US soldiers kill 10-year-old Iraqi girl

Those soldiers shouldn't be there killing people. It's a different country and should govern itself and NOT have US troops invading.

That said, I think the soldiers are victims too. War does horrible things to the mind and they probably don't think properly when shooting. They are probably just assuming the worst (as propaganda affects their weakened minds and causes them to fear everyone who isn't part of the US army) and reacting to situations accordingly.

I am not, however, saying that the death of that girl is acceptable, not by any means. No matter how she died, it happened in a warzone. No one should die from something done to them by another human. We're all in this together. Why should we fight each other? War is the most illogical thing we can be involved in.

You wouldn't kill your family so why would you kill someone else's?

Originally posted by 44soulslayerDont forget that they keep you safe

Originally posted by LLoyd45
Exactly what is it they're keeping us safe from?

LLoyd45, you beat me to it there.
I don't understand how they are keeping your country safe when the real enemies are the ones who initiated and are orchestrating the war.

reply to post by BlueRaja


A great deal of the insurgents, at least in the beginning are Sunni's who want to maintain control of Iraq, even though they are the minority, and they are the ones who carry out most of terrorist attacks. Then their are the radical elements of the Shia population who hate the West because of their religion.

Why are we in Iraq, what was the excuse? Remember the war on terror. Hussein was a supporter of terrorism, especially against Israel. The idea is if we are fighting in the Middle East, we will not be fighting here in the U.S.. Don't forget all the unprovoked attacks against the U.S. by Muslim extremists, long before 9-11. Considering what Muslims are doing in Europe and Africa and everywhere else, it is difficult to claim that this war that has been brought to the Middle East was not brought on by the actions of Muslims.

reply to post by poet1b


I think you are confusing me with someone I was responding to.

My heart breaks for all children affected by war, and again I must reiterate that the Iraqi insurgency is well within their rights to want us out of there, I want us out of there too, but what about the Iraqis who do want us there? Is there say less important than the others? The country is divided into so many factions, so it's alot more complicated than just "the US is occupying a country where we're not wanted". If ALL Iraqis came together and said "get out and we'll take care of ourselves", we would have no choice but to leave. I wish they would. Another factor is, the insurgency is made up largely of non-Iraqis, who have just as little right to be there as we do. They can go F themselves as far as I'm concerned. They put FAR less value on human life and preserving it than we do, that's fact. They have NO problem blowing up a hundred of their people to get a couple of ours. They have NO problem using children in their attacks...

However, an Iraqi soldier, who did not want to be named, has confirmed that he witnessed such an attack in the past two weeks. He said a very good looking boy approached him and a group of his fellow soldiers and then blew himself up.

“When he came near my colleagues, there was no time to run,” the soldier said. He said he escaped with a few injuries while his friends were killed.

At least three insurgent groups [which declined to be named] have admitted to using children as helpers - two groups in Baghdad and one in Anbar.

“We can fight adults but how can we fight children if our duty is to protect them?” asked the soldier who had survived the above attack.

The child suicide bomber in the above attack, 11-year-old Muhammad Saleh, is considered a hero by fellow child insurgents. The man who says he trained him did not want to be named. He said he has trained 22 children, between the ages of 7 and 12, to be suicide bombers or militants.

“He [Muhammed] wore a bomb belt and went close to an Iraqi army compound. Because he was a child, no one paid attention when he got close to them,” the instructor said, adding that he watched at least five soldiers get killed in the attack.

www.irinnews.org...

and they know full well that if the US shoots at children, who are legitimate threats, they will be seen as monsters. They GLADLY sacrifice children just for the bad PR for the US. And to Lone Gunman, whom I replied to earlier, if we were invaded by Russia, would you approve of using children to fight them??? If they didn't, if they at least had a shred of morality, they wouldn't use children and cause soldiers to have to decide on a dime whether a child is about to kill them, and react.

These "men" that purposely use children, the ones you are defending, are the ones putting children in harms way against soldiers who have no desire to shoot them, and it will haunt them forever, when it should have never had to happen in the first place.



[edit on 14-3-2008 by 27jd]

I am a war veteran from the "War on Terror". There are alot of factors that you civilians do not see. Terrorists hiding behind little children and women because they know we can not fire into a crowd of unarmed people. But when you have been where I have been, and seen these things first hand, you will understand. You all sit in the comfort of your home thinking of things to say to make yourselfs feel better about your day to day life. Then you want to say some [SNIP] about us troops, and then justify yourself without knowing what we go through on a daily basis in a foreign country. You see, we build a bond with our fellow soldiers. They become family. And when you see family get hurt, you want payback. No one wants to see a child get hurt. NO ONE. Most people do no know the stress of war. But we do what we have to do to survive. Terrorists use women and children because in the media if they get killed they become victims of war so it makes us look bad. I am not saying this government is right. But when our fellow citizens blame our troops and not the leaders, why do think so many people go AWOL? We troops are not looking for fame or glory, we are trying to do a service for our country, and in return get some type of college or bonus of some type. No one joins the military in hopes of killing or going to war. We are fighting for the american public and what we stand for. If you don't like it, do not be mad at us troops, you re-elected the president.







