US Army Uses Bulldozer Threat to get Iraqis to Talk

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031203/wl_nm/iraq_house_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

<Snip>
HAWIJA, Iraq (Reuters) - When U.S. soldiers found explosives in the house of Aziz Abdel-Wahhab and his elderly wife during a raid in the Iraqi town of Hawija, they proposed swift and direct punishment -- demolishing the building.

"This house is the heart of terrorism and if you're going to harbour terrorism we're going to remove you from the community," said 1st Lieutenant Steve Brignoli, explaining the order to destroy the one-story stone house in a Hawija suburb.

"This will be a show of force, to embolden the local authorities."

The explosives were found during a major operation by the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which sent more than a thousand troops into Hawija on Tuesday to hunt for guerrillas in the town west of the strategic oil hub of Kirkuk.

"Because of stuff like this we lost two paratroopers here. This is the stuff they typically use to take American lives," Brignoli said, sifting through a box of dynamite sticks, electrical cables and switches.

....This is so sickening, Much more at link....

[ze_dscherman]

1. Buy Caterpillar stock today!

sarcasm intended

[leftchick]

2. Good lord......

the rest of that story....

<The toothless old man could hardly talk, but mumbled a few words about his son Adel.

In a tactic used by Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites) but new to Iraq (news - web sites), a bulldozer was positioned in front of the house ready to destroy it. The translators, minority Turkmen, Kurds and Assyrian Christians, were getting nervous.

"Where's he going to go?" someone asked unit commander Major Andrew Rohling. "He's gonna go with his son who's building the bombs," Rohling barked back.

Then Bushra, her hands covered in traditional red henna, offered some information. Adel came and went from their home, but he was maybe at his brother's place, she said.

"OK, I'm not gonna destroy the house. Just the front, as a show of force," Rohling announced, at which the bulldozer brought down the front wall of the compound and Bushra was bundled into a Humvee.

"All of this is a crime against me after all the hardship I've suffered in life," the old woman muttered. >

[TheLastMohican]

26. Next step will be civilian hostages and firing squads

Like a true nazi operation "Iron Hammer". HAve to give a compliment to IDF, their tactics is appreciated and followed by armies from other countries. Although, it didn't bring IDF much success in fighting palestinians but what the hack, let's give it another try.

[drfemoe]

34. um . that's been done

eom

[Forkboy]

3. You obviously just hate our Patriotic Soldiers

that was sarcasm on my part but another DUer says this seriously,capitilization of Patriotic Soldiers and all.

[politicat]

4. Next up on "The Bad Government Channel"....

Gah, how dumb are we....

We take advice from the "National Laboratory for Bad Governemnt" (TX) and apply it nationally and it purt' near kills us.

Now we're taking advice from the Israelis on how to handle "dissidents" and "terrorists."

What next? Idi Imin's diaries as prison manuals?

Politicat

[chelaque liberal]

12. We don't need advice from the Israelis or Idi Imin's diaries

We could teach them all something at the institution formerly known as "the School of the Americas."

[MountainLaurel]

28. That was my thought when I read this

"So the Army's contracting out its training programs to the IDF?"

This absolutely apalls me. This is on par with kidnapping spouses to bring the sought-for "potentially suspected militant who may or may not have done anything amiss but who has brown skin and looks different so you can't be sure" in for "questioning."

:nuke:

Can I apply for asylum in Canada?

[0007]

5. Where did they learn this tactic? I wonder!

One side talks to Sharon while the other listens to Arafat....and junior & Cheney whisper secrets, much like the mentally ill.

.....and the beat goes on in the name of brotherhood. And these clowns have the balls to talk about redemption, 'eh?

[alittlelark]

31. US troops trained w/ Isreali soldies a year or so ago

I remember a blurb in the papers and listening to it on KPFA. These are the tactics they (Israel) have been using in Palestine for years

It's soooooo effective (at creating new suicide bombers)

[Tinoire]

32. We also bought a bunch of reconfigured bull-dozers from the IDF

at that same time... Sad, very very sad. If little Iraqi kids start throwing rocks...

Wars, occupations... bleh.

[izzie]

6. Good move US. Bring in about 50 new terrorist per building?

Who is telling our army what to do? It can not be people out of West Point. I think you need an IQ of 100 to get in there.These people must be in the 50 level.Bush has united all these terrorist to kill us all. What a man.

[chelaque liberal]

15. Oh, I'm sure that won't happen

Everyone will understand that the American troops are friendly,warm, polite people because they handed out pieces of paper that said they were sorry. Doesn't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over?


"As troops headed off in search of Adel, public affairs officer Major Doug Vincent, whose job is to win hearts and minds, handed out fliers apologizing for any inconvenience."

[xchrom]

7. brignoli needs a promotion

out of the armed forces.
like that will help steve!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

8. Christ, what a story. I can't decide if we're behaving more like

terrorists or nazis.

American actions have truly taken the low road there. Is it beyond comprehension that if we want Iraqis to respect our efforts there that we have to show respect for Iraqis?

[saigon68]

9. They are like Nazi's

Kind of like the leveling of the Warsaw ghetto, looking for communists, common criminals, labor activists and other vermin.

Their words not mine.

