4 soldiers from 82nd Airborne blown up while passing out candy to Iraqi kids

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=258354

Four 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers were killed and two were wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber on a scooter detonated an explosive while the paratroopers handed out candy to a group of Iraqi children.

Killed in the blast were:

Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 25, from Van Buren, Maine.
Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez, 21, from New Freedom, Pa.
Cpl. Jason Nunez, 22, from Naranjito, Puerto Rico.
Pfc. Anthony J. White, 21, from Columbia, S.C.

[aquart]

1. Can we abolish that practice now, please?

It will not make them like us.

[Canuckistanian]

18. That's what I was going to say

What's the use? It only does more harm than good.

This ain't WWII and they aren't starving Italian kids.

They're the children of people who want to see American soldiers dead.

[NNN0LHI]

47. There were orders to stop doing this a few years ago from high up

Someone must have not received the memo?

Don

[joshcryer]

53. The soldiers do it to have a bit of brightness in their day.

Children are largely innocent and sweet, when they are given the gift of candy and such their reactions can take away the pain of war quite readily.

No order can stop soliders from doing this sort of thing.

[NNN0LHI]

54. Its a no win situation as you can see. The Iraqis are never going to become endeared to us

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1002-01.htm

Published on Saturday, October 2, 2004 by the Associated Press

Mourning Iraqis Blame U.S. Troops for Massacre of Children

by Sameer N. Yacoub

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Families of the 35 children who died in a string of bombings in Baghdad blamed American troops for the tragedy, accusing them of attracting insurgents to a ceremony where the attacks occurred.

By Friday, tents had sprung up in the el-Amel neighborhood in Baghdad to accommodate mourners who gathered to share their grief from the Thursday attack. In the carnage, several explosions ripped into a crowd gathered to celebrate the inauguration of a new, much needed sewage plant.

Residents said that before the start of the celebration, U.S. soldiers called upon the children through loudspeakers to join the crowd, promising them sweets. There were an unusually large number around because the long school holidays were nearing an end.

"I blame the Americans for this tragedy. They wanted to make human shields out of our children. They should have kept the children away from danger," said Abdel-Hadi al-Badri, a cleric a the al-Mubashroun al-Ashra mosque, breaking down in tears during Friday prayers.

[Dammit Ann]

2. I'm so glad I bought an 18 pack.

MY GOD...

This plus the Tillman stuff today is just beyond sad. I'm getting drunk.

[Monkeyman]

3. I just opened a my Chivas

I think I need a few tonight after the two articles I posted and then this.

[Dammit Ann]

6. cheers, love.

:toast: to their bravery and loss. Seems callous, it's just how us Irish deal with life (and death).

[vickitulsa]

I'm with ya, dammitann and Monkeyman!

It's days like this that make me wish I hadn't had to quit drinking years ago....

I too have been reading threads at DU and commenting when my blood pressure is getting way high, with good cause. And then I couldn't help opening this thread and reading it also, so I'm badly in need of something calming.

I can't see how the children receiving the soldiers' candy would NOT have been injured and killed as well, because if they had been savvy enough to realize they should scatter when the suicide bomber approached on his scooter, our troops would have known to get the hell out of there too.

The agonies of this wicked, mindless madness in Iraq just go on and on and there is no end in sight!

Some nights, late like this when the obstacles to peace and restoration of our country seem so insurmountably high, I just find it hard to go on fighting and continue hoping.

*Sigh*

*Tears spill*

All I can think to do is cuddle up with my little dog, who knows nothing of these horrors and seems so happy for it....

[Dammit Ann]

22. Pets are a blessing.

That's another thought that sometimes keeps me up at night... what happened to all the animals? Lives destroyed and disrupted, you know they were abandoned. I've read horror stories of packs of stray dogs, you can only imagine... God help us all.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

24. I know a fella who works for Grumann . . .

. . . he was over there for a year in 2003-04.

They took in a starving kitten and somehow managed to get it back to the states. It is thriving, somewhere on the east coast now.

Then there's all the others . . .

The plight of the weakest, who are caught up in this--the women, children, elderly and animals, are simply "collateral damage" to these soulless, hollow pricks who started this madness.

My mother raised me not to hate. It worked for about forty years. Until the '00 election . . .

Hate just came so natural with these thugs . . .

[Dammit Ann]

26. How can you not hate?

Fuck. It's all I can do not to give up completely. The sadness that comes from being AWARE is almost too much to handle these dark days.

