[Ghostavo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4320111.stm

[Kie99]

I couldn't help myself laughing after I heard this, I know a man has died and I shouldn't laugh but I couldn't help it.

EDIT: Typos

[aldo_14]

It's quite mind-boggling insane, really.......

[Swamp_Thing]

I was about to post the same story when i spotted this thread.
Those trigger happy fools... Imagine getting rescued after weeks of hardship, only to die at the hands of the so-called "friendly" forces. Berlusconni asked for an explanation  and said someone has to be accountable for this, but we all know how it will end: a slap on the wrist of the platoon leader in charge of the checkpoint, maybe a demotion, and that´s about it.

The guy that died was the one who negotiated the release of the woman. I bet he was really ****ting his panths when he went to meet the kidnappers. Imagine his surprise founding out that the real threat to his life was on the other side of the proverbial fence...

[Ford Prefect]

Congratulations, military:

[Rictor]

*applauds*

You know, if she wasn't Italian, no one would even have noticed.

[Deepblue]

Originally posted by Swamp_Thing
I was about to post the same story when i spotted this thread.
Those trigger happy fools... Imagine getting rescued after weeks of hardship, only to die at the hands of the so-called "friendly" forces. Berlusconni asked for an explanation  and said someone has to be accountable for this, but we all know how it will end: a slap on the wrist of the platoon leader in charge of the checkpoint, maybe a demotion, and that´s about it.

The guy that died was the one who negotiated the release of the woman. I bet he was really ****ting his panths when he went to meet the kidnappers. Imagine his surprise founding out that the real threat to his life was on the other side of the proverbial fence...

I would be bloody scared if I was on patrol at night and some car came rushing at me and my squad. Sure the loss is tragic, but he should have known better NOT to stop when they were given fair warning.

[Roanoke]

Well, if you're manning a checkpoint, in a city famous for suicide car bombings, and a car speeds at you (depsite numerous warnings to stop) wouldn't you fire at it ? I sure as **** would. Hell, I'd be reaching for the anti-tank stuff and calling in the 'choppers.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Deepblue


I would be bloody scared if I was on patrol at night and some car came rushing at me and my squad. Sure the loss is tragic, but he should have known better NOT to stop when they were given fair warning.

Like they actually gave the fair warning they described

"Miss, you're almost back home, but I'm sorry, there's a US army checkpoint in front of us, so to add some more fun, we'll break through, some adrenaline before the flyingback, you know?"

Come on.

[Kie99]

Originally posted by Nico


Like they actually gave the fair warning they described

So the U.S. Soldiers say
"Car.  It moving! We're in a dangerous city! All guns FIRE!":doubt:?

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Deepblue


I would be bloody scared if I was on patrol at night and some car came rushing at me and my squad. Sure the loss is tragic, but he should have known better NOT to stop when they were given fair warning.

I believe the standard hostage retrieval process is to take the hostage and run like hell; don't stop at roadblocks, becuase it might be an ambush.  From what I understand, it was fired at before it reached the roadblock, so it's unclear if it had the chance to stop anyways.......

Regardless, someone really ****ed up on the organisation here.

[Nico]

Originally posted by kietotheworld


So the U.S. Soldiers say
"Car.  It moving! We're in a dangerous city! All guns FIRE!":doubt:?

Oh, coz it never happened?

yes, laugh if you want, but I believe this is EXACTLY what happened

Like an italian secret agent or whatever would just ignore a US checkpoint and gunfire directed at him, in a country in near state of war.
Ah well, of course these people couldn't lie, could they

[Kie99]

Originally posted by Nico


Oh, coz it never happened?

yes, laugh if you want, but I believe this is EXACTLY what happened

Like an italian secret agent or whatever would just ignore a US checkpoint and gunfire directed at him, in a country in near state of war.
Ah well, of course these people couldn't lie, could they

I agree with Aldo for once, they probably thought it was an ambush and just kept going.

They must have thought they'd have more chance of survival running a gauntlet than stopping and risking being shot.

[Flipside]

Has anyone noticed how this war's name has evolved?

War Against Iraq
War In Iraq
War For Iraq
Stuggle in Iraq
Struggle against Iraq
and now....

The Struggle For Iraq....

[karajorma]

You missed the earlier

The Struggle For A Reason We're In Iraq.

That one ended as blame the Brits for giving us bad info.

[Ghostavo]

The article continues aparently:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4320961.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4321913.stm

[Grug]

I was going to post this when I got back from my trip too, but someone beat me.

Stupid yank army, too many poorly trained, too many under 20, too much inexperience.

The story seems different to what we got here too. Probably censored as much as possible.

But the secret service guy that died had thrown himself over her and took the brunt of it and died. She took a hit in the shoulder and is in hospital at the moment I think.

This wouldn't be the first time they've made a balls of things though...

[Ace]

I posted about this article on another forum, sadly with a bunch of ultraconservatives who screamed about my being "un-American" and gave a lecture on "How dare I post something that refers to criticisms of the US until I die for Her!" (with a capital "H")

*sigh*

My main question is why are they shooting at the engine? Police are trained to shoot the tires, and I assume that a military in an occupation would have similar training?

[Grug]

It was a probably a bunch of fresh recruits for a seemingly simple task.

Inexperience and jumpy nerves can cause so much BS these days.

un-american is fine by me. Especially seeing as I'm not American.

But that is more ignorance than patriotism. There is so many silly people in the world it's scarey. Mind if there were more smart people it would probably be worse. Humanity wise anyway.

[Rictor]

Its not really too complicated. The policy is "shoot anything that moves", I would have thought that would be apparent after nearly two years and who knows how many civilians gunned down.

The only reason that this is getting the attention that it is, is because she was Italian and a recently freed hostage at that. Otherwise, it would probably hardly have even made the news.