[Kinkistyle]

10. We're following the roadmap to peace.

Wow, I can't believe this is coming out of Reuters and not Al-Jazeera. Its stunning how bad things are out there :(

"As troops headed off in search of Adel, public affairs officer Major Doug Vincent, whose job is to win hearts and minds, handed out fliers apologizing for any inconvenience.

'These operations were carried out with local authorities to ensure your security and a more safe and free Iraq for all Iraqis in which to raise your children and practice your religion without fear,' the leaflets said. Locals stood and watched in silence as the convoy moved off. "

Simply bizarre.

[mbperrin]

13. Well hell, the flyers explain it all, so I'm sure

the locals totally support this now that they understand it, right?

(Giant popping sound as head is forcibly removed from ass)

WTF is going on????????? Is the plan to kill as many US soldiers as possible to make more room in the military to continue the Bush* jobs miracle?

[jmcgowanjm]

24. something else not to believe:Samarra

54 insurgents killed but noone can find the bodies.
one prisoner captured (maybe)
And enough fedayeen(no pics of black uniforms)
to carry off the bodies.

http://lefti.blogspot.com/2003_12_01_lefti_archive.html#107031358087661278

"Everyone is with the resistance. Saddam Hussein
is finished. We are protecting our honor and our land."
22-year-old Safa Hamad Hassan, whose cousin
was wounded when a tank shelled the area near
his house:

Everything about this war is turning out to be a lie.

justin Raimondo

[drfemoe]

33. Hey now they can understand

clear skies !!!! healthy forests !!!!
security !!!! freedom !!!!

[Cheswick2.0]

11. Oh great now we are Israel/Sharon

we are going to call all opposition/resistance fighters terrorists and justify any cruelty we can come up with.

[Sparky McGruff]

22. ... And it's working so well for Israel

Any further attacks are simply a sign of our success!

[teryang]

14. "Where do we find men like these?"

The fact that this important matter is being left to an inexperienced officer says something about the leadership over there.

[54anickel]

16. Sad part is, most soldiers truly believe this Iron Hammer stuff is the way

to go. Yes, it seems effective for the immediate situation at hand, but it does nothing to help win the hearts and minds. Or is that not the objective anymore.

At the end of the article the soldier tells the journalists, "But note she only started talking when she saw the bulldozer."

I read the story twice now and that does not seem to be how it went. Perhaps I am missing something here. Seems the dozer was there all along, the husband spoke of the son first. Don't really know if they wouldn't have "talked" without the threat to their home.

[truthspeaker]

17. but remember, they hate our freedom!

Not our bulldozers, our freedom!

[lumpy]

18. Quote from Maj.Vincent "whose job is to win hearts

and minds". "We'll take him to our detention center and intelligence will see if he changes his story" while passing out leaflets apolgizing for the inconvenience. (referring to the captured son of this couple)

[54anickel]

19. Would make me think of SH torture chambers if I was in that crowd. n/t

[TryingToWarnYou]

20. Winning hearts and minds...

What a wonderful concept we are exercising...

If the reported find of dynamite and other components for bombs is true, then why not just deal with the people responsible rather than bulldozing the house?

With actions like these, we are creating more hatred and more steadfast committments for the Iraqi people to treat us as invaders and occupiers. The "intent" of the Iraq war was forgotten long ago.

I'm sure the people responsible understand our need for retribution, but what about the people that are not involved and are merely seeing our actions? How do they feel and what emotions are we stirring up? I would love to see some sort of scientific scale showing the percentage of how many Iraqis now hate us and our presence as opposed to those welcoming us with flowers and parades.

[The Stranger]

21. Has the Repbublican Party morphed into Likud?

They share nearly identical foreign policy objectives (except for the Chimp's lip service to the Road Map) -- even down to military field tactics against civilians. Instead of the U.S. government setting an example, even impliedly correcting the policies of Sharon and Likud, it is following them down the identical path of hatred, terrorism, endless war and destruction.

Am I missing something here? If this is some sort of nightmare, someone please wake me up. I've had enough.

[loudnclear]

23. No but Likud owns them!

They are not principled enough to believe in anything but money, power, and racism.

[ignatius]

25. I just read this on Buzzflash and am and continue to be appalled

by what this administration does in our names.

This is so like Israel handles Palestine and look how badly that has deterioated since the ape in our WH was selected.

A few weeks ago, I heard on NPR a story that we were handcuffing and capturing women if we thought their children were involved in terrorism. There were women crying in the background and one said that some of the women taken had small children at home who watched their moms being taken from them.

This is barbaric behaviour practiced by the thugs in the WH. The mafia has more honor than these pigs.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

27. Have we ever done this before???

I need to know if this has ever been the policy of the US military in any other conflict. If not, this is clearly a new policy of Bush & Co. and needs to be written about.

[dai]

29. "Zippo-raids"

A co-worker told me about "zippo-raids" in Vietnam - this seems to be a similar concept. The Vietnam war was long before my time, though, so my apologies if I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Rose Siding]

30. The soldier driving thought it was a bluff

...sort of, but doesn't seem to disapprove because he thinks it worked. Hah! He doesn't even realize what it "accomplished"

snip>
"We weren't really going to do that. We've never done it, at least not in Kirkuk," he said. "But note she only started talking when she saw the bulldozer."