Does anybody know if any US soldier has shot a civilian on purpose?

[Seen the light]

In Iraq I mean? I tried google but am not having much luck.

[Gyre]

1. There was that jackass that threw a couple of Iraqis into the Tigress.

I think they were wounded and one or more drowned.

Gyre

[mmonk]

2. I'm sure it's not regular practice

Some journalists have been fired upon and other Americans locked up sometimes for this or that.

[mandyky]

3. Archives are down - but yes

all these night raids they do, with Iraqis having guns in their homes, people try to defend themselves when soldiers break in and wind up dead. Independent media have also been killed by soldiers, so yes, US soldiers have shot civilians on purpose.

Half the people shot near check points have also been innocent civilians! Sickening! These soldiers will have maajor PTSD over this kinda crap.

[mmonk]

4. Fallujah had alot of civilian casualties

and demonstrators have been shot though I don't know if it was soldiers or Blackwater (concerning demonstrators). But the answer is yes, sometimes. War and occupation are like that.

[brainshrub]

5. What does it matter?

If the US soldier wasn't in Iraq in the first place, the civilian would still be alive. Remember, the old saying from Vietnam:

Q: How do you know if the man you shot was a communist?
A: He's dead.

For the sake of argument, let's say that a soldier did shoot an un-armed civilian "on purpose." Do you really think he would go to his commanding officer and admit it?

If you were the commanding officer, would you report it?

The first wave of Iraqi vets are starting to hit the streets in the United States. I suggest you attend a local meeting of "Veterans for Peace," they'll tell you what you what you want to to know.

[Seen the light]

7. Oh I was just responding to a Freeper friend of mine elsewhere

I had remembered the thing about the Tigris drowning. That's all it was, I wasn't trying to make a political statement here or something tonight. But thanks anyway. :)

[jim3775]

6. I know there was a british soldier who shot a little girl

I think they charged him with murder.

Edit Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3705903.stm

[jody]

8. You need to define "civilian" very precisely. In one sense, all

"insurgents" are "civilians". :shrug:

[Seen the light]

9. Sorry, an "unarmed" civilian

[jody]

10. I doubt if you will find a reported incident where a " US soldier has

killed a civilian on purpose."

There have been many unarmed civilians killed by U.S. troops but I believe they were all either collateral or misidentification.

[0007]

14. That's an excellent point!

[FloridaPat]

11. Some groups have counted 125,000 dead civilians in Iraq since

the invasion. There are lots of soldiers who have said they are shooting civilians because they can't tell the good folks from the bad ones. Then there are the soldiers shooting people just for the fun of it, some of the videos have appeared on the internet.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Mazen Dana was an unarmed civilian

He was a well know war journalist and cameraman. He was shot in cold blood while working outside of Abu Ghraib back in the Aug, 2003.

[sweetheart]

13. every time they drop a bomb

So, to drop a "precision" bomb is "on purpose", and kills thousands
of civilians. But because the bomb might also kill a baddie, then
the civilians are collateral damage and the military is exhonorated.
And likewise, all the people who were killed in the world trade center
were collateral damage and OBL did not "mean" to kill civilians.

When on thin ice, don't jump up and down. ;-)