McCain on Imus Explaining That Troops "Did The Right Thing"

[Jacobin]

with their Bonnie & Clyde fusillade on the COMMUNIST Italian journalist's vehicle.

Basically, if someone drives near you, just blow them up. It's cool. No problem. Screw command and control. They might have been brown people. Anyway she's a COMMUNIST. Extreme Road Rage is an American Tradition!

:eyes:

[bowens43]

1. Yes, attempting to murder those who may provide

information embarrassing to the administration is the right thing......

[Leilani]

2. I'm watching

& he said no such thing!

He talked about HOW this could have happened, looking at it from the service people's point of view.

He also said there SHOULD be an investigation & the Italians should be included.

See, some people don't automatically think the worst of our troops.

[Jacobin]

3. His version of the events contradicts that of

the people in the car who were there. I don't share the view that allowing the military to shoot at anything that moves is somehow appropriate conduct in a police action, helpful to 'rebuilding' Iraq, good for the soldiers who will have to live with the consequences of their conduct for the rest of their lives, not to mention the civilians who are being slaughtered by the hundreds for simply riding in a car.

Why is it that we automatically believe that what the troops do is proper, even when eyewitnesses contradict them? Why is it that Americans (some) ignore the documented torture of Iraqis? Why is it that we think our presence there (which is illegal) justifies any conduct, no matter how outrageous, to protect those who are occupying?

I consider it to be an excess of jingoistic thought.

[Leilani]

4. This war is an abomination

& I opposed it from the beginning.

And I opposed it because you NEVER, EVER go to war unless you absolutely have to. Why? Because war is terrible & people get killed in all sorts of terrible ways. And when troops get blown up day after day by bombs & cars with explosives, well, they're going to shoot.

But, that said, the military goes to war, based on what the gov tells them to do. And TOO MANY Dems rushed to give Bush the go-ahead.
Hell, the Dem ticket was 2 who voted aye.

I blame the politicians who voted for this.

[Jacobin]

7. No argument from me there

[Leilani]

10. By the way,

McCain also said he would listen to Frist's argument, but he's against the nuclear option.

And he said the Dems were right...that the Senate always had an unwritten agreement that if 1 party opposed a nomination, it would not go to the floor for a vote.

I don't think the nuclear option will pass...there are a few reasonable Repubs.

[Catchawave]

6. I watched too....

You're absolutely right. This was a very tragic accident, and I hope our troops aren't going to be blamed.

IMO, if the US was aware of this very covert Italian rescue, AND if they were going to "intentionally" shoot'em up, it would have been before the ransom money was given to terrorists!

[vi5]

5. Same question, different day: Why are you listening/watching Imus?

Honestly? Why. He's a horrid hack. Why do people every day watch or listen to his dreck and then come on here and complain about how horrible it is. I will never understand it. But what do I know I guess. Maybe I'm the one missing out.

[Jacobin]

8. Self-torture?

He is ghastly. Background noise I suppose while getting ready for work. "better" than Perky Katie Couric? I dunno

[Mnemosyne]

14. Air America Radio nt

[babylonsister]

9. There aren't many choices out there.

Some of us wanted to hear what McCain had to say. Not much chance of that happening unless we tune in to something.

[Leilani]

11. He's sick today

Charles is running the show.

It's 3:30 AM for me...I should be asleep.

[Todd B]

12. I don't get it.

When you are in a war torn country, why should you be expected to stop and slow down when you find out that someone is shooting at your car? Wouldn't human nature be to speed up and get the heck out of there?

Wake up America and stop with this "shoot first and ask questions later" gung-ho attitude. Wouldn't you think that a better way to man roadblocks and access would be to wave your arms and get people to slow down without firing upon them?

Sorry, but given the government's track record on this sort of thing I tend to NOT beleive them.

[rovespuppet]

13. 500 US troops have died on that same road by

car bombers and road-side bombs. Why ask our troops to wait for the speeding car to get close. We shouldn't be playing the 'wait till you see the white's of their eyes' game on that road. Certainly, an experienced Italian Intelligence officer should have known the dangers and notified the troops of their location. The last thing any soldier wants to do is shoot a civilian - especially a freed hostage civilian.

Next week the speeding car is a bomb and kills 30 soldiers because they hesitate - would that be better?

