U.S. Troops Detain 2 AP Staffers in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030923/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_ap_detained&cid=540&ncid=1473

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers detained an Associated Press photographer and driver on Tuesday, handcuffing them, forcing them to stand in the sun for three hours and denying them water or use of a telephone.

Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division detained photographer Karim Kadim and driver Mohammed Abbas, both Iraqis, near Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, and kept their guns trained on them, despite repeated attempts to explain they were journalists.

The troops were looking for explosives planted in the area.

"We identified ourselves from the very beginning as press, even before we approached the troops. I was asked not to take any pictures and I didn't. We were told to leave and we walked away, and then one of them shouted at us to come back," Kadim said.

An armored personnel carrier arrived moments later. Three soldiers disembarked and aimed their guns at the two men.

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[arcane1]

1. dead men tell no tales

so they say


all just part of the Bush Doctrine

[Jacobin]

2. Subtle hint to only show all the "good things" happening in Iraq.

Maybe they'll put up some movie props with a desert painted on the background and hire some Iraqi children to pretend they all are learning the Declaration of Independence, and eating hamburgers and starting a baseball team.

[FlemingsGhost]

3. Tell me again why the press loves Bush?

Haven't these folks been through high school?

Everyone knows the "star" quarterback ditches the fawning cheerleader after he's had his way with her...

They only have themselves to blame.

[dbt]

6. They're into humiliation.

The Whore Press finds bruises and black eyes strangely validating. It means their Pimp Daddy really, really loves them after all.

:argh:
dbt

[Flying_Pig]

4. With the reporter killed yesterday....

and the others who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps it will dawn on the media the BushCo is indeed the evil bunch we've been telling them they are.

[leesa]

5. Remind me again why I should support our Yahoo troops?

[w4rma]

7. Our troops wouldn't be carrying out orders like this w/ decent leadership

The troops do what they are told and don't normally have the information to be able to disagree.

The problem is at the top. These guys are caught up in this mess much worse than any of the rest of us. Many are paying the ultimate price. And many more are coming back permanently maimed and otherwise sick or wounded.

[Voltaire99]

8. That's being much too generous about it

The problem isn't only "at the top," if by that you mean Washington. Washington isn't in the field giving orders. Officers, who are themselves troops, give orders.

When you read about innocent civilians being murdered, it's not enough simply to blame Bush, Rummy, and Condoskeeza. They may put the policy into effect; but policy doesn't pull the trigger.

[Merlin]

9. Actually, I disagree somewhat, Voltaire.

Nobody has been more critical than me on these threads of the lack of discipline of our combat troops. But, as a combat vet, I can tell you most assuredly the attitude comes from the top. Most of these incidents would stop on a dime if the US command issued stern orders to unit commanders with clear cautions about treating civilians (and captured combatants, for that matter) in a civil manner, and shooting only when there is clear and unambiguous evidence of a threat.

If a couple of GIs--and their commanding officers--were court martialled, as they should be, for these ridiculous excesses (and this one was minor, but is characteristic), the whole thing would come to a screeching halt.

These are mostly kids out there. They don't really know how to act. They rely on the orders, direct and implied, of their superiors. You can bet their superiors know what the attitude is in Washington, and that they must reflect that attitude or be judged failures. It's no different than any job. You want to survive, you get a sense of what the management expects of you, and you measure up.