We killed the daughter of an important tribal chief while minding sheep

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040418/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest&cid=1514&ncid=1473

In northern Iraq, a US soldier shot dead Sunday the daughter of an influential local tribal chief who was minding sheep near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a police officer told AFP.


The victim, aged 25, was the daughter of an important tribal chief from the village of Suss, 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Kirkuk, Captain Arkan Hamad al-Ubeidi said.


"One of the American soldiers fired at her, killing her instantly," he said.


"The soldier said he had opened fire in the belief that he was dealing with a suspect, and claimed that most attacks on coalition forces south and south-east of Kirkuk were carried out by shepherds."

more

[VolcanoJen]

1. So, all shepherds are suspect, now?

Jesus. Who the hell is running this thing???

[saigon68]

18. Support the troops

He thought her shepherd's crook was a Weapon of Mass Destruction

[radwriter0555]

23. who do think is still in Gitmo? They're ALL SHEEPHERDERS

there.

[madrchsod]

2. well guess what

there will be a soldier killed by this family to avenge the daughter`s death. someday an American will pay,this family and tribe will not lose their dignity....wouldn`t you?

[Tatiana]

3. It's incidents like this one that showcase the fact that this "war"

...isn't winnable.

[BeachBuckeye]

5. No matter what transpires from here on out.....

We are, clearly, the losers in this war. There is no way to save face in front of the whole world.

[Wright Patman]

4. Wow, those

must have been some very attractive sheep whose chastity she was guarding.

[BigDaddyLove]

8. From who, Hannity and Limbaugh?

I don't get your point.

[Webster Green]

10. You find this amusing?

WTF?

[Wright Patman]

11. Ridicule

of those who are routinely committing war crimes in my name is either amusing or not. I never said I was Henny Youngman here.

It probably wasn't amusing to the ravished sheep, who now need to find a "woman's shelter" in a region not known for them.

[NNN0LHI]

12. When we get nailed again some will be whining "Why do the hate us"?

And the same idiots will do it with a straight face too. Just wait and see.

Don

[Ms. Clio]

13. Oh, a comedian, huh?

I imagine we'll be having the last laugh on you within days, if not hours.

Yuck it up in the meantime.

[Wright Patman]

14. So you are for the U.S. war crimes

as well as possible bestiality?

I must have wandered into an alternate universe here. This is Democratic Underground?

I could understand "crusading" GOP warmongers not having a sense of humor, but this is puzzling.

And don't think I don't "support the troops." I support bringing them home and deprogramming them from committing any more war crimes. I think a lot of them are pretty far gone, though, and will be pretty psychotic for the rest of their days here on earth, much as their Vietnam brethren were before them.

[Ms. Clio]

15. I don't think "possible bestiality" was in question

until you brought it up.

Nothing about this story is humorous to me, but if I misjudged your basically good intentions, I apologize.

[Bridget Burke]

20. It's not a funny story.

Your profile says you're from East Texas. Let me guess--Vidor?

[NickB79]

26. Where the hell did bestiality come from?

I have no idea how you came up with that idea. What, was the girl defending the sheep from being raped by the US soldiers? WTF? I can't figure out what you're trying to say.

[newyawker99]

17. Hi Wright Patman!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[FreakinDJ]

6. From mission accomplished to Un-Winnable War

in less then 12 months

Way to Go George

[acmavm]

7. My God, everybody is just shooting to be shooting. I mean, what exactly

can you look like and what exactly can you do that doesn't qualify you for a bullet in the head?

This is just getting to be plain damn crazy. How the hell are these people, and by these people I mean the ordinary run of the mill Iraqi civilians, supposed to live? From what I've read lately, everyone is is mistaken for a terrorist because 'they've disguised themselves as _____________.' Does just being an Iraqi mean that you're fair game?

Oh, and as an afterthought, she was the daughter of a 'important tribal chief'. Wonder if that's going to complicate the situation anymore than it already is?

[JohnOneillsMemory]

16. Variation on the 'hammer in hand makes all problems look like nails',

-When you have a gun in your hand, people look like targets.

[saigon68]

19. SHOOTING to kill them all

Let God Sort them out.

[Webster Green]

9. This is why it is illegal to start unprovoked wars......

Warfare tends to get very messy, especially guerrilla warfare.

There are international laws designed to prevent such stupidity and cruelty. Our mentally challenged president* ignored the world community and all the experts on the region, who predicted the likely outcome of his follies.

He needs to be held accountable for this tragedy.

[Must_B_Free]

21. Iraqi? Heh - they don't even HAVE a country

why should they use the name Iraqi. Better to say "Greater US Native".

[DrWeird]

22. That'll scare those terrorists.

Now they'll be to frightened to launch suicide attacks.

[JohnyCanuck]

24. Not surprising at all.

The Pentagon as Global Slumlord
By Mike Davis

The young American Marine is exultant. "It's a sniper's dream,' he tells a Los Angeles Times reporter on the outskirts of Fallujah. "You can go anywhere and there so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are."

"Sometimes a guy will go down, and I'll let him scream a bit to destroy the morale of his buddies. Then I'll use a second shot."

"To take a bad guy out," he explains, "is an incomparable "adrenaline rush." He brags of having "24 confirmed kills" in the initial phase of the brutal U.S. onslaught against the rebel city of 300,000 people.

Faced with intransigent popular resistance that recalls the heroic Vietcong defense of Hue in 1968, the Marines have again unleashed indiscriminate terror. According to independent journalists and local medical workers, they have slaughtered at least two hundred women and children in the first two weeks of fighting.

http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=1386

[Aidoneus]

25. they butchered a whole convoy of sheephearders a few months ago

Nothing new.. They said "Saddam might've been in there", so the massacre of 90 people was then just shrugged off by the usual suspects.

It was right on the Syrian border near Qusaybah. Hey, that name sounds familiar--isn't that one of the resistance strongholds? That's obviously a coincidence! Nothing like that could possibly be related!

[Bandit]

27. I suspect that soldier will not have a happy life.

War has a way of coming back to haunt those that participate. I would bet this young man will revisit that scene many times in his mind. I feel very sorry for him and his family.