Stop Murtha from Killing our Troops
I’ve heard this on the news a couple of times today and it makes me so angry I can barely breathe.
Apparently, Congressman Murtha has accused Marines of murder for going into a house in Iraq and killing the occupants after they had been fired upon by someone in that house.
What is WRONG with this person!?!?
Either he is NOT what he claims to be, a battle tested veteran, or he has wet-brain and needs to be put out to pasture.
If he has indeed been in battle himself, then he KNOWS, HE KNOWS what this kind of sedition and treason does to the morale of our men in combat. He knows it leads to lower morale and increased casualties. It gives aid and comfort to the enemy.
Whichever it is, he needs to SHUT UP!
If there was fire coming from this house prior to the Marines entering, they were doing WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED to do by killing the occupants of the house. OF COURSE they were ‘on their knees praying’. You would be on your knees praying too if a bunch of United States Marines were entering YOUR house after you’d been shooting at them.
Don’t send our troops to battle with their hands tied.
I can’t find a source on the internet right now. I’ll include it when I find it. I’ve just heard it on the TV.
Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.
~ Abraham Lincoln
When did we quit hanging people for treason?
~~~~~~~~~~
Update: Carry on America was kind enough to supply an online source for my outrage. The Army Times and Breitbart.
This article is even more enraging:
Rep. John Murtha, an influential Pennsylvania lawmaker and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, said today Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood†after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush that killed a Marine during a patrol in Haditha, Iraq, Nov. 19.
and
A March 27 Time magazine report published claims by an Iraqi civil rights group that the Marines barged into houses near the bomb strike, throwing grenades and shooting civilians as they cowered in fear. The report prompted calls for a Pentagon probe.
“It’s much worse than was reported in Time magazine,†Murtha, a Democrat, former Marine colonel and Vietnam war veteran, told reporters on Capitol Hill.
and
Time magazine spent 10 weeks interviewing local residents affected by the incident and, in January, shared these accounts with military officials in Baghdad.
Perhaps while Time Magazine is spending so much time interviewing insurgents to get allegations against OUR MARINES, they can get a little information about who are planting the IEDs that are killing so many of our Soldiers. I suppose they aren’t interested in actually helping our side.
~~~~~~~~~
Others posting: Gateway Pundit, The Political Pitbull, Newsbusters, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wide Awake Cafe, Sweetness & Light, Expose the Left, In the Bullpen, California Conservative, Boots & Sabers, Let Freedom Ring, Macsmind, Euphoric Reality
5/18 Update - more postings: Michelle Malkin, Captain’s Quarters, Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, Stop the ACLU, Blogmeister USA,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Discussion is going on at Mudville Gazette and here
Hugh Hewitt calls it irresponsible.
~~~~~~~~~
parody Sacred Cow Burgers
Open trackbacks: Gribbit’s World; Diane’s Stuff; Third World County; Adam’s Blog; Stuck on Stupid; Cao’s Blog; TMH’s Bacon Bits; Is It Just Me? ; Basil’s Blog; Right Wing Nation; Outside the Beltway; Argghhh! ; Jo’s Cafe ; Freedom Watch
Sphere: Related Content
May 17th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Where Is The Progress In The Middle East?…
Two steps backward one step forward seems to be the policy of spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East and try as they might to convince Americans otherwise, this is exactly what is occurring in the Middle East. The Bush Administration can hy…
May 17th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
oh my God,.. what a great posting… superb! Im very new at the blogging culture, but I think I have aclimated well to the arrows that come at me on my own site… great site. Kudos!
May 17th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1808360.php
The Army Times has it. Jacques
May 17th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
[...] Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit and Blue Star Chronicles [link] [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Here’s another one, which is pretty much the same as the other, but it’s another source.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/17/
060518003922.gghhmjpk.html
May 17th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
[...] Blue Star Chronicles Haditha Marines Murtha Filed in: The Iraqi War | No Comments » [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Thursday Specials…
……
May 17th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Here’s the link to his challenger. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, this piece of **** has got to be thrown out of congress. Anyone who risks our troops must not be in a position of authority.
http://www.irey.com/
May 17th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
[...] UPDATE: WOW!!! This has taken off across the right blogosphere. Oliver Willis is ripping me. I’ll wear that as a badge of honor. Blue Crab Boulevard, Beth at Blue Star Chronicles are just a couple of the multitude of blogs hopping on this story. [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
New Photoshop.
http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2006/05/17/i-very-very-sincerely-apologiz e/
May 17th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Amazing powers you have, that you are able to determine that Murtha is guilty of both treason AND sedition even before you’ve actually investigated what has been reported about the incident. (And the reports go back months.)
Also remarkable that you know that the Marines were fired upon. Presumably you’re rejecting the military investigators’ own findings that they were not fired upon from the houses where the civilians were killed. Does that make you a traitor as well, for challenging a version of events given by somebody in uniform?
As for getting angry, do you have any anger left for the killing of innocents? Of children? Or is it all directed against those mean, mean people who say things you’d rather not hear?
May 17th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
[...] UPDATE: WOW!!! This has taken off across the right blogosphere. Oliver Willis is ripping me. I’ll wear that as a badge of honor. Blue Crab Boulevard, Beth at Blue Star Chronicles are just a couple of the multitude of blogs hopping on this story. [...]
May 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Smintheus. I have as much information as Murtha has in making his accusations. You are assuming what he has put forth is accurate. His statements are based on the statements of insurgents in Iraq. If there is any legitimate reason for his accusations, he should not make that public and allow the investigative process to go forward before involving the entire public.
The only reason a congressman would do something like that would be for his own political agenda.
I am not a traitor to question a Congressman. A Congressman is a traitor who puts our troops in danger through undermining the military in a time of war. That’s pretty clearly spelled out.
As to my sympathy for ‘innocents’. What powers you have to determine these were innocents. Do you know that? Do you know they were not sheltering insurgents?
Here’s the deal. Time Magazine dug around till they found something they could level against the troops. They bring that to the military who are now investigating it. Time had no business ‘interviewing’ and encouraging our enemies in order to bring down Marines. Second, if there is someting to the story, it needs to be dealt with appropriately and not throughout international media via this pathetic useful idiot.
You see, in my view, our Soldiers are the innocents - not the insurgents. The blood of all of islam is not worth a drop of an American Soldier’s blood.
‘Of children?’ you ask. Of Children? They use children to hide behind. Remember Somalia? I’m more concerned about OUR children. MY child. When you have the courage to pick up a weapon and defend your own country you might have some legitimacy.
Go back to your bubble where you all think alike and build each other up in your hatred for your own country and countrymen. Things will be written here that you’d rather not hear, I’m sure.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:04 am
Speaking of courage - you don’t even have the courage to put your blog link here. So much for your bravery.
BTW - yes, I think it’s sedition AND treason. I know liberals don’t like ppl thinking for themselves and certainly don’t approve of anyone who doesn’t think like they do.
Democrat = intolerant. Sorry freedom of speech bothers you.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:25 am
Traitor Mullah Murtha Enemy Mouth Piece…
MURTHA is an UN-AMERICAN pig who uses his prior service as a shield to cover his lies and undermining of another generation of soldiers who are more man than he will ever be. Don’t forget - this old coot is a member of Code Pink too.
…
May 18th, 2006 at 6:29 am
[...] Also blogging: Blue Star Chronicles, Blue Crab Boulevard, Flopping Aces, Gateway Pundit, [...]
May 18th, 2006 at 6:37 am
John Murtha Is A Disgrace…
I’ve been reading the blogging world’s reaction to John Murtha accusation that the Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood. I think his words are absolutely dispicable while this is still under investigation. If individuals are guilty of this…
May 18th, 2006 at 7:20 am
Once upon a time, Jack Murtha ‘may’ have been a good Marine, but I am of the opinion that the old man took too many shots to the head…
He is speaking out of turn on this, it’s an on-going investigation by NCIS and he could seriously jeopardize it with his mouth…
He;s entitled to his own opinion about the war in Iraq, I will NOT criticize him for that but on this particular issue, Murtha needs to keep his goofy mouth shut, a Marine Officer SHOULD know better…
May 18th, 2006 at 9:33 am
My Brother A MARINE just returned from Iraq and hE WAS INJURED IN NOT ONE BUT TWO ROADSIDE BOMBS!!!!!! Murka how dare you, you sicken me!
May 18th, 2006 at 11:10 am
Why Bother With An Investigation?…
Those watching news from The War On Terror will note an investigation is underway into reports that ‘marines massacred innocent Iraqis’.
WASHINGTON - A Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians last November in the Iraqi city of Ha…
May 18th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Murtha needs to GO AWAY!!…
I certainly hope the people of Pennsylvania come to their senses at election time. John Murtha needs to GO AWAY.
I have always respected people who wear or wore the uniform of our Armed Forces. I have always thought highly of our combat seasoned Mil…
May 18th, 2006 at 11:44 am
So, Where’s Al Jazeera On This One … ?…
I heard Murtha on Chris Matthews last night…
Most of his information came from Time Magazine, which was supplied information by the a journalist named Bobby Gnosh, who got his tape from a “student journalist.” Gnosh was the guy that filed charge…
May 18th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
That’s right Sherri - he’s endangering our troops. It’s dispicable.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Beth,
Are you so far loosened from your senses that you can make such statements? The gaps and illogic in what passes for your argument are so many and so huge that I hardly would know where to begin pointing them out. For starters: “I have as much information as Murtha has in making his accusations. You are assuming what he has put forth is accurate. His statements are based on the statements of insurgents in Iraq.”
Absurd. Murtha said that he was told about the state of the military investigation by some of those who have inside information about it. He obviously has also read all the reporting on the incident, which goes back months. You, by contrast, began shooting your mouth off before you even could find a link to any stories on line.
I assume nothing about the accuracy of anybody’s statements, except that the various accounts given by the Marines and the military of what allegedly occured are full of basic contradictions. Their story has changed over time. Second, the military has admitted at several stages that some of the things said by the Marines who did the killing conflict with the physical evidence.
You have either no knowledge or no interest in those basic facts. Instead, you rush to the assumption that the dead Iraqis and the other villagers were “insurgents”, though you have no proof of that.
You also are exceedingly eager to label a man a traitor because he’s stating things about military activities that you don’t care to be said. But you’re all in favor of freedom of speech? Hah.
I see nothing patriotic about American troops massacring civilians anywhere, if that is what they did. It brings our nation into disgrace. Any other soldiers who would want to be associated with those kinds of activities are likewise a disgrace to their uniform–and in my experience, they would be in the distinct minority. Decent minded servicemen and women don’t tolerate those kinds of scum in their midst.
As for your other bizarre ideas, such as that I’m a democrat, or can’t tolerate dissent, I won’t waste any further time on them. You’ve said just about as much as any person needs to know about you, when you declared that Murtha is seditious and treasonous because he dared to expose apparent wrongdoing by the military.
So you’re going to line him up against a wall and kill him? Tough talk is always quick out of the mouths of wackos. In your fantasies, you and your allies on the rightwing fringes are always killing Americans off. Yet you’re patriots at the same time, aren’t you all? And you’re just absolutely full of sympathy for, well, yourselves and your own families.
Isn’t it just lovely that you care so much about your own child that you have zero sympathy left for Iraqi children who are being slaughtered in this war. Perhaps you could get up a collection among your fellow-minded readers, to pay for you to fly over to Iraq and dance on the kids’ graves there? That would surely make your heroics here all the more impressive.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Ya know… Murtha retired as a colonel. Means he could be subject to recall. Hmmm… Summer in Iraq… Murtha in full kit… strokes out within a week.
Works for me.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
David - I think that’s a marvelous idea! Works for me too
May 18th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
I once was at an Army Reserve training class where one classmate attempted to justify what had happened at My Lai to the instructor. This was in 1980.
The instructor, a Special Forces master sergeant (who was in Vietnam and also in Bolivia when Che was killed), instantly berated the idea that My Lai was justified, saying that Calley should have been “hung by his balls” for killing innocent civilians and dishonoring the USA.
That made me proud to wear the uniform.
Atrocities against women and children do not make me proud to be an American.
If the facts come out as badly as Murtha implies, and it appears that he has inside knowledge, he is to be commended for telling the truth.
I was in Iraq, as a contractor on governance and democracy programs - I was there then Abu Ghraib broke. It had a devastating effect to our image in Iraq.
Aren’t we supposed to be bringing democracy to Iraq?
I sympathize, as Murtha does, with the beleaguered Soldiers and Marines - there are not enough of them to do the job, and Rumsfeld has fought expanding the size of the force tooth-and-nail. The media is not the source of the problems which Soldiers and Marines face: it is the fact that there never have been enough of them to do the job. They have to roll out of the gate every day and night to patrol streets which have never been secured.
Since I know Iraqis, have worked with Iraqis and have friends who are Iraqis, I can’t just dehumanize them and place their lives as worthless. The bad guys, and only the bad guys, have to be killed or captured.
Reprisal killings of civilians are wrong. Telling the truth, however unpleasant, is right. If we can’t do this job right, then Murtha is right, we should get out, because we are harming the Iraqis and ourselves.
May 18th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Iraq Participant, I agree with you up to the point of admiring Murtha for speaking out. It is inappropriate for him to use information about an ONGOING investigation for his own political gain. Which certainly looks like what he is trying to do.
If the soldiers are guilty they need to be dealt with. If they are not, they have been damaged by a public figure making this accusation public before the investigation is complete.
Even so, he doesn’t need to be ‘airing dirty laundry’ for the world to see. The other countries are picking that up and it undermines everything our soldiers are doing. It makes us appear weak.
It’s dispicable and inexcusable.
Let the investigation take its course and the soldiers be cleared or convicted as the law demands. But don’t have Murtha making political hay at their expense!
BTW - I have heard different opinions about the numbers of boots on the ground. i personally would have no problem with instituting the draft. I think it would do a lot of good in a lot of ways. But that’s for the military to decide, not me.
May 18th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
The Murtha Court-Martial…
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa), one of the Bush Administration’s chief critics, and an ex-Marine himself has made a public accusation that U.S. Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood†after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush tha…
May 18th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
smintheus,
You say you assume nothing about the accuracy of anyone’s statements, yet you take Murtha’s statements at face value. Without question. You use his words as your argument, ‘he said…’ So you start out contradicting yourself.
You also start each of your posts with inflamatory, insulting comments. That’s a common tactic used to put the opponent off balance from the get-go. It’s then followed by a condescending tone that is also commonly used to belittle the argument of the opponent. These types of techniques are used to be argumentative, dominate and belittle, not to debate or encourage reasonable discourse.
The common factor in these techniques is that they are …. common. [common as in base] They are also not very creative.
You accuse me of rushing to judge Murtha - yet you have judged the soldiers with the only information you have from the word of Murtha. How easy it is to judge soldier’s harshly. How easy it is to judge America harshly. It’s such an easy shot.
You say you have read all you need to know about me - and yet you continue to wax on and on in an extremely long and wordy essay (ever hear of the usefulness of an economy of words?).
You say you know all you need to know of me - and yet you are still here!
And then you go to the children again. Yes, I do value my child more - don’t you. That’s human nature.
I don’t dance on graves. I’ve only seen the Shenanigans dance on her own son’s grave - rather she laid there, smiling.
Your argument is silly, immature, mean-spirited, intolerant and full of misinformation and contradiction.
May 19th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Yes there are different opinions:
It’s been: my old boss Paul Bremer and Gens. Shinseki, Zinni, Baptiste, McCafferty and most military people for more troops vs. Rumsfeld for less troops. Bush and Rumsfeld wanted to fight the war on the cheap or to support their ideas of “transformation.”
Rumsfeld in particular: he opposed expanding the size of the Army, so those soldiers who are in the Army have to serve longer tours and go back again and again.
I think it’s water under the bridge now: if we had started out the right way and had enough troops to stop the looting, restore order, crush the insurgency at the beginning and enough money to provide jobs and hope to the Iraq people, then we would be down to much less troops than we have there now.
But now, we’ve got very little accomplished in basic infrastructure (electricity, water, health) and the violence is getting worse.
I would not support a draft with this incompetent crowd in charge, I advised my sons not to join. They do not care about soldiers, only their crazy ideas.
May 25th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
You see, in my view, our Soldiers are the innocents - not the insurgents. The blood of all of islam is not worth a drop of an American Soldier’s blood.
You see, in my view “soldiers” who murder children in cold blood are war criminals who should be hanged and cremated and dumped into a river. Assuming that’s what happened of course. Your willingness to excuse murder is disgusting. I think you’d be right at home in the einstatzgruppen or the death’s head battalions. whovian222@msn.com
June 1st, 2006 at 4:16 am
[...] See the video at The Political Pitbull and Expose The Left Radioactive Liberty linked with It Could Be So Much Worse if We Had DemocratsVince Aut Morire linked with Censure Jack MurthaAll Things Beautiful linked with The Murtha Court-MartialA Lady’s Ruminations linked with Murtha Calls Marines MurderersBlue Star Chronicles linked with Stop Murtha from Killing Our TroopsBlogmeister USA linked with Murtha’s Latest OutrageThe Sandbox linked with John Murtha Is A Disgrace [Comments_(9)] [Printable_Version] [Permalink] [Trackback_URI] [Trackback URI] right click+copy shortcut [...]
June 1st, 2006 at 5:33 pm
…. Just dropped in to the neighborhood to gather good fodder for my newest posting. I should lieave more comments, and my apologies for not doing so more often,… I love your site. What a great treasure trove.
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:30 am
good blog, beth! thank God there are people who still support the troops and don’t stab them in the back when they need them the most.
all this crap about Murtha is a Marine Colonel so he understands. that should tell you right there that he didn’t do a damn thing besides press his uniform. The very small percentage of guys that are in combat day in and day out are about 99% low-ranked infantry(or other combat arms) soldiers. trust me when i say, i know EXACTLY every emotion that went through those guys’ heads. I don’t have to get information from what someone else might say because, unlike 99% America, i was there, and i was a grunt.
But it’s funny how the “veterans” that were probably the same guys that were eating three meals a day, showering every day, getting a good night sleep, and always managed to press their uniform are the ones saying that the soldiers are immmoral. Any soldier who can’t relate with them should shut up because they never experienced war. yeah, they experienced deployment but not war. But let’s go ahead and kill some soldiers!!! (sarcasm) nevermind the Ali Baba, let’s kill the only people who still have courage left in this country! I just wish people can’t fathom the idea of what it is really like to truly hate somone. Unfortunately, most people aren’t brave enough to join combat arms.
But for any soldier that says these guys are cruel and immoral…tell me, how many friends of yours did you watch die or get their limbs blown off? It’s bad that the American civilians protest but our own soldiers are selling our own guys out!!! now, that’s a traitor!
and you know what’s funny you get guys like “iraq participant” which yeah, thankyou for serving your country, but come on now. you were in an Army reserve training class one day and someone told you something about war!!??!?!! that doesn’t make your story have any credibility. nobody on earth could tell you what combat is really like so I’m not even going to try. Also, SF is a much cooler job than infantry, but infantry is much more stressful because you deal with a lot more bull shit. And this is coming from a REAL GRUNT that these marines should be TREATED. they do need psychological help, but they don’t need or deserve punishment. Also, don’t try and glorify what you did and make it sound exciting…you were a pogue/POG(piece of garbage). you don’t know anything about war, obviously, so don’t try and kill Marines that actually had the courage to fight.
ever heard of PTSD??? yeah, there are actual physical changes that go on in the brain. Unfortunately, people can’t fathom what these guys actually feel. How can you convict someone when you don’t even know if they were in the right state of mind? How about treating these guys? Instead of making the actual combat soldier more afraid to do his job and afraid of his own countrymen.
Why don’t you read about the Zimbardo prison study! that shows that everyone has a breaking point. hell, basic pyschology should tell you that. you don’t put people in unforgiving environments and not expect them to react. it’s poor leadership though. Bush should have snipped this in the butt, but he’s more focused on his own reputation. i guess dropping bombs and killing a lot more civilians is worse than getting revenge for a friend’s death.(sarcasm) and no! i am very much pro-fighting the war on terrorism.
-Former infantryman
August 13th, 2006 at 7:01 am
“Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale & undermine the military are saboteurs & should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.†- President Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln never said this. Ever. This quote is a fabrication of Dr. J. Michael Waller, a long time Republican pundit, who first wrote it in a Moonie publication, Insight Magazine on December 23, 2003 shortly before the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth gave it life in 2004.
I have two original King & Baird pamphlets in my collection, the identical pamphlet Waller sites as his proof, “TRUTH FROM AN HONEST MANâ€. Lincoln never wrote anything like this … here, or anywhere else.
How pathetic has the Republican Party become that it insults the reputation of America’s finest Republican president for their political gain?
Cliff Hancuff
The World of Journalism Is Flat, Too
February 16th, 2007 at 5:13 am
Here is a letter i wrote to Big Head! Murtha!
To: Jack Murtha Congressmen Date: 2/15/07
From: Michael J Whittington.
Dear liberal. You are trying to under fund are troops and playing political games with the men and women who are protecting are freedom and the freedom idiots like yourself do not deserve. Instead of supporting the men and women who put there lives on the line for trash as your self you are trying to destroy this country. We the people are going to block you and your liberal friends of any blocking of are troops. The people will be heard on this topic and will not stand by as fat lawmakers as your self sitting behind your desk making problems for are troops. We are sick and tired of liberals as your self making problems for the troops and your cut and run political fallout. You are gutless and spineless as a man and far from a man. I have 4 children unlike liberals like you who do not support the Jessica law. We will support are troops and do what ever we can to keep them from people like your self trying to screw them. It’s really sad that you think you are slick with this little program you have put together to under fund the troops but we and FOX NEWS will make sure the people see what you are really trying to do to are troops. You need to retire because your age and thoughts are not reality. You’re too old and you seem like you have all timers because the way you are thinking is crazy. We need to get the old out and in with the new young congressmen because people like you are not doing what’s right for the people and are troops and we will not stand by and let you play your little politic games with are troops. You liberals all should pack your bags and get out of are country and go live in IRAN where you will be greeted with open arms. You are a disgrace to the uniform and a trader in a time of war. Take your hearing aid out because you sure don’t listen to the people.
THE PEOPLES VOICE
Michael J Whittington
February 16th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
cry treason on your own as much as you like, but consider this http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-13566840,00.html
February 16th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
PS, Michael, learn to spell
its our troops
their lives
I’m neither rupublican nor democrat, or ‘liberal’ as you put it, I’m british, your ’supposed’ ally
February 16th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
you might be interested in this
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,11021-10043,00.html
February 17th, 2007 at 6:39 am
RED EYE- I don’t care who you are and yes i made a typo. Your british right and your thoughts are those as a liberals. War is just what it says. There is not a perfect war unless your sitting home on your laptop playing warg games. Send your thoughts to the ACLU they can better help your Liberal (BRITISH) self. your going to down someone on a typo what a liberal.
Michael
February 17th, 2007 at 6:51 am
Red Eye-
The dramatic cockpit video and recording begins with two pilots identifying a target and checking with ground control that there are no coalition troops in the area — to which ground control says, “That is an affirm. You are well clear of friendlies,” according to the transcript released by The Sun.
Tempers flare between the two pilots, with one saying it looks like the prospective targets are carrying orange rockets. Coalition troops are often equipped with bright orange markers to identify them as friendly forces.
“I know what you’re talking about!” the first pilot says, after asking about the alleged rockets.
“OK, well they got orange rockets on them,” the second pilot says.
“Orange rockets?” the first pilot asks again, telling the other pilot they need to get back to base soon.
“I think killing these damn rocket launchers, it would be great,” the second pilot says.
The two U.S. A-10 jets opened fire on Hull’s tank, which was part of a five-vehicle convoy engaged in combat outside Basra on March 28, 2003. Four other soldiers were wounded, including the convoy’s leader, Capt. Alexander MacEwen.
Gunfire is heard. Minutes later they learn there are friendly forces in the area and that one person is dead and another is wounded.
Pilot 1: “I’m going to be sick.”
Pilot 2: “Ah f—.”
Pilot 1: “Did you hear?”
Pilot 2: “Yeah, this sucks.”
Pilot 1: “We’re in jail, dude.”
The pilots communicate with ground control again. “They did say there were no friendlies,” the first pilot says.
“Yeah, I know that thing with the orange panels is going to screw us. They look like orange rockets on top,” the second pilot says.
The first pilot then asks if his tape is still on. Seconds later, there is silence.
Sounds like a true Mis-comunacation Huh.
Let it go shit happens.
Here is a link to the story.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-video0206,0,1562 705.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
February 18th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Is there any way that an american can sue the government for the way they the are acting on the war issue and question and and campaging , my son is a MARINE is only 21 has been in IRAQ, and as far as i am concerned they are creating a situation that can get him killed
BSC: My son is in Iraq too - I know exactly what you mean. When I heard congress was doing what they are doing with this non-binding resolution (Feb 2007) it was all I could do not to go march on Washington myself. They are giving aid and comfort to the enemy and leaving our boys over there with no support.