April 12, 2004
DON'T TUG ON SUPERMAN'S CAPE:
Falluja - Highway to hell (Odai Sirri, 12 April 2004, Aljazeera)
Half way between Baghdad and Falluja, Garma is well placed to witness the US bombardment of the latter, where the steadily rising toll of dead Iraqis from the past week's fighting has passed 600. At least 1000 have been reported wounded.With the main routes into the town blocked or too dangerous, Garma – just 15 minutes from Falluja – has become a stepping stone for resistance fighters on their way to help their besieged compatriots. [...]
Stopping to rest at a tea shop before entering the besieged town, Ahmad, a 25-year-old with the worn face of a battle-hardened warrior, tells me of his intentions.
"We're going to assist our brothers in Falluja and try to prevent the massacre of Iraqis."
But Ahmad and his colleagues will have their work cut out for them. Breaking news from Aljazeera on a nearby television shows fresh images from Falluja: scores of dead, including many children. The town has turned into a bloodbath.
The images prove too much for Ahmad; he drops his face into his hands and breaks down. As he walks away, I call an Aljazeera cameraman in Falluja to check on his safety.
My colleague's voice is panic-stricken as he describes the scene, echoing the pictures that have shocked Ahmad.
"There are images we can't show because it's just too gruesome. I have never seen anything like this before," he says.
"There are bodies everywhere, and people can't go out to retrieve them because they're too afraid of being blown away themselves.
"I can't believe the number of children here, we were at the hospital and it’s full of dead and wounded kids.
"The ones that aren’t dead have lost limbs and are wailing in pain, begging for their parents. What parents?" he screams. "I don't have the heart to tell them that their parents are in pieces.
"Back at our office the Americans are shooting at us. I walk out of the bathroom and a laser is pointed at my chest," he says, referring to US sharpshooters in the area.
These are useful lies for our purposes. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 12, 2004 1:38 PM
Who's to say they're not partially true?
Fallujah is playing out somewhat like Mogadishu; an incredibly high ratio of enemy to American casualities, 20 to 1, or more.
In Mogadishu we lost 17 Rangers, while the total Somali casualities were probably around 1000, many of them women and children who were being used as human shields, or were combantants, themselves.
When it's all played out, people will be talking (as they already are) about "the frightful combat efficiency" of the USMC.
The article was intended to show how brutal the US is. The mainstream media will push this theme. Which as HD notes actually probably increases our standing in the ME. It also goes against the TET offensive theme when 10-1, 20-1 ratios become known.
Posted by: AWW at April 12, 2004 2:04 PMH.D.:
If I recall correctly, always a dicey proposition, Mark Bowden suggested that we killed several thousand.
Posted by: oj at April 12, 2004 2:06 PMThe higher body count the better. That is the only fact that is understood in this region. The Iraqis have to get this into their heads. Help us (and yourselves) or this will continue.
I want every bullet examined to determine where it came from.
How old are these "children?"
Der Spiegel busted them, got ahold of text message. Women and "children" were joining those willingly in Fallujah.
Posted by: Sandy P at April 12, 2004 3:01 PM"Back at our office the Americans are shooting at us. I walk out of the bathroom and a laser is pointed at my chest," he says, referring to US sharpshooters in the area.
He's obviously lying. If a U.S. sharpshooter had a bead on him and fired, he'd already be dead.
Posted by: Mike Morley at April 12, 2004 3:42 PMMike M:
If I am not much confused, lasers are a short range aiming aid, not a long-range sight. Snipers might use non-visible lasers as rangefinders, but I doubt it.
Posted by: mike earl at April 12, 2004 4:27 PMThey use laser rangefinders on the M1 Abrams, which has an effective range close on 3,000 yards, but I don't know if there's a laser sight for the Barrett .50-cal. sniper rifle or not. It probably doesn't need one--Barrett rifles are almost inhumanly accurate. In any event, my main point still stands: if a U.S. sniper had camera boy in his sights and fired, camera boy would be shaking hands with the Prophet in the afterlife.
Posted by: Mike Morley at April 12, 2004 5:01 PMThe M1 laser is invisible to the naked eye.
Sniper rifles do not use red dot lasers at long range.
Since when has Al Jiz not shown video for being to graphic?
We must be ready to demonstrate that the Marines made reasonable efforts to protect non combatants, which of course they did. This is for domestic consumption and to give the IGC some reason to stay involved (if they are at all worth having).
Al Jiz does us a great service by squawking this disinformation. I hope that they receive a wide audience. This is what happens when you brutalize Americans.
Posted by: JAB at April 12, 2004 5:58 PM> These are useful lies for our purposes.
You mean we're not shooting at Al Jazeera folks?
The red laser dot meme is a victory for our side. Every shoot-em-up movie now made has at least one scene with red dots sweeping around a dimly lit room. Heck, even an old movie like Predator featured a red dot (although in that movie it was a red-dot triangle).
And every movie viewer knows just what that means. And every Al Jezzera reporter and reader knows just what it means, too.
It means that your life is in the hands of an American soldier---and that if you continue to live it's a gift from that same American.
Posted by: ray at April 12, 2004 6:14 PMray:
Yes, except it doesn't actually happen at ranges over a few yards. Ergo, the Al-Jazeera cameraman is most likely lying based on what he sees in the movies.
Posted by: mike earl at April 12, 2004 11:51 PMYou mean we're not shooting at Al Jazeera folks?
As noted, they are still alive to make these reports therefore we're not shooting at them.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at April 13, 2004 11:54 AMMake a desert. Call it Peace.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at April 14, 2004 2:58 AM