Thanks for the kitten story, I took in my baby as a starving one and she is one of my true loves. :cry::toast: weird, I know, it's how I deal.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

28. Quite a bond develops, doesn't it?

Instantaneously.

My youngest cat was sitting right smack on the yellow line in the middle of a 4-lane hiway. We managed to snatch him from the brink . . .

He has repaid me a thousand fold with three years of love.

can't beat love.

Hang in there, lady.

:toast: :hug:

[vickitulsa]

25. Indeed ... God help us all.

Though I can't think of a reason right now why he should even consider it, given the savage harm humans have wrought on all living things on the planet....

I don't think I'll tell Bebo about all the poor dogs in Iraq ... the dogs of war have ruined their lives along with all the human beings in sight.

But the imperial Bushies consider Iraq to be a huge "success"! They have their four major U.S. military bases and those are there forever -- or at least the next few decades, no matter what ends up happening to Iraq. Wicked and perverse, these people squatting in our White House are ... just downright wicked and utterly perverse!

[Dammit Ann]

27. .

:hug: :pals:
Hug Bebo for me, I'm beyond words... :cry:

[vickitulsa]

33. Aww ... okay I will and thanks so much for the hug,

I really needed it tonight. Here's one back! :hug: :)

I feel so wrung out ... just drained and running on fumes ...

But Bebo is stretched out against my back sleeping contentedly, like all is right with the world now. It's how he likes to go to bed when it's finally time to turn out the lights, and it makes me feel better somehow that he wants to be that close, all through the night.

Whenever I roll over or change positions, he shifts with me, without seeming to wake up at all. When I grow still again, he resettles and then heaves a deep sigh, and I imagine I can see his little doggie smile even in his sleep. ;) He weighs only 14 pounds, but I love that warm feel of his little body anyway ... he seems more substantial than that, really.

I don't think we're weird, Ann, I just think we know what love is -- and aren't willing to pass it by. We embrace it and savor it, knowing it for the treasure that it is. All of us who are blessed with what we call "pets" (because we don't know any other name to call them that defines their wonderful roles in our lives) -- we know how fortunate we are!

When I was a kid growing up, my horses and my dogs were my closest of friends and constant companions, so no matter what awful things were going on in my home, I always knew I was loved and valued. And I was never alone. My "pets" kept me sane in an insane world.

Part of me is more glad to this day that animals seem to love me than if the most desirable movie star or rock singer on the planet wanted to be next to me and shower me with gifts.

There is just one "most valuable gift" in the world, to me.

[walldude]

4. I feel for their families

I wonder how many of the kids died. Funny that the link never mentions them.

[The Magistrate]

5. Any Word On Children Involved In The Blast, Sir?

[NNN0LHI]

8. I looked and was unable to locate anything further so far

If I run across something more I will post an update.

Don

[EFerrari]

34. The reporter replied to me and he said it is "unclear" and

that the driver didn't have that information. He did not speculate.

[TheBaldyMan]

52. I think it's safe to say the kids were killed as well,

unfortunately kids suffer more from equivalent injuries. The blast was severe enough to kill a group of troopers so I wouldn't hold out too much hope that the children survived, at best they were severely injured,that would be extremely unlikely.

[MikeNearMcChord]

7. I did not see how many children were killed

but I guess that is irrelevant.;( Damn I hate this war, and I hate the people that got us in this war!

[seriousstan]

9. That is what makes me suspect of this link.

[SaveAmerica]

12. I'm thinking the story/link is valid. That's Fayetteville NC's hometown

paper, it's the nearest civilian city to Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne. Rest in peace, 4 of America's finest. May their families find peace, I know I'm having a hard time with it.

[fed-up]

17. do a bit of research before you question-icasualties dot org

http://www.icasualties.org/oif/

03/27/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 4)
Pfc. Anthony J. White, 21, of Columbia, S.C....assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division....died Mar. 25 in Baqubah...when an ied detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.
03/27/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 3)
Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez, 21, of New Freedom, Pa....assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division....died Mar. 25 in Baqubah...when an ied detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.
03/27/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 2)
Cpl. Jason Nunez, 22, of Naranjito, Puerto Rico...assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division....died Mar. 25 in Baqubah...when an ied detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.
03/27/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (part 1)
Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 24, of South Portland, Maine...assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division....died Mar. 25 in Baqubah...when an ied detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Here is the AP link to the story seriousstan

http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8O4RR2O0.html

N.C.-based soldiers die in Iraq

03/28/2007

Associated Press

Four soldiers from the North Carolina-based 82nd Airborne died over the weekend during combat in Iraq, the Defense Department said Tuesday.

