blood as he attempts to flee "turkey shooters" picking off civilians from behind a concrete wall.

Tom Feely wants this film distributed among the websites participating in the anti-war movement as proof positive of what the United States is funding in Iraq by the passage of a bill that contributes over 100 billion dollars to pay the salaries of these soldiers who have become addicted to murder. We , as citizens of the United States, are paying these murderers to enjoy killing innocent ,unarmed civilians. The weight of this shame is crushing any resolve among war opponents to refrain from violence in mitigating this heinous crime against humanity.

Nothing has worked in the anti-war community's efforts to stem the flow of innocent blood in the streets of Iraq. We call for restraint and negotiation, they vote to fund the slaughter of Iraqi citizens by diseased, reprobate minded lunatics. This is the State of The Nation, and a more dire straight there has never been.

"This war will be fought for 20, 30 or 40 years" are the words of the late Dick Cheney. Before his passing ,Dick Cheney distinguished himself as being an advocate of protracted warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Syria as a tool of subjugating the planet to the death squads of United States mercinary forces and the back seated U.S. military. Cheney's legacy is one of false pride, false religion , and falsehood for profit. Lies, lies, lies will be the title of the biography of this war mongering capitalist. Whatever good he has done in behalf of his nation will be overshadowed by his complicity in the erasure of human rights and his disrepect for human life in his inexorable march for United States hedgmony in the world.

Tom Feely , by now, has seen as much war and lies as any man can stand. A war initiated in deciet , perpetuated in cowardice, prosecuted in insanity ,and fought tooth and nail by every peaceful mind on the planet has created a breach in the government of the United States through which a 757 jetliner can fly .

Escape to foriegn soil and hiding behind well paid mercinaries is the fate of those who have manufactured the war in Iraq,produced it's products, and reaped huge profits for their constituents . What care have they for the United States , they will be long gone as the mother of all blowbacks hits the fans of the planet and returns to the shores of the the United States
as the regurgitated blood of a sucking chest wound, inflicted as a malicious and evil intentioned bid for supremacy.

What healing and forgiveness can occur if war is perpetuated by those unable to summon reason and wisdom? Wherein can compassion and love work their miracle if no place is given them as tools of peace? Who will lead the march of peace if all who are for peace are labeled as heretics and enemies of the United States and Isreal?Why have fear and greed replaced charity and faith in the once fortuitous House of representatives. When will the voice of the American people rise above the special interests of armaments contractors and AIPAC lobbiests?

The above questions need answers, not irresponsible side stepping and half truths if confidence in the United States population and their government is to be restored in the world community. It must be recognised that this disastrous course of violent overthrow of a nation will leave the United States weakened to the point of collapse and contribute to economic instability with no friends to turn to. Who would bail out a violent and selfish pair such as the United States and Isreal if a calamity would strike and leave us weak?

Tom Feely's "witness To A War Crime" is a frank indightment of the prosecutors of the war in Iraq as cold blooded assasins of a nation and it's people for no other reason than to enslave the population of this country in the name of the very same democracy which so agregiously fails the nation from which it hails.

50

March 25, 2007
kla: new defintions needed:
elite=perverted slobs, war=turkey shoot, partisanen=insurgents, soldiers=thugs, patriot=idiot, security=scam, heroic=con, honor=long gone.

Stronger words needed: atrocities plus, hideous plus.

Jerry Gates - You focus is on Iraq. Is Afghanistan in principle any different? Two years older. Started on same type of lies. Both about oil business. Neither is a war, would you not agree? If the "bad guys" are any bader, is it only due to good propaganda?51

March 25, 2007
DJ Dazzy D: The soldier "Doc" posted this video at Live Leek and left comments about it.
Go to http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b83_1173818870 Look for comments by Tyer82 the video poster. It was 1st posted on March 13.

I will repost 4 of his comments below.

I shot the video! The white car had 4-5 males with 3 AK's and 1 RPG left on the floor board. The other cars were trying to make their way up the street to the house at the end so they could become a get away car. We had proir knowledge of their arrival from a relay from the "eye in the sky". Notice how no chicks, kids or spectators are there! So get fucked you hajji lover.