Mod Edit: Please see ABOUT ATS: Vulgarity and The Automatic ATS Censors. Thank you - Jak

[edit on 16/3/08 by JAK]

oldreg, nobody is talking [SNIP] about the troops.

I have started a thread on this topic : Pro-government pro-military posters: please, zip the lips.

It is a reminder to you military posters that discussions are not about YOU. They are about individual topics... they are not about YOU. Nobody in here is talking [SNIP] about YOU.







Mod Edit: Please see ABOUT ATS: Vulgarity and The Automatic ATS Censors. Thank you - Jak


[edit on 16/3/08 by JAK]

Originally posted by Mr. Ree


Some people I know would have shot her mother. Lucky for the mother, the particular soldiers in this case did not shoot the mother - all they did was fire a warning shot that happened to kill a 10 year old child who they didn't see and who was in the wrong place or the wrong time (or else she was already shot). It really doesn't matter. What really matters is that they tried to save her life - but you don't respect that.

I bet you think rape victims are just "in the wrong place or the wrong time" too eh . Maybe murder victims and everyone else . Were the blacks in the wrong place too . Maybe the jews and the polish ?

Typical. Blame the victim . Simply sickening!!!

Originally posted by NewWorldOver
oldreg, nobody is talking [Snip] about the troops.

I have started a thread on this topic : Pro-government pro-military posters: please, zip the lips.

It is a reminder to you military posters that discussions are not about YOU. They are about individual topics... they are not about YOU. Nobody in here is talking [Snip] about YOU.

Are you serious? You pretty much just said anyone with a different opinion on this topic don't post. Forget about anyone who might have experience related to this issue. This thread is for people who have read articles on the situation only.

You said the girl was hiding in another one of your posts. I went back through the thread to find that link. In that article it said the girl was behind a berm and the soldier was firing a warning shot at here mother. Berm meaning a pile of dirt or object that you cannot see behind. Warning shot meaning not to kill but to warn the individual that they are doing something which might be threatening and if they continue force will have to be used. This was an accident, tragic but an accident. There will be no trial, and there is no telling what the soldier is going through knowing that they accidentally killed a child.

This is like that movie "Lier, Lier".
Jim Carry: I object
Judge: On what grounds?
Jim Carry: Because it's devastating to my case!

I have tried to explain in a reasonable manner. It's not about me, it's about the guy next to me trying to make sure we get back home. It's about the guy willing to fight and disarm the insurgency before another IED ends up on the roads of Iraq.




Mod Edit: Quote edit, censor correction - Jak


[edit on 16/3/08 by JAK]

Originally posted by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR

I bet you think rape victims are just "in the wrong place or the wrong time" too eh . Maybe murder victims and everyone else . Were the blacks in the wrong place too . Maybe the jews and the polish ?

Typical. Blame the victim . Simply sickening!!!

This is where other opinions can come in handy. He was not saying she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is saying that this soldier was trying to fire a warning shot, a shot not intended to kill or harm.

I don't even like talking about Iraq. It's almost a anything you say can and will be used against you type of deal.

reply to post by Styki


Hey Styki. Although we may not agree on this particular incident, I do agree with you about discussions of Iraq. They are getting almost as bad as religious discussions. My goal in posting threads is to get different opinions and this one has certainly achieved that goal. I just wish things could be more civil sometimes. But, as for your last post. Certain people seem to post opinions completely opposite of another just so they can rile things up. If you notice, the post by Mr. Ree was indeed for that reason. If you look at his track record, it is quite obvious. Those kind of statements are the one's that tend to get people fired up.

Originally posted by Styki

Are you serious? You pretty much just said anyone with a different opinion on this topic don't post.

No. I didn't.

I know this is a one liner response but I don't find this worth the time anymore. You people need to realize that nobody is trying to silence you OR talk crap about you...

I don't think all of us are on the same page. Maybe we are not even readying the same book. Let's start off with something easy and go from there.

I don't believe anybody wanted this girl to die.

Originally posted by NewWorldOver

No. I didn't.

I know this is a one liner response but I don't find this worth the time anymore. You people need to realize that nobody is trying to silence you OR talk crap about you...

You referred to a thread titled "Pro-government Pro-military people please zip the lips"

It's fine you don't think it's worth the time but when people are talking the people who look after me in battle I can always find the time. When this is a situation such as this where there is a lot of gray area I think an opinion of someone who has experience is highly valuable.

reply to post by palehorse23


Exactly, I think we all get stuck defending ourselves sometimes. Then we start moving away from the real point of the matter. It's a sad thing that this girl died.

I cant help but be reminded of stories from the vietnam war about the vietnamese soldiers who would strap bombs to children and send them up to the american soldiers and have them beg for food. Once our soldiers would get close enough the vietnamese would blow up the child and any american soldier who was close by. Our soldