Victims of trigger-happy Task Force 20

[fizzana]

The first hint that something might be up came at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon. A car full of westerners in civilian clothes with cropped military-style haircuts pulled up outside the Al Sa'ah restaurant, two blocks from Prince Rabiah Muhamed al-Habib's house in the wealthy Mansur district of Baghdad.

The people going about their business in the sweltering afternoon sun did not know it at the time, but the men sitting in the car watching the street were the best the coalition forces had to offer: members of Task Force 20, the unit responsible for hunting down Saddam Hussein and other key members of the regime.

<snip>

Fifteen minutes later, a Toyota Corona being driven by a man called Mazin, who was disabled and walked with the aid of a frame, arrived in the area. His wife was in the passenger seat and his teenage son in the back. If he had turned left out of the small lane that led to their house, they might all still be alive.

Instead, Mazin made the mistake of turning right towards the roadblock. A bullet from the volley of shots fired at the car passed through the windscreen and blew off the right half his head, according to Ahmed Ibrahim, who runs an optician's shop opposite the Al Sa'ah restaurant.

Nobody on the street yesterday seemed to know what had happened to his wife or teenage son, only that they had been injured and taken away by the Americans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1007694,00.html

The Americans are creating new enemies every day. How many U.S. soldiers will die because of this incident?

[paper chase guy]

1. forgot link :)

nt

[fizzana]

2. It's there now

n/t

[indictrichardperle]

3. sounds like Fisk

that task force 20, is Rummys operation phoenix creation.........lawless......they need congressional over-sight. I believe they also killed 80 civilians 25 miles inside Syria. Thats a horrible story.

[fizzana]

4. Fisk writes for the Independant - this is the Guardian

n/t

[w13rd0]

5. Believe it's a reference to the same lawless bunch of mercenaries...

...this is the same group that "pinpointed" the brothers, that aren't recognized by US military, the same group that work in partnership with Chalabis "free iraq" forces. Lawless thugs, going about the work of installing yet another "ruthless tyrant that can deal with the Iraqis with an iron fist". You see, Rumsfeld knew Saddam, he knew he needed someone like Saddam to rule Iraq. Now they are seeking a replacement and hoping this one is more controllable than the puppets they've erected in the past.

Think about it, lawless thugs in plainclothes roaming the street, killing political opponents and "resistance" forces. Not that much different than what Saddam did, is it?

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

6. Lawless thugs?

Yes, that description of our military will greatly appeal to the swing voters we need in 2004...

[OrAnarch]

8. oh boy

Yes...lets get rid of this description, support our troops, call them heros (even Rummy's band), hide attrocities which are Bush's fault, align directly with the DLC, and change our political affiliation to Republican.


In case your wondering and still undecided, Lieberman's half way there and wooing your vote, along with the swing voters, this very moment.

[w13rd0]

9. We're not talking about "our military" here...

...we are talking about a band of mercenaries sent out on personal errands for Rumsferatu. These guys aren't recognized by "our military", and they've no place in the chain of command.

Ask the Iraqi people how they feel about plainclothes mercenaries that disregard the rule of law in enforcing the dictates of the unelected Iraqi government.

So yes, I'll say it again, just for you..."LAWLESS THUGS"..."CORPORATE MERCENARIES"..."PLAINCLOTHES STRONGARMS"

I don't think the swing voters would be all too fond of the way these privatized "task forces" are structured, nor would they condone the way they operate. Assassinations, hostage taking, terrorizing...

[saigon68]

11. WAFFEN SS without uniforms

Or maybe special operatives of Hitler's GESTAPO. These types existed through-out recorded history. They live beyond the pale. In Viet-Nam they were affiliated with operation Phoenix.

[lfairban]

7. This group is getting infamous.

The NYT mentions that the unit involved in yesterday's attack on the cars was Task Force 20, which was also the team that carried that still-mysterious—and potentially botched—raid along the Syrian border. The Post's Barton Gellman surveyed the unit's work in early June, and focused on their search chemical and bio weapons. Seems like time for another look.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2086152/

[Kolesar]

10. US was getting good intel from Syrians until TF20 botched border raid

I heard Sy Hersh on TV or radio a week ago (and your Slate.com link led me to the New Yorker story by Hersh).

We had been getting good intelligence about Al Qaida until TF20 botched that infamous raid on the Syrian border. There is a lot of activity on the borders because the borders are not secure and there are no tariffs.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030728fa_fact

[karlschneider]

12. Here's some more poop on TF20

http://www.heraldsun.com/nationworld/14-361906.html

[Romulus]

13. Mogadishu redux

is only a matter of time. With idiots like these guys pissing people off in the name of "suspect hunting," the Iraqis' patience will grow thin. The WH needs to get its collective head out of its ass and actually work with the locals to get that place stabilized. Running around like a bunch of a**holes is definitely NOT the way to go.

I can't believe the blood of those 41 dead Americans from the Somalia fiasco has been shed in vain, seeing as how we're repeating the same mistakes.

[dArKeR]

14. Insanity. Insanity. Insanity. Bush is Insane.

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/

[starroute]

15. Xymphora has a good summary of that and other recent incidents

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2003_07_01_xymphora_archive.html#105946634706307999

- shooting into crowds

- beating and robbing Iraqi civilians

- the notorious hostage-taking operation