If you look at who posted the video and my name they are the same. It was Aug 22 2005. I was there, I was the Corpsman who video taped it. Also when we went to the parket after the fight there were 3 males I shot 2 alive and I refused to treat them. I also Shot the male in the white durka durka in the street. The whole video is about 25-35 minutes long, it shows all the "clean up" part and our brass checking to ensure we didnt do anything illegal. So I tried to place the good parts in. And the yelling is cause we are having a good time. Killing "bad guys" is fucking awsome, what a reward to look through your ACOG and see your rounds impact flesh. Fuck yeah!

Well I do feel like dork for arguing on the "interweb" but I do feel great. I like shooting people. But fuck I didnt know that until I went there and did it. Last I checked the radical muslims started this fucked up game of tag. Dont be pissed if we hit harder.

yes yes yes, im a huge pos. dont care, i know what I did and thats all that matters. I dont give two shits about any other country than the US. If we have to walk over radical muslims to get what we need, so be it. And I must have been hallucinating cause the fuckin middle east was a shit hole way before we got to it. You turds cant even stop fighting between tribes. Holy shit, its like two different church's fightin about who loves god more. Maybe stopping and figuring a way to make a sewer system and potable water could be higher up on the plans, but dont worry America and its allies will do that for ya too. Oh yeah Skunt tag yer it bitch.52

March 25, 2007
yawarbaig: So what's next??
The video is a cause even for despair. The comments are a sign of hope. I am not American. But I can say that when there is a nation where people are willing to criticize what needs to be criticized, then there is still hope. The big question of course is about making this happen. Stopping this ridiculous war. As long as the feeling remains in these comments and does not hit the street and polling booths, nothing will happen. I was listening to Obama's speech at AIPAC and had great trouble keeping the bile down. His opponent is not much better. If either of them is the future successor of the vegetable who is currently in the house on the hill, there is not much hope as I can see. As long as America remains enslaved to the agenda of others, it will continue to do totally stupid things like the war on Iraq. Or the even more dumb war on Iran that is being planned. Tell me when will it be that Americans start thinking for and about America and stop sacrificing themselves, their money, their good name and their honor (the word still exists, you know!!) for the sake of propping up a totally deranged, demented and despicable regime. As the old proverb says, "A man is known by the friends he keeps." America is known by its friends, all of whom seem to be dictators, oppressors and gangsters. The choice is yours........you, the ordinary American. Do you choose to pretend to be powerless and restrict your anger to the internet? Or do you have the courage to accept your power and the responsibility that goes with it and show the world that you have it in you to be true leaders to the world? Which one??53

March 25, 2007
DJ Dazzy D: Link with comments
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b83_1173818870&c=154

March 25, 2007
lizbitchwitch: Kla
"People (thugs) are signing up while there exists (a rarity) neither peace-time nor a draft; thus killing is known to be available if not inevitable, and from a safe distance."

That was the mistake the government made during the vietnam war - they instituted a draft which caused an uprising. Typical ameircans - unconcerned with wars unless they get the call to go to one - or unless they like doing the killing - then they volunteer.

55

March 25, 2007
PC Fong: To "DJ Dazzy D" - re Link with comments......
"...DJ Dazzy D: The soldier "Doc" posted this video at Live Leek and left comments about it.
Go to http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b83_1173818870 Look for comments by Tyer82 the video poster. It was 1st posted on March 13...."

Thanks, DJ. I saw comments posted by " Tyer82 " at pp. 2,3,4,5,6,12,13,14,15,16,17,20.

Of all his tripe, at leat he admitted that 1/5 Marines record was worse in Vietnam (my older Vietnamese friends called it "the American war"! - see my earlier link re pics). It seems that they understand words like "massacre" and "atrocity" but are in complete denial about themselves and their own actions!?!?

