In Mosul, a Battle 'Beyond Ruthless'

[stevedeshazer]

Onetime Gang Member Applies Rules of Street

MOSUL, Iraq -- From inside a vacant building, Sgt. 1st Class Domingo Ruiz watched through a rifle scope as three cars stopped on the other side of the road. A man carrying a machine gun got out and began to transfer weapons into the trunk of one of the cars.

"Take him down," Ruiz told a sniper.

The sniper fired his powerful M-14 rifle and the man's head exploded, several American soldiers recalled. As he fell, more soldiers opened fire, killing at least one other insurgent. After the ambush, the Americans scooped up a piece of skull and took it back to their base as evidence of the successful mission.

The March 12 attack -- swift and brutally violent -- bore the hallmarks of operations that have made Ruiz, 39, a former Brooklyn gang member, renowned among U.S. troops in Mosul and, in many ways, a symbol of the optimism that has pervaded the military since Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48017-2005Apr12.html

[bemildred]

1. I see light at the end of the tunnel.

No doubt this will help with recruiting problems too.

[MisterP]

2. holy cramp!

[CottonBear]

3. What happens here when these snipers return to civilian life?

:scared:

[Theduckno2]

4. No judge, no jury, no appeal and no chance at rehabilitation.

Termination with extreme prejudice works very well against groups that threaten public safety. Just imagine if the police in Brooklyn could use such a tactic against those groups that threaten public safety. Oh, wait a minute, then this story might not have happened as it did. Remember the soldiers may come home with the "swift and brutally violent" in their minds and either they adapt or society has to.

[CoffeeCat]

5. Ok, ok you reporters in the mainstream media...enough with the articles...

...that glorify the bloodthirsty psychopaths that our soldiers have become.

I'm so sick of this bullshit.

Yes. We understand that our soldiers are killing machines and that they're like little rabid squirrels--stowing away Iraqi skulls and body parts that they keep as souvenirs. We know that shoot at anything that moves. We get that they enjoy it. We get that they hate the Iraqi people.

They don't give a shit. We get it.

Why don't you lazy cow reporters start telling the truth about the real consequences of this war, and what it has done to the Iraqi people?

I'm sure the Iraqis---you know, the people we're supposed to be LIBERATING!!!--have a completely different opinion of the trigger-happy American soldiers who blow up Iraqi men, women and children--just because they can.

We've killed 100,000+ Iraqi citizens, we've tortured many in prison and we currently are imprisoning 15,000 Iraqis. Maybe those wild-eyed, sociopathic soldiers who no longer value life are the PROBLEM that needs fixing. We don't need to glorify and admire soldiers who relish the chance to blow up more Iraqis.

[daleo]

6. Basically a propaganda piece in my opinion

You wonder the purpose of these articles, given the usual whitewashing of the war. Desensitize the population to the notion of killing foreigners? Foreigners today, protesters tomorrow? I don't' know, but it was a disturbing piece.

[LynnTheDem]

7. "a symbol of the optimism" ...if that's "optimism",

we don't want to know the pessimism.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. Gang members, the pride of the United States Military?

.
.
.

Why am I not surprised?

From the posted article:

Ruiz said the decision to pick up the skull fragment and take it back to the base was a "sarcastic" gesture to confirm the kill to the battalion. Born, who was not present during the attack, said the soldiers picked up the fragment not as a trophy, which is prohibited under military regulations, but to confirm "that we had the remains of a terrorist."
___________________________________________

not a trophy, nope nope, cuz dat's illegal

and it confirms that they killed a terrorist

how exactly? :shrug:

are them terrarist skulls labelled or sumthin'

me poor li'l Canuk brain jus don unnerstand . . .

[saigon68]

9. the Americans scooped up a piece of skull as evidence of the successful

MISSION

THUGS AND HOODLUMS ON PATROL FOR THE MINISTRY OF HOMELAND SECURITY


The braying crowds will welcome them back with cookies and flag waving.

[Nostradamus]

10. no mention of course of GI's coming home with mangled skulls

but you can be sure that they are...

[Disturbed]

11. What's next,

lampshades made out of skulls or Iraq skin?

[jukes]

12. the captured munitions wd

be evidence enough of the effectiveness of the operation. in actuality, the bodies wd have been searched & possibly retrieved intact for identification purposes.

this piece was obv intended as a rah-rah "feelgood" piece suggesting that we're winning through our "toughness" & booyah bullshit.

the skull fragment trophy was really morbid and indicative of the TV-like desensitivation of the american public.

[HeeBGBz]

13. How disturbing

I'm supposed to be impressed with these guys? Why is the Washington Post glorifying the violence? Come enlist! You too can kill and not go to prison.

[xchrom]

14. i don't care that this lad was a former gang member.

or even that it might make him better at his job.

i care that this is not a war.

i care that this war is based on lies.

i care that the media does not report on the wounded, depleted uranium, innocent iraqi dead, etc.

i care that this admin pressured the cia to invent excuses for this illegal war.

and the beat goes on.