Let's Go Bag Us A Savage

[walldude]

Let's go bag us a savage.

Those were the words debated by Bravo Company in Afghanistan. Then one day they were in the farming village of La Mohammad Kalay. The officers walked to a compound to speak with the village elder while 2 of the soldiers in the platoon looked around for someone to kill.

Just their luck up walks a 15 year old boy. 15… Fucking… Years… Old.
As the boy gets closer they yell at him to stop. The soldiers then pull out a hand grenade and throw it at the boy. 15 years old. The grenade goes off and they open fire. Killing the… 15.. Year… Old…. Savage.

In what was called a "break in protocol the two soldiers decided to "pose" for pictures. You can see them in Rolling Stone if you have the stomach for it. An American soldier holding up the head of a DEAD 15 YEAR OLD BOY and smiling like he had bagged a deer.

Alas, pictures were not enough. The Platoon Sgt decided to take a souvenir. He took a pair of scissors and cut off the pinky finger of that 15 year old savage. He then put it in a plastic baggy for safe keeping.

Oh and in a horrifying coincidence the boy was the son of the village elder that the officers went to speak with. The village elder who watched as the soldiers took pictures of themselves with his dead son.

This was just the start of a killing spree that was well known among the Army and lasted until a whistle blower came forward. A killing spree that included photos of the kills, and souvenirs like pulling teeth, cutting off fingers and grabbing pieces of bone off of those savage Afghani's.

So here I sit. Reading about how these Afghani people are just savages killing people over a book burning..

As an agnostic I have no understanding of why the burning of some paper would warrant such actions.

But I'm also a father, and a human being. And I'm done looking for who's to blame because...

I'm not sure who the savages are anymore.

[Bragi]

1. Both atrocities need to be condemned

I make the comment above because your concluding sentences seem to juxtapose the two atrocities in a manner that suggests one justifies, or at least explains, the other.

Not sure if that was your intent. If so, I disagree.

[gratuitous]

2. If the Afghanis didn't want us to invade

They shouldn't have been such a terrific place for a natural gas pipeline. But don't worry overmuch about Afghanistan; a couple of years ago we were doing this to Iraqis. And coming soon to a Libya near you! 'Cause we're humanitarians.

[mysuzuki2]

3. War does not always bring out the best in people

that's one reason why we should not be involved in unnecessary wars.