Also see
Falluja massacre Added: Nov 23 2006 In: News By: ssemino http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=39479c5aff and The US Army's 2/3 FA colts battle insurgents in Adhamiwa, Iraq. Added: Mar 24 2007 In: News By: Dronetek http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=75e_1174792380


56

March 25, 2007
almaentity: AWOL is the only support from me.
I don't support the troops. They are murderers. I support the troops who refuse to be murderers. I do NOT support the troops who "do their jobs". PERIOD!57

March 26, 2007
peggy for peace: Horrifying....
This video sickened me. What kind of monsters have we created? We invade a sovereign nation and then do what we can to destroy it, believing that the people who live there and are trying to protect their homes and neighborhoods deserve to be wiped off the earth?! We must support people like Lt Ehren Watada and others who understand that what is happening in our natme is illegal and immoral. What will these soldiers be like when they return home? Will we be reading about them going berserk, as we read about Vietnam vets? I think it is highly likely. The ones who have a soul and conscience are sometimes turning to suicide... What a mess Georgie has brought about.58

March 26, 2007
Zipperhead67: Smile when you hear a 'BOOM!'
that will be the sound of another American losing some limbs for King George and Prince Dick. What's the total now? 20,000? 30,000 amputees out of the 50,000 wounded? I feel all Iraqis are entitled to attack US troops, that is the right of an indigenous peoples to repel foreign invaders. So they planted IEDs? Nothing wrong with that at all in my book as long as their target was military.

Tyer82 would do well to remember that he is a foreign invader in a soveriegn nation

The US unfortunately is very good at killing people who defend their countries, whilst managing to lose the war anyway!59

March 26, 2007
zelda253: What should I tell them?
I submitted this video to gather.com and I got back comments that they were fending off a sniper, (supposedly mentioned at beginning) and the cars were probably full of reinfocements. How can I prove to them that they were shooting at civilians?

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=28147497694006760

March 26, 2007
NguyenKha: They already did right inside the USA!!!
GreyRaven: The American pantywaiste culture !!!

Thay already did right inside their own society.
Sean Bell- NY was shot, Nguyen Thi Bich Cau, San Jose,CA was shot...

Yes, indeed, The American pantywaiste culture

Nguyen Kha
61

March 26, 2007
worldist: ..RE: zelda253: What should I tell them?
The US military, mercenaries and their accomplices are the invading armed intruders in Iraq committing war crimes and genocide against the people of Iraq. The Iraqi's are innocent of any wrong doing and are fully and legally entitled to carry whatever weapons they can get their hands on to defend their people, homeland and the resources of Iraq from brutal ignorant international thugs. They are innocent victims, the only ones entitled to carry weapons and kill intruders. Just imagine some gun wielding retarded thugs coming into your home intent on stealing your valuables and killing you if you resist. Wouldn't you and friends be entitled to use deadly force against them? Of course you would be so entitled as would your friends and the police if available. Koffe Anon of the UN clearly stated the invasion was illegal and according to the Nuremberg trials of WWII its the worst war crime of all. The perpetrators and their superiors should all hang!62

March 26, 2007
worldist: RE #22 tsullivan: Worldist #21
Because the general interpretation commonly understood about socialism made no sense to me from the time I was about 14 years old I tried to find out exactly what it was. It wasn't until I was about 30 years old and after having gained considerable experience and knowledge about the world that fortunately by chance I happened across it. To make it easier for others I post the link for their information.

I leave the link to the website of the World Socialist Movement for those who sincerely are interested in learning first hand about Socialism from Socialists that have maintained their sound scientific analysis of Capitalist society and the solution to the problems facing humanity worldwide. The Socialist Party and its Companion parties initially formed in 1904 and the founding members in England of which discussed socialism in depth with Karl Marx before he died and was buried in England. Because it does take considerable effort on the part of the student to learn the main connecting specialties of science to get a sound understanding of evolution. So too does it require an in-depth view and research of society and economics to gain an understanding of Socialism's analysis of Capitalism from a materialist perspective. This discussion board is not suited to the needs of full debate on the subject to do it justice. Nor have I the time to spend going over all the different facets when there is a whole history of periodicals available free, on-line and people willing to carry on reasonable critical debate on any aspect of the subject that you want cleared up at the site, I most always post a link to. www.worldsocialism.org63

