Iraqi Shia protest US Tank Killing

[leftchick]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/02A04E0E-65D7-46E5-A142-D4E8777A3ECC.htm

<snip>
Hundreds of angry Muslims protested in the Iraqi capital over the death of a Shia cleric crushed under a US tank.

All the demonstrators, who rallied on Tuesday outside a central Baghdad hotel used by foreign correspondents, carried photos of Abd al-Razzaq al-Lami and of his flattened car.

"Friday evening my brother stopped when he ran out of petrol. He was standing next to the vehicle waiting for someone to bring a can of petrol when an American tank arrived," said his brother Jasim al-Lami.

"The tank crushed the car and him. He died immediately. The US soldiers in the tank did not even stop to see what happened. They just left him on the ground."




US army claims cleric's death was an unfortunate accident

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Have the Crusaders begun distributing this cool new kid's video yet?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=512542

[RPG-7]

2. They didn't stop?

Holy shit!

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Makes you wonder

which side is winning the hearts and minds. :( (not really)

[TXlib]

4. In defense of the tank crew

Leaving disabled vehicles in the middle of the road is a very common tactic used to roadblock tanks before an ambush.

The tank crews would be wise to smash though any such roadblock in their way, if they don't want to be on the receiving end of an RPG.

Putting women, children, or old men in or around the car to make the roadblock look like a legitimate broken-down vehicle so that the tank will stop is a tactic that has been used before.

I'm not saying that was what was happening in this case, only that the soldiers have to assume it's a trap.

This is a problem with this kind of fighting; ununiformed citizen-soldiers, including women and children, are taking up arms against our troops. They find themselves under fire frequently, and they can't differentiate friend from foe. It's a horrible, confusing mess. (Military types know this situation as a CF, charlie-foxtrot, or more vulgarly, a clusterfuck.)

Yes, somebody should be held accountable for what is happening over there. But remember: our anger and outrage should always be focused on the politicians who put our troops in that situation, not on the troops (who are behaving, probably, no worse than any of us would in their shoes).

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Hmmm, the street looks pretty wide to me in the photo

couldn't they have just gone around the car?

[DuctapeFatwa]

7. We can only hope that the troops who are sent to kill our families

do behave better.

[Magleetis]

13. Perhaps

you should take a look at the Frontline doc. Truth War & Consequences at this link.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/

There is a scene where a US tank crew crushes an Iraqis car and laughs about it. Some of our brave men are acting like cold blooded thugs with little regard for the lives of Iraqi people. This behavior is appalling, unprofessional and inexcusable.

[okieinpain]

14. and that's why no one with any sense wanted to go into iraq.

this is how things will turn against us. so now to avoid getting setup in a possible ambush we're going to roll over cars with women and children in them or not.

hell the terrorist won't have to fire anymore rpg's. we will do all the damage on our own. we'll be despised and hated through out the region.

[jmcgowanjm]

5. ProGovMedia reported cleric killed by humvee this weekend

I was wondering how a humvee would've killed
a cleric. I mean besides running
a nonexistent stoplight at 70mph.

They never reported the tank.

Americans have absolutely no idea
what is being done in their name.
The blowback from ignorance is gonna
be awesome.

And BTW-Iraqiis hired to patrol Samarra are
wearing baklavas. There's a confidence builder.

[m-jean03]

8. I thought baklava

was something for dessert? Is it also a kind of armored vest?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. balaclavas, perhaps?

possibly known to Americans as 'skiing masks'.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi m-jean03!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[mobuto]

16. The only time I "wear" baklava

is when I insult her dessert-making abilities. Then it flies.

You're thinking of balaclava.

[Malva Zebrina]

10. trained by the Israeli's? Sounds like similar approach

isn't this a unique marker of the way Israel deals with those it deems enemies--proven terrorists or not--if they even look suspicious, mow em down. What was it with that American woman peace activist, 23 year old Rachel Corrie, who was bulldozed by the Israeli army. We have reports that our soldiers are being trained by the Israeli's--in assassinations and other techniques.

[Resistance]

15. there was also

a British peace activist that Israel murdered (about a month after they took Rachel out). His name was Tom Hurndall.

[tom_paine]

11. Hey, so now we know what would have happened to that Chinese guy

in Tiennamen Square had he faced an Amerikan Imperial Tank while petitioning the Bushevik Party for freedom.

They would have squashed him like a bug, of course, as I've always suspected since America died on 12-12-2000.

Then they would have said, "Whups! Accident...sorry."