Family members of Sgt. Jason Swiger, 24, of South Portland, Maine, said the four soldiers had left their Humvee on Sunday to hand out candy to a group of Iraqi children when a suicide bomber on a scooter detonated an explosive.

An Army spokeswoman, Spc. Jacqueline Pryor from Fort Bragg, said she couldn't confirm that the soldiers were giving out candy. But she said she didn't have access to the same level of details that were provided to the family.

Swiger joined the Army in May 2000 and reported to the 82nd Airborne in December 2005 as a scout driver. He was on his third tour of Iraq since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

[walldude]

10. Irrelevance is killing us

I feel bad about the soldiers, especially because they were doing something good-hearted, but I feel more for the kids and their families, I mean they were just kids looking for candy for god's sake, and the reporter thinks that it's so not an issue, that they aren't even mentioned in their column. My brain hurts.

[EFerrari]

13. I emailed the reporter.

Your brain hurts because this kind of brutality is traumatizing. Mine hurts, too. Junior is giving us all a case of national PTSD.

[vickitulsa]

16. You summed it up well, sfexpat2000.

This nightmare IS giving the entire nation a case of PTSD, and it just doesn't let up.

I've heard from my active duty friends and their families that quite a few of our soldiers over there share so much of their rations and candy with the Iraqi children that they leave little for themselves to eat sometimes. It's just the nature of the American soldier to do this, but it seems only to endanger both the children and themselves to do so.

Makes me wonder how much more misery this wicked administration can heap upon the people of Iraq, America, and the world before they're done....

I can only hope they get what they truly deserve in the end. What a black hole of karma they have created!

[EFerrari]

30. I have no doubt that they will. Meanwhile, we have to take care

of our people.

[Lester222]

32. ...

"It's just the nature of the American soldier to do this"

:crazy:

[walldude]

29. Thanks sf,

I should have but am just too tired to deal with it tonight... Coming on DU didn't help either :eyes:

[EFerrari]

31. A lot of us have some major burn out. Hang in, walldude.

:hi:

[bdamomma]

42. PTSD yea, the pharmaceutical companies are making millions

off us. we got to get these maniacs out of the WH.

[EFerrari]

51. Working on it!

www.impeach07.org
www.sfimpeachnow.com

:hi:

[MikeNearMcChord]

14. Don't get me wrong, my heart goes out to the families

of the soldiers, but I thought this practice stopped when there was a similiar act of violence awhile back, and IIRC, many Iraqi parents were mad at the US for doing this practice. I can understand the insurgent fighting to kick out the occupation force, but damn them for killing kids just to get at the soldiers!:mad:

[Jonathan50]

37. We kill kids too....

Just to get at the "insurgents"..

Or do you think a 2000 lb JDAM "smart bomb" is smart enough to not go off when children are present?

[bdamomma]

41. we do not belong there, I hate this regime we have and

what they are doing to a nation that did not do anything to us.

[lebkuchen]

11. wow. so that's how they were killed

It's much too late to win hearts and minds. While the troops are passing out candy, Blackwater is doing drive-by shootings.

[Clarkie1]

15. They died trying to do good.

Their country failed them. May they rest in peace.

[ClayZ]

19. .

:cry:

[judaspriestess]

20. How awful

RIP brothers, Thank you for your service and unfortunately your sacrifice. My condolences to their families. They were just young men.

[Gregorian]

21. There is no mind "beautiful" enough to not be affected by this.

And more people should be wondering how many of those kids are injured without a hospital tonight.

I can't cry anymore. I don't have enough tears.

Is there any sanity left! Find it, George!

[leftchick]

35. no mention if any Iraqi children died

they should have given up this meaningless gesture years ago.

[EFerrari]

36. Reporter says the driver didn't have that information.

I imagine there has been a lot of silent pressure for people to "not have" this kind of information. :mad:

[ronnie624]

38. Which is one reason I'm skeptical

of the claim that the soldiers were handing out candy to Iraqi children. This is exactly the sort of propaganda that is used to generate outrage and righteous indignation in a target audience.

The Bush administration and its backers are far from done with their slaughter in the Middle East and beyond. This sort of subtle propaganda is used to generate hatred and manufacture support for war.