[Todd B]

17. Gosh - you mean invading and occupying a country might take risks?

car bombers and road-side bombs. Why ask our troops to wait for the speeding car to get close. We shouldn't be playing the 'wait till you see the white's of their eyes' game on that road. Certainly, an experienced Italian Intelligence officer should have known the dangers and notified the troops of their location. The last thing any soldier wants to do is shoot a civilian - especially a freed hostage civilian.

Gosh - you mean invading and occupying a country might take risks? Who'd of thought that? Perhaps if the US Military didn't already have a track record of targeting the press / civilians then I might be able to beleive that this was a mistake.

[Lerkfish]

18. sure..why not just nuke the whole country, then?

i mean, if its too much trouble to take time to assess risks and it makes more sense to shoot first and ask questions later, why not save us all the expense and turn the middle east into glass?

(/sarcasm).


Listen, we've illegally invaded the wrong country and destroyed their infrastructure, as well as slaughtered their civilians by the tens if not hundreds of thousands. We've tortured them systematically and implanted 14 permanent military bases, with no intention of leaving. We've propped up puppet leaders and orchestrated a sham election to prop up more. We've napalmed an entire city and then killed journalists who point that out.

so...yeah, I think we should expect a little resistance. If the tables were turned, and Russia invaded the US, set up permanent military bases, propped up puppet leaders sympathetic to the occupiers, tortured our husbands, fathers, wives and children, splashed napalm all over Toledo, bombed our power plants so were without electricity, failed to keep us safe so that venturing out for groceries was a life or death decision...then, my patriotic american friend, do you think americans would sit still for that, or become "insurgents"?


try drinking something else besides koolaid.

[Selteri]

19. Read ALL the facts from both sides,

Then you can spout drek. Yes, it's true we've lost a lot of troops and that is a main road since it's the main airport. Still, that is also a long road.

Either way it sounds rather suspicious. Try getting your news from more than the American Propoganda since there seems to be a lot of conflict over this.

1 - US Says the car was 'barreling' - Speeding toward the checkpoint

- The Italians claim they were traveling at 'normal speed'

2 - The US claims they warned them by waving their arms, flashing lights and firing warning shots

- The Italian claim is that there was a bright flash of light as the spot-light was put on them before theUS troops opened fire.

3 - The US claims she was approaching a checkpoint

- The Italian claim is that they were past the checkpoints and going through one of the 'choke points' which are designed to slow traffice further in case someone blasts through previous checkpoints.

4 - The US claim is that they shot for the engine block.

- The Italian survivors claim that it was a hail of bullets from the side.

Therefore we have a conflict in location, circumstances, direction of fire and wether or not there were warning shots.

The US has a very low amount of credibility at the moment due to the public propoganda and being caught tortuting multiple times. At this time I sincerely doubt the US's story but an holding off on my final decision until the forensic evidence from the car is done which will tell us that which story is closer to the truth.

[GiovanniC]

20. You Might Be Holding Off For a Long Time

We "lost" the car.

[rovespuppet]

21. I (we) don't know exactly what happened...

but I do know Sgrena has already stated four or five different accounts of what happened.

Secondly, the driver stated he was speeding - I read the quote yesterday.

Third, Italian officials have said they did not alert the US because they were worried about them stopping the payment of the ransom. That doesn't explain not telling the US after they paid the ransom.

All I am saying is if I was leading a hostage out of Iraq I certainly would have been on the look out for US military to give an escort out of the danger zone, which they would have done.

The US military does not target journalists - not even Il Manifesto journalits. If so, I would have received the orders at some point......

[Lerkfish]

23. forgive me if i continue to distrust the US accounts...

remember, in the past, they've claimed they never shot into crowds of protesting Iraqis, only to finally admit it later when cornered.

[LynnTheDem]

24. Where did that number come from? I know where every US soldier died.

Was that "500" just your guesstimate?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

15. I guess they did the right thing to Pat Tillman too. eom

[gWbush is Mabus]

16. I know nobody gives a shit, but if it were an innocent Iraqi in the car

we wouldn't have even heard about it.

then multiply that by 200,000 people

[tinonedown]

22. He said that?

They might have been brown people, just blow them up? McCain is not a lockstep stepford Repuke, and he knows something about being a hostage and torture. I don't think he takes the situation lightly.