March 26, 2007
lordterror: ...
Does it appear that civilians were killed? Maybe. The film doesn't show what caused the soldier to start firing in the first place. And as to the fact that they seem to be enjoying killing, who wouldn't be proud of a job well done. that's what a soldier is there to do, kill people. soldiers are not policemen, and they shouldn't be judged as if they are. thats why we have a police force to protect the civilian populace and not soldiers. They carry bigger gun, not to mentgion explosives. When soldiers go in to an area it to kill, either by attacking or by defending. either way the result is the same. People die on both sides. one last thought, if you live in a war zone you have to be aware of you surroundings. driving thru a fiire fight is not a wise thing to do.64

March 26, 2007
kla: lizbitchwitch: draft
Exactly right. The scam for this one is even much better understood (than Vietnam). A draft would cause an explosion of mothers and draft-age people. Is it not a shame that it has to take such an incentive?65

March 26, 2007
kla: I sort of wonder what America would think if this had taken place in downtown L.A.
Probably wouldn't care. Just a bunch of "minorities" having it out.

Might cause a stir in Buffalo, NY, or such.66

March 26, 2007
Not_An_American: @lordterror
The articles of engagement specifcally state that targeting of civilians is a war crime...if there is no further incoming, there is no reason to continue outgoing fire...troops who continue to send outgoing have lost their fire discipline, not that the US forces ever had much to begin with.

I can only hope that one day a foreign power inflicts a similar series of circumstances on you personally so that you can experience it all first hand from the Iraqi viewpoint.67

March 26, 2007
PC Fong: To "kla" - Botched L.A bank heist turns into bloody shootout ; AND "zelda253" - Open crime forum
#66 - Quote kla: "...I sort of wonder what America would think if this had taken place in downtown L.A."

It did, kla, 10 years ago! http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/28/shootout.update/


#60 - Quote zelda253: "...What should I tell them...?" strange how some can filter things out if they don't want to know or hear ....partly denial and partly refusal ...... but they are denying their own humanity and refusing to accept the results of their own actions. That is, they are afraid of "the TRUTH" .....or, more to the point, they are to weak or fearful to do anything about it. I got the video posted on a national media website but it only got a single response ....the rest completely ignored it and prattled on about relatively minor or insignificant incidents http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/garyhughes/index.php/theaustralian/comments/open_crime_forum1/P20/ - by comparison, you have done well!68

March 26, 2007
kla: PC Fong
"...I sort of wonder what America would think if this had taken place in downtown L.A."

was due to ARVY. My comment was that they would not care in the US and case you cite proves it.69

March 26, 2007
Dante: @Zelda 253
Haven't you been watching the news? Even the craven government controlled TV channels and press report about the many, MANY abuses the troops are committing in Iraq. Rape, murder, home invasion. Just search the past articles ICH has offered and offers almost daily. I can't believe that you can't think of anything to tell the ones playing Pollyana regarding the atrocities this government commits and has committed almost since day one, since 1772.
Let's stop playing disingenous, Ok, 'Zelda'?70

March 26, 2007
tsullivan: Worldist #63
I leave the link to the website of the World Socialist Movement for those who sincerely are interested in learning first hand about Socialism from Socialists


As I (and others) have said, there is precious little on your site to indicate what world socialism is, but lots about what it is not.


that have maintained their sound scientific analysis of Capitalist society and the solution to the problems facing humanity worldwide.


Sound scientific analysis, or psuedo-scientific analysis? Where are the empirical proofs? Given that your theory has yet to be tested for soundness, how can you make this claim?


The Socialist Party and its Companion parties initially formed in 1904 and the founding members in England of which discussed socialism in depth with Karl Marx before he died and was buried in England. Because it does take considerable effort on the part of the student to learn the main connecting specialties of science to get a sound understanding of evolution.

Sorry, Bill, but this sounds like you are just being patronising. For what it is worth, at the age of 14 I was already reading the Communist Manifesto, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Das Kapital and a myriad of other works by Marx or Engels - in addition to works by Hegel, Paine, John Stuart Mill and others. While I agree with much of the analysis presented by Marx and Engels, I am not so foolish as to ascribe to it either the status of religious dogma or scientific fact.


So too does it require an in-depth view and research of society and economics to gain an understanding of Socialism's analysis of Capitalism from a materialist perspective. This discussion board is not suited to the needs of full debate on the subject to do it justice. Nor have I the time to spend going over all the different facets when there is a whole history of periodicals available free, on-line and people willing to carry on reasonable critical debate on any aspect of the subject that you want cleared up

In other words, you can't answer my critique.


at the site, I most always post a link to.

