"BALLAD FOR A SOLDIER" LEON RUSSELL song and graphics

[Jeffersons Ghost]

An article, which appears in numerous online sources, is wordy and full of passive verbs. I rewrote it because my readers deserve better. Please feel free to reproduce this article, without regard to copy-right, if you feel it will help bring an end to this war.

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IRAQ’S MY LAI?

A US military investigation of two incidents where Americans killed at least 26 Iraqis claims that the civilians died from incidental crossfire.

Growing evidence of retaliatory killings of unarmed Iraqi families, including children, by US troops apparently bent on punishing Iraqis, spark comparisons in a Time Magazine article to the massacre of Vietnamese villagers at My Lai.

A willingness to shoot any Iraqi they see after an insurgent attack causes many sources to suggest that American forces are doing little more than fostering recruitment of terrorists in the region. Only recently has convincing, detailed information become available to support the allegations.

Last week, in the town of Ishaqi north of Baghdad, Iraqi police claim that US troops killed 11 people, including five children, in their homes. Local police chief, Colonel Farouq Hussein, said, "It's a clear and perfect crime.”

According to a report titled Iraq’s My Lai? in Time Magazine, US soldiers went on a rampage, killing at least 15 civilians during an incident in Haditha, Iraq last year.

The US military first claimed that a roadside bomb killed US Marine, Miguel Tarrazas, along with 15 Iraqi civilians caught in the blast. Later, a revised military statement said, "gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire and while returning fire Marines killed eight insurgents.”

Only after Time presented the US military with Iraqis statements, did an official investigation find that US soldiers deliberately killed 15 civilians.

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on a US Humvee prompted the retaliatory attack, which took place at 7.15am. Eman Waleed, a nine-year-old child, lived in a house 150 yards from the explosion. "We heard a big noise that woke us all up," she recalled later. "Then we did what we always do when there's an explosion: my father goes in to his room with the Koran and prays the family will be spared harm."

The Marines claim they heard shots coming from the direction of the Waleed house. They burst into the house and Eman heard shots from her father's room. They then entered the living room, where the rest of the family hid. She said: "I couldn't see their faces very well - only their guns sticking in to the doorway. I watched them shoot my grandfather in the chest and head. Then they killed my grandmother."

The Marines began shooting into the corner of a room where Eman and her eight-year-old brother, Abdul Rahman, were cowering. The other adults in the room tried to protect the children with their bodies, only to be shot dead. Both Eman and her brother suffered gunshot wounds.

"We were lying there, bleeding and it hurt so much. Afterwards some Iraqi soldiers came. They carried us in their arms. I was crying, shouting, 'why did you do this to our family?' One Iraqi soldier told me, 'we didn't do it. The Americans did it."

The Marines' explanation is that they heard the sound of a weapon cocking and then fired on the civilians. The Marines also claim fire came from a second house, where they broke down a door, threw in a grenade and opened fire. The eight who died in the second house included the owner, his wife, the owner's sister, a two-year-old son and three young daughters.

In a third house the Marines killed four young men. A military investigation states these were indeed insurgent fighters, along with four others killed in the street.

The Marines later delivered 24 bodies to a hospital in Haditha, claiming bomb shrapnel caused the deaths. Dr Wahid, director of the hospital, says, "It was obvious to us there were no organs slashed by shrapnel. The bullet wounds were very apparent. Most of the victims were shot in the head and chest - from close range."

The US military investigation lists the deaths as "collateral damage" and awarded $2,500 for each of the dead to any surviving relatives.

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In defense of our troops; multiple psychological/ sociological studies ALL have similar results, when they first separate people into two groups and then make one group dominant over the other. In one interesting experiment, one group wore uniforms and were told they should conduct themselves as guards for another group, which was essentially demonized by the scientists. In every instance the "guard group" committed escalating atrocities against the "victim group." It's sad that humans not only are animals but also conduct themselves in ways that prove we are the most vicious animal of all.

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BALLAD FOR A SOLDIER

Leon Russell

When I was just a young boy, I played with swords and guns,
and I dreamed of the day I’d become a soldier.

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And kill all of the enemy, my country tis of thee.
I sing this anthem sadly, won’t you hear me

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.I watched the cannons blazing, on the giant silver screen.
The swastikas were burning and the hero was me.

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The general gave the order and gladly I obeyed.
But the movie faded quickly all at once today.

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And now I stand alone with the charges made,
no where to run, not a place to hide.

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We’re sad little children playing grown-up games.
Guess the time has come, the damage has been done.

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Stray dogs that live on the highway, walk on three legs.
Cause they learn to slow to get the message.

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Just like the Indians in the early days. Battles lost and won, yet it still goes on.
It’s just another ballad for soldier.

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I had no understanding `till I saw my mother cry,
when they told how many babies I had killed that night.

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A dozen color photographs inside of a magazine,
told the morbid story like a movie screen.

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But I was not the hero I thought myself to be,
movies are much different than reality.

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The general was convicted to get off of the hook,
but the President might free me for the chance I took.

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And we all stand alone when the charge is made,
sad way to live, what a way to die.

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We’re all little children playing grown-up games,
can we burn the gun before the next time comes.

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Stray dogs that live on the highway walk on three legs,
because they move to slow to get the message.

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Give up and win, that’s all I have to say,
we haven’t really won till all the fighting’s done,
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/04/22/123253854_narrowweb__300x395,2.jpg
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and there are no more
ballads for the soldiers.

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[dipsydoodle]

1. Appropriate thread title.............

..... for the n'th attrocity.

Knowledge of the subject of My Lai may well be age related so for anyone not familiar with My Lai and Lt. Calley this link is as good as any :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre

You can get far more detail in other links by simply searching My Lai Calley.

500 villagers were massacred and there's not much more I can say other than the fact that the name of that village has been imprinted on my mind since that event came to light.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. to forget Calley is like forgetting the Holocaust

6 million Jews are harder to forget but both events arose from similar human motivations.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. kick

:kick

[DemoTex]

4. "Stray dogs that live on the highway walk on three legs .."

Poignant, quintessential Leon Russell. Perfect for your photo montage.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero.html#HUGH%20THOMPSON:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. since Schindler's List is hard to watch, maybe we should bury it

I have an experiment in FREE PRESS for DU, find me a modern picture of a dead US soldier or a dead Iraqi child online... Find me pictures of people suffering from Katrina... Find me pictures of modern US soldiers in an actual fire fight... Find me a free America again.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

6. Here's a kick for OVER A MILLION DEAD IRAQIS!

Very few wore uniforms and many were women and children that the Government claims are "collateral damage."

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. As history repeats itself... HERE'S A KICK FOR 6 MILLION DEAD JEWS

Now, I respectfully submit, we are ALL nearly as patriotic as citizens in the THIRD REICH and our reactions mirror theirs during the Holocaust.




don't worry trolls this is my last post!