Iraqi farmer 'killed' by US fire

[rooboy]

Iraqi farmer 'killed' by US firead, today and his brother was detained for attempting to retrieve the body, witnesses told AFP.

The farmer, Ziad Yass Abbas, was watering his crops when US troops, standing about 400 metres away, opened fire on him at around 6am (2pm AEDT), said his nephew, Yass Amer Abbas, who was with him at the time.

His uncle was killed instantly, he said.

"They opened fire on my uncle who was with me. I immediately ducked and hid in the plantation before running back home to inform my parents about what had happened."

It was not clear why the US troops opened fire but another witness, university student Ayman Abbas, said: "I saw the Americans looking at Ziad. They probably thought he was suspicious because he was standing there and watching them, so they fired a rifle at him from their armoured personnel carrier."

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7734136%255E1702,00.html

[saigon68]

1. And another one "Bites the Dust"</Sarcasm>

winning their hearts and minds one corpse at a time.

[TacticalPeek]

2. He hated our freedom.

[opihimoimoi]

13. Among our courageous/brave soldiers... there are a few "rogue" ones who

like to kill for killings sake. Almost, if not identical, like the snipers. There are those who do it as a job, while some take glee in killing the "bad guys".

[aeon flux]

3. They shot an unarmed man in cold blood?

The guy was just standing there, watering his crops?

That is f*cked.

[J B]

6. They must've thought he was casing them out for an attack

Note the word 'thought'. Not 'knew'.

[atreides1]

4. Okay

Don't worry, the Army will pull a IED out of it's ass and justify the shooting.

If not then the worst the soldiers can be charged with is murder, the least, manslaughter. Don't count on it, remember it's now okay to intimidate, torture, arrest, and now even murder Iraqis.

It's called PREEMPTIVE ACTION, and it is condoned by the administration and the military.

Can't you hear it now

Prosecutor: Why did you shoot that Iraqi farmer

Soldier: It was a pre-emptive action, sir, just like the President
said.

Judge: Case dismissed. Good job soldier, keep it up.

I'm sure there won't be a dry eye in the entire courtroom.

[pw]

5. Nope, the soldier can be prosecuted

So that when he gets a dishonorable discharge the administration isn't responsible for his pension or medical bills.

[Goldmund]

7. I wonder why...

...the word "killed" is under quotes.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. Because "Murder" isn't used with American Forces. Only "evil doers"

would murder.

[Blitz]

10. I was wondering about that

Maybe it's because the story seems a little unlikely (specifically, that U.S. soldiers, for no reason whatsoever, successfully and fatally hit a single man from an APC that was approximately four football fields away) and, if the reporter had not seen the body or was not sure of the veracity of the claim, he might be trying to indicate that. The article does not indicate what the alleged victim was shot with but, as a point of information, the maximum effective range of an M-16 rifle is 460 meters:

http://www.i-kirk.info/tales/vnr08.html

Maybe this story is exactly what it appears to be.

Maybe it was a warning shot gone bad or a shot at another target that hit this man unintentionally.

Maybe he was shot by somebody else.

Maybe it's a crock.







Never Again.

[Frangible]

14. Doesn't say a M16 was used

Could have been any number of weapons with that effective range.

[Blitz]

18. It does say that a rifle was used

but it could have been something other than an M-16, I suppose.

[DS1]

15. 460 yards is a pretty easy shot.

That M-16 data is old.

/fmr USMC competition shooter

Although it was probably a .50 cal or 20mm if he died instantly.

[Blitz]

17. Maybe

I don't know and there isn't much in the way of specifics in the article. Just one person's account. The person did say that a "rifle" was used, though. Anyway, the story seems odd but, I suppose, could be true.

[NNN0LHI]

19. Off subject question DS1

What would be a difficult but makeable shot with an M-16 in yards?

Don

[Proud Rat]

22. 400+ yards

200 yards or less is a fairly easy shot.
400+ yards should be makeable, Especially if the target is in the open, with negligible amounts of wind. More so if you figure that after the first shot, you have 29 more shots as fast as you can pull the trigger.
However, a 400 yard shot would be difficult under less than ideal circumstances.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Thank you n/t

[Ashcroft Kutcher]

8. I heard he was going to win an award

For being out standing in his field. No but seriuosly thats an awful story.

[jobycom]

11. Hi ho, hi ho

Remember the story the other day about Tiger Squad, which went walkabout in Viet Nam killing farmers, families, and other innocents? Those stories will begin to be told about Iraq in another two or three decades. Until then, look for the little anomolies, like this one.

Although, who knows? Wouldn't be the first case of an acquaintance murder blamed on an invading army.

[Frangible]

12. He could have had dubya emmm dees!

NINE ELEVEN!!!! Support the troops!!

Sorry, just kind of digusted with the whole digusting fucking lying mess.

[loudnclear]

16. We are looking more and more like the evil Sharon government

Sad day when the so-called "models of democracy" come off as the biggest terrorist threat to the world.

[diamond14]

20. Mai Lai: shoot them, burn their villages....

Q: So, when you were told to burn the hootches, you went out and burned the hootches, did you not?

A: Yes, sir.



http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/myl_Calltest.html

-snips- from the trial of Lt.Calley

Q: Now, did you see some live Vietnamese while you were going through the village?

A: I saw two, sir.

Q: All right. Now, tell us, was there an incident concerning those two?

A: Yes, sir. I shot and killed both of them.

-----------------------------------------
A: Well, I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy. That was my job on that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women, and children. They were all classified the same, and that was the classification that we dealt with, just as enemy soldiers.

[Iverson]

21. a logical extension of the Bush doctrine

From preventive invasion, preventive assassination is a short step. That farmer might have been a threat one day, and he could have been associated with terrorists or attempting to get materials related to weapons of mass destruction.

Look for every Congressional Democrat to decry this official policy!