Well, there's one fact I won't dispute.71

March 26, 2007
kla: Dante
Is it true, MSM reports this stuff?72

March 26, 2007
worldist: Reply to #71
Socialism is the science of understanding society from a materialist (scientific, evolutionary) perspective. To the point of recognizing the cause and effect nature of human energy expended in changing social/material conditions within one's immediate surroundings and historically worldwide. Leading to a natural solution of the problems confronting the individual and the whole of human society.

Until the working-class of the world become consciously aware of their class interests within World Capitalism and make a democratic, concerted effort by the immense majority to establish common ownership of the means and instruments of producing the needs of humanity. Organized to establish a free money-less production solely for USE free economy worldwide. Socialism/Communism (meaning the same thing) remains an idea coming of age at which point therell be no power greater. The need for it grows as each day passes and the necessary awareness of the contradictions of Capitalism become more glaring with its brutal destructive nature revealing itself.

Don't just stop at the introductory pages of the posted link, dig into it in-depth there's over a hundred years of evidence based analytical writing to consider. www.worldsocialism.org

For the constructive sanity and peace of mind within a plenty for all, sustainable worldwide democratic economy of genuine socialism.73

March 26, 2007

Who's Shooting Who?

How the U.S. Military strung along the family of a Fort Lewis soldier killed by "friendly fire."

THIRTEEN DAYS after Fort Lewis Ranger and ex–pro football player Pat Tillman, 27, was killed in Afghanistan, a Fort Lewis military policeman named Jesse Buryj, 21, was killed in Iraq. In life, the famous chiseled athlete and the small-town baritone horn player never met. But their deaths have followed a parallel course. Both were victims of "friendly fire," the military's oxymoronic euphemism for death at the hands of a fellow soldier. And who exactly killed them, and under what circumstances, remains a mystery.

The Army is trying to answer that question in the high-profile Tillman case. It has undertaken four investigations in three years and is now performing a fifth review to answer questions about a possible Army cover-up and whether the killing was intentional, which could lead to criminal charges.

In contrast, the Buryj case has fallen silent. The service is satisfied with blaming an unknown soldier from Poland, even though the Polish government denies the claim and Buryj's mother in Ohio says she was told an American soldier has confessed to shooting her son.

"My son is another Kennedy—nobody seems to know who shot him," says Peggy Buryj with a hard laugh. She's grateful for the Army's attempts to provide her with information, although each new answer raised more infuriating questions. And she doesn't begrudge the Tillmans for the attention they've gotten, having conferred and commiserated with the family. Peggy Buryj feels the Tillman case has helped open the eyes of other parents to questions about the Pentagon's casualty reporting methods. And like the Tillmans, she suspects a military cover-up. "Where's my criminal investigation?" she asks.

Understandably, the Tillman case has gotten more notice. Pat Tillman was the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who gave up a $3.6 million NFL contract to join the Army in 2002. He signed up with his brother Kevin, who gave up a promising baseball career, eight months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. They ascended to Ranger School, were assigned to Fort Lewis' elite 75th Ranger Regiment, and served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. A hero to many, Pat Tillman was killed April 22, 2004. He was the 106th U.S. fatality in Afghanistan, where, as of this week, more than 370 have died.

His death made international headlines. The funeral was nationally televised. Moments of silence were held, flags were lowered, and memorials were established in his name. He's been given a special display at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, his picture and story included in the NFL's "Wartime Heroes" exhibit and elsewhere.

Jesse Buryj's life was comparably modest. He grew up in Ohio, played in the high-school band, and joined the Army after graduating in 2002. Hoping to someday become a police officer, Buryj wound up in Fort Lewis' 66th Military Police Company, which, in addition to MP duties, can also be involved in combat situations. He shipped off to Iraq in February 2004 and was killed three months later. He was the 761st U.S. fatality in Iraq, where, as of this week—the war's fourth anniversary—more than 3,200 have died.

The name Buryj is Ukranian, by the way. It's pronounced BOO-dee. But, as Buryj's mother says with a chuckle, "In the Army, you'd never survive with a name that sounds like 'booty.' So he didn't complain when they started calling him Spc. 'Burage.'"

Buryj's death rated mostly small headlines back home. Family and friends turned out for the service, and citizens paused in the street as his procession passed. He was remembered as the typical good guy who strikes out for a career in the military. He had slung a few burgers at Wendy's and married his high-school sweetheart, Amber, a piccolo player in his school band, in a wedding ceremony officiated by the band's director.

He was honored in Canton, too, a gritty former steel town 45 minutes south of Cleveland. That's his hometown. He's buried in a small church cemetery there. Though he never became the local cop he'd hoped to be, his name is included on a list of fallen officers remembered at an annual Canton police memorial event.

The uneven contrast of their lives and their Canton memorials is reflected in the differing levels of investigation into the two soldiers' deaths, Buryj's family thinks.

The Army initially told both families their sons were killed during firefights with the enemy—Tillman ambushed in the mountains near the Pakistani border, Buryj fatally injured when his armored vehicle turned over during an attack in Karbala, south of Baghdad. Each family buried its loved one thinking the soldier was slain by forces aligned with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. That's hard enough to take. But it wasn't true.

Five weeks after Tillman's death, the Army revealed he was killed by his own troops—one, or several, of four U.S. soldiers—something the Army knew from the start. "Cease fire, friendlies," he is said by a witness to have futilely shouted, "I am Pat fucking Tillman, damn it!" He was hit in the head by three bullets and torn apart.

Fellow soldiers wrapped Tillman's body in a poncho and later burned his bloody clothing and body armor—because they were a biohazard, the soldiers claimed. Commanders meanwhile debated how and when they'd admit the fratricide. They were silent, Tillman's father, Patrick, would say later, because "they killed their poster boy" in an unpopular war during an election year.

Family pressure and heavy media coverage eventually prompted the four different investigations, with results of the fifth soon to be released. The latest probe is, in part, a review of the earlier ones, the Army says. It's supposed to clear up disputed details of Tillman's death—whether it was a "fog of war" accident caused by the confused inability to determine friend from foe, or possibly death by "fragging" (an intentional shooting). A secondary probe could also establish whether officials tried to criminally cover up details of the case.

Truth has been just as elusive and delayed in the Buryj case, as his family sees it. But theirs is a lonelier fight for a son no less loved. Mother Peggy remembers looking out her window and seeing the uniformed officer on her doorstep that sad day in May. She put off going to the door. The longer she waited, the longer Jesse would still be alive.

"He said Jesse was killed when a truck rammed his Humvee," Peggy Buryj says, referring to what a casualty officer told her. Her son was among a small contingent manning a checkpoint when a heavy dump truck sped out of the night toward them. Buryj, a Humvee turret gunner, fired hundreds of rounds, killing the driver and saving fellow soldiers' lives, the record shows. But the truck kept coming, knocking over the Humvee and throwing Buryj to the ground.

At first, Peggy Buryj believed the incident to have been an accident. That's what she was told by the military, according to an Associated Press report the day after his death: "'Everyone was fine, but Jesse's stomach was hurting him,' she said she was told. 'They took him to a hospital where they found he had massive internal injuries, and he died on the operating table.'" She didn't know it at the time, but he also had a bullet inside him. The fatal wound had not been obvious at the scene, but the mangled slug was discovered in a postmortem CAT scan.

No one in the truck had fired at them, the soldiers reported that day. That meant Buryj was killed by his own troops.

But it was more than two months before the Army told the Buryj family their son had been shot. When the death certificate arrived in July, it listed a "penetrating gunshot wound of the back."

The family was surprised and confused. There was no indication who fired the shot.

Peggy Buryj began making calls, writing letters, and sending e-mails. Fortuitously, President Bush came to Canton that summer during the 2004 election campaign and met some of Ohio's grieving war families. Peggy got a brief audience and asked him to help her learn more. He promised to do what he could.

But for the most part, the family was on its own. Peggy, 53, who works part time, learned how to file Freedom of Information Act requests with the Army. In February 2005, she and husband Steve, 54, a worker at an Akron plastics company, received a copy of Jesse's Army autopsy report. Nine months after Buryj's death, his family for the first time saw the official words "friendly fire," or death resulting from mistaken aim or misidentification of the target.

"We had no idea until then," the mother recalls.

Buryj is one of possibly two dozen U.S. service members killed by their own troops or allies in Afghanistan and Iraq—on the ground and in mistaken aerial attacks—out of more than 3,570 deaths. (The ratio was much worse in the 1991 Gulf War, with 35 out of 148 U.S. combat deaths from friendly fire.) The Army confirms 17 fratricides since 2001, and documents obtained by the Army Times last year turned up six other suspected friendly-fire incidents involving the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers. Several British and Canadian soldiers have also been killed by Americans. It can be devastating to all involved. Last month, the London Sun said a cockpit recording of two U.S. pilots—who'd just learned they'd accidentally killed a British soldier on the ground—captured them saying "I'm going to be sick" and "We're in jail, dude." Last week, a London coroner's inquest found the soldier's death avoidable and "criminal."

Fog of war is "the generic answer" to many of the deaths, says John Pike, a military expert and director of the D.C. think-tank Global Security, "though there are always more specific elements in each case." He didn't want to comment directly on Buryj's or other individual cases, but said, "Combat is an enormously confusing, chaotic environment, which is one reason ground troops spend so much time training, so that when faced with actual combat, they are able to respond instinctively." The services have been developing new techniques and technology to prevent such deaths, including sewing electronic chips into military clothing that can be seen on computer screens in vehicles and aircraft.

Some of the very first deaths in the "war on terror" were from friendly fire. A 2,000-pound U.S. bomb missed its target and killed three Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan in December 2001. One of the dead was Army Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, whose mother and stepfather live in Seattle; they were informed within 24 hours of the well-publicized bombing that left 20 other U.S. soldiers injured, and six allied Afghan fighters dead. The first American soldier to die from "unfriendly," or enemy, fire was Army Sgt. Nathan Chapman, 31, of Puyallup, who was killed the next month in Afghanistan.

The military uses the term "nonhostile fire" to describe what are usually noncombat deaths caused by fellow soldiers, oftentimes merely by stumbling or failing to secure a weapon. That's what happened to Capt. James Shull of Kirkland, for example. He was accidentally killed in 2003, on routine patrol in Baghdad, when one of his men tossed a rifle into the back of a Humvee and the M-16 discharged. Shull, 32, married with three children, was killed instantly.

The Army's casualty reporting methods have been questioned in other friendly-fire cases, such as the death of Army 1st Lt. Ken Ballard, 26, from California. He died in May 2004 in Iraq—killed in action, his family was initially told. They later learned, by requesting military records, that the tank commander died from the accidental discharge of an unmanned machine gun (incredibly, it had been triggered by a tree limb as the tank passed under it). The reporting system also failed for the families of two California National Guardsmen, Spc. Patrick McCaffrey, 34, and Lt. Andre Tyson, 33, killed in 2004 supposedly in an enemy ambush in Iraq. It wasn't until last summer that the Army finally admitted the two were murdered by members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps they were training.

Last year, the Army reviewed nearly 800 fatalities in an attempt to improve its reporting. The service says it found seven cases—Tillman's and Buryj's among them—where families were misinformed. Lt. Col. Kevin Arata of the Army's Human Resources Command in Virginia says that led to "major steps" to improve the casualty-report process. Another layer of review, by field-grade officers, has been added to verify the accuracy of initial casualty information, Arata tells Seattle Weekly, and any war death now will get a more thorough look "to ensure families ultimately received the most accurate information."

New procedures to cross-reference and double-check investigations are in place, Arata adds, and families now are entitled to receive a follow-up report, redacted and declassified, "to verify or clarify the initial circumstances in a much shorter period of time."

That's well and good, says Peggy Buryj, if it prevents other families from going through the misery she has endured. But she thinks an independent entity should be established to help families hack a path through the Army's tangled bureaucracy. "The only people shooting that day were the good guys," she says. "I buried my son not knowing that."

It wasn't until Army officials arrived at her home in April 2005, handing over a "final" report, that she learned Buryj's unit had been on a joint mission with Polish troops, who then had about 300 soldiers in Iraq.

And "most likely," the report said, one of the Poles had killed her son. But when Buryj put in a call to the Polish Embassy in D.C., "they denied it," she recalls.

The embassy confirmed that denial to Seattle Weekly. Defense attaché Maj. Rafal Nowak says the Polish government conducted its own inquiry into the death, and "the conclusion was that the Polish troops were not responsible for Buryj's death." The inquiry determined that the bullet fragment found in Buryj's body was standard 5.56 ammunition used by both U.S. and Polish troops, but that it couldn't have been fired by a Polish soldier because the Polish unit was positioned to shoot at the truck and not toward the checkpoint where Buryj was posted.

After two field investigations, the U.S. Army couldn't fully resolve this and other questions. With the Buryjs pushing for more details, in part through their congressional representatives, the service's watchdog agency, the Army inspector general's office, last year decided to undertake a new probe, reviewing both the case and the investigations into it.

Last November, the report arrived, leaving Peggy Buryj lost in her own kind of fog of war.

She learned for the first time that, like in Tillman's case, as many as four American soldiers, in addition to the Polish troops, had apparently been suspected of firing the fatal bullet.

But the bullet fragment taken from Jesse Buryj's body had been lost—accidentally destroyed in late 2005, the inspector general said, when it was mixed in with evidence from hostile-fire cases and criminal investigators tossed them all out.

"They threw away the bullet!" exclaims a frustrated Peggy Buryj. That news hit her in much the same way the news of Tillman's clothing destruction affected his stunned parents. "I lost the last bit of confidence I had in the Army," Buryj says.

The fragment could have been instrumental in determining which gun had fired the fatal shot. But it may have been a moot point: The IG also discovered that no ballistics samples were taken from the suspect weapons after the shooting in 2004.

"Had the four U.S. weapons been tested [and the bullet retained], this might have eliminated doubts over whether U.S. weapons fired the fatal round," said the report.

The IG outlined a series of Army errors compounded by more mistakes, paperwork screwups, and unexplained reporting delays, although the probe found no evidence of an intentional cover-up.

The Army's methods in the case were "often inaccurate and untimely," the IG concluded. The Army officially declared the shooting "a tragic accident" likely caused by an unknown ally.

With her son's story lacking the final, whodunit chapter, Peggy Buryj would like to see a full-scale probe like the one being done in the Tillman case by the Army Criminal Investigative Division, under orders from the IG. There's reasonable cause, she says.

"I think it may have been someone from the 66."

At least, that's what she was told, she says, by one of the officers in Jesse's 66th MP Company.

A lieutenant, he "came to our house last February [2006]," Buryj says."He had heard me on a radio show talking about Jesse. He called and asked if he could come by and talk to me. He was very afraid and at first wouldn't tell me his name.After a while, I figured out who he was." She won't publicly identify the officer.

"He told me who had confessed to killing Jesse. [The officer] was not there when Jess was killed, but he was there when the confession was made and the reports were falsified."

Buryj says she relayed the information to the IG's office, but was told the officer who had spoken with her had since left the service and the Army lacked jurisdiction. The IG's office won't comment today.

"They totally discredited him by saying he was demoted while in Iraq and had an ax to grind with commanders of the 66th," Buryj says. "That may be true, but people I've talked to in the 66th say it isn't."

Time is working against her now, as it is for the Tillmans. Three of the four likely shooters in Tillman's case are out of the service, free from military punishment.

"I think they're waiting for the same thing in Jess' case," says Buryj, suggesting the Army can just drop the case altogether if the alleged shooter of her son leaves the service.

A civil lawsuit would be expensive and perhaps futile—the military services are shielded from most tort claims for injury and death under a 60-year-old law known as the Feres doctrine, which, for the "good of the service," immunizes the military from what could be a barrage of claims.

Besides, says Buryj, if key evidence is missing, other than asking for a criminal probe, "There's just no place I know to go from here. Is it good enough? No. But what can I do about it? I guess you just live with your frustration."

She pauses.

"He was funny; that's the one thing I miss most. He was the funniest person I ever met. We were always on the same wavelength." She visits him weekly, sometimes driving past the football fans downtown.

By Rick Anderson

randerson@seattleweekly.com