Article

2004-04-18 Iraq-Jordan

Fallujah Is Realm of Snipers on Both Sides

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Posted by Steve White 2004-04-18 1:36:57 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 The Marine offensive to crush Sunni insurgents in this Euphrates River city has killed five Marines and more than 600 Iraqis, mostly civilians, according to hospital sources.

Were they civilians before or after you took the rifles and ammo off their corpse?

Posted by Charles 2004-04-18 5:02:08 PM|| 2004-04-18 5:02:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Hard to tell an "insurgent" from a civ when they've been cleaned of weapons.

Posted by mojo 2004-04-18 5:19:41 PM|| 2004-04-18 5:19:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Some (~~terrorists~~ Iraqis) have done combat dive rolls across streets or hidden behind civilians to try to avoid being hit, Marines said.

Is that sort of, like, an imitation of the Palestinian police training program?

Posted by Raj 2004-04-18 6:18:24 PM|| [http://angrycyclist.blogspot.com/] 2004-04-18 6:18:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 They are simply Damn Good Rat Killers! Keep it up..........

Posted by dorf 2004-04-18 6:22:31 PM|| 2004-04-18 6:22:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 "The Marine offensive to crush Sunni insurgents in this Euphrates River city has killed five Marines and more than 600 Iraqis, mostly civilians, according to hospital sources."

Outrageous. If the president says the White House is white, the press would spend a few days confirming the claim before mentioning it. But here they endlessly echo a very dubious and highly inflammatory charge without any qualification or confirmation. For starters, where are the 1,200 to 1,800 wounded we would expect to accompany the 600 dead? Oh -- thought so.

Meanwhile, sad as it is, there might be some darwinian culling going on in Fallujah, if this part of the report is accurate:

"Residents of Fallujah have lived in terror of the Marine snipers and have blamed them for civilian deaths, particularly during heavy fighting in the first week after the siege began April 5. Iraqis said it seemed that just stepping outside or looking out a window at the wrong time could draw sniper fire."

Imagine that. "Just stepping outside or looking out a window" in the midst of a wild fire-fight in which some of the participants are shooting out doors and through windows might draw fire. Those savage trigger-happy US Marines ....

Posted by IceCold 2004-04-18 6:51:19 PM|| 2004-04-18 6:51:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 The Marine offensive to crush Sunni insurgents in this Euphrates River city has killed five Marines and more than 600 Iraqis, mostly civilians, according to hospital sources.

We spend untold thousands of dollars meticulously training military snipers to readily distinguish combatants from civilians. No sniper worth his salt could make so many mistakes and still be permitted to hold their post.

For starters, where are the 1,200 to 1,800 wounded we would expect to accompany the 600 dead?

Bingo, IceCold! The degree of alleged incompetence implied by such a statement would explicitly demand huge numbers of non-fatal hits. Where are they?

Posted by Zenster 2004-04-18 11:11:22 PM|| 2004-04-18 11:11:22 PM|| Front Page Top

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