[EFerrari]

39. Agree. N/t

[NNN0LHI]

43. Passing out candy to the kids appears to be a pretty common practice in Iraq

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222858,00.html



A U.S. Marine hands out candy to Iraqi girls during a patrol in Barwanah, Iraq.



http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=HPIA,HPIA:2006-34,HPIA:en&q=iraq%2bpassing+out+candy

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,100,000 for iraq+passing out candy. (0.15 seconds)

Winds of Change.NET: Bombing Children: The Islamists' EvilThe Islamists' actions in Iraq, which you seek to excuse and minimize with your ... Odd, here I was thinking individual soldiers were giving out candy. ...
www.windsofchange.net/archives/007172.php - 78k - Cached - Similar pages

U.S. troops in Iraq hit by suicide bomber while passing out candy ...U.S. troops in Iraq hit by suicide bomber while passing out candy to children; 28 dead. This was the headline in my local paper today. ...
fruitsaladfamily.wordpress.com/.../ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

TBIFOC: In Islam, candy is for celebrating murder, not making friendsOh, and perhaps Commander in Chief Bush should tell the troops to stop passing out candy and, instead, leave it to the Iraqi military to pass out the candy. ...
isfullofcrap.com/oldcrap/2005/07/in_islam_candy.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

Forgotten Soldiers Outreach, Inc. (Not-for-Profit)Sgt. Kristopher Knight photographed in Iraq. Home / Lake Worth parade / Sgt. Gardner passing out candy to the kids. Sgt. Gardner passing out candy to the ...
www.forgottensoldiers.org/.../details.php?image_id=502&sessionid=71430f4ac608fea419a30717ab932358 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Marine Corps News -> Iraqi Security Forces deliver school supplies ...By taking school supplies to the children attending Al Anbar School, and passing out candy and soccer balls in the city, the Iraqi forces create an ...
www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/18D739AA018CC2DD852572A3003A1CC1?opendocument - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Iraq: Car bomb kills children, U-S soldier handing out candy ...Re: Iraq: Car bomb kills children, U-S soldier handing out candy new ... I would encourage more candy being passed out. ...
uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=freespace&Number=274604&page=11&view=collapsed... - 59k - Cached - Similar pages

Ruidoso News - Candy-treat bags sent to Iraq for soldiersCandy-treat bags sent to Iraq for soldiers ... Justin wants small trinkets for the Iraqi police to pass out to the children as they patrol. ...
www.ruidosonews.com/lifestyle/ci_5448212 - 37k - Cached - Similar pages

War reflection: With the Marines in IraqBravo 1/5 was one of the first two units to cross into Iraq from Kuwait at the ... They exist in real life, just as the scenes of GIs passing out candy to ...
www.semperfi785.com/War%20reflection.htm - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

NPR : Journalist Examines Iraq Battle In-DepthAnd they end up in Iraq pretty much thinking they're going to be passing out candy," says ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Martha Raddatz. ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7668067 - Similar pages

Star-Telegram.com | 03/26/2007 | Benbrook soldier killed in IraqIn Iraq, Spc. Springer played Santa Claus, pulling out candy, ... Spc. Springer gave the presents to members of his platoon to pass out, his father said. ...
www.star-telegram.com/229/story/48309.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages

[ronnie624]

45. Yes. Those are excellent examples as well. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

46. Thing is the military knows bad things happen when they do this but keep doing it anyway

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63401-2004Sep30.html

Dozens of Children Killed in Iraq Attack

Bomb Explodes at Baghdad Ceremony; U.S. Troops Launch Offensive on Samarra

By Karl Vick, Khalid Saffar and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, October 1, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 1 -- The wails echoed off the tile surfaces of the emergency room at Yarmouk Hospital. Amid the blood and stretchers, Majeed Aboud turned his tear-stained face to the body of his 5-year-old son, Mohammad, one of at least 34 children killed when a car bomb exploded as they gathered around U.S. soldiers handing out candy and cakes in a southern Baghdad neighborhood.

The child's thin body was covered by a sheet. The sheet was covered with blood.

[ronnie624]

49. Very compelling and heart-wrenching.

I can well understand why so many wish to cling to the myths that offer us comfort.

[leftchick]

44. just like the children being used as decoys by insurgents

I don't buy that one either but it plays well on american TV for continued outrage.

[bdamomma]

40. yea, john mc cain is really "safe" out there huh?

:sarcasm:

[Forkboy]

48. Another perfect day for a stroll around Baghdad

[frylock]

50. maybe mav should try his hand at passing out candy in the streets of baghdad?