US arrests Iraqi journalists (threatens with rape)

[DuctapeFatwa]

Three Iraqi journalists have been arrested by US troops in Iraq and held for four days, prompting a complaint from Reuters news agency.

The family of one man said he was stripped naked, forced to stand with a shoe in his mouth, and threatened with rape by one soldier.

The men were reporting on an American helicopter crash near Fallujah and were arrested after the US military claimed they were fired on by men in Press jackets. The Pentagon has not responded to Reuters.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/13/wbul13.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/13/ixworld.html

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. kick because it's charged to your VISA

[salin]

2. While I understand that being in a war zone and watching

fellow troops be fired upon (and killed) has extradorinary warping effects on those in the area... and that given the 'charges' that the culprits behind the downing of the helicopter were in press jackets, I can understand that emotions/anger/hostility would be running high (not excusing behavior... just trying to understand it - we (due to *) have placed these people in this situation... all that said, I do hope that the charges of threatened rape and torture (not to mention abasement) are not true.

Everything about this war is tragic... unnecessary and tragic.

[htuttle]

3. What's to understand?

War is a 'high stress' situation, sure. That's why they shouldn't be started in the first place. Beyond that, what I see is either a serious lack of discipline on the troops' part, or a serious lack of leadership on their commanders' part.

Just like cops, soldiers are expected to perform within guidelines even under high stress. That's why they are allowed to have weapons and shoot people. If they can't do that, then they shouldn't be given the means to inflict lethal force.

[Dhalgren]

4. Absolutely right!

.

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. Hello! Thank you!

An undisciplined horde of boxarocks brutes doped up, ill-fed, ill-treated and loosed to commit atrocities against anyone who dares oppose yesterday's atrocity is an even greater danger to the citizenry such a force ostensibly serves than even a real "enemy."

[salin]

6. I state it this way - because we don't often acknowledge some of

the "costs" of war/combat... including what it can do emotionally (and mentally) to participants.

Because this has all been done in our name... part of that responsibility (even though we tried to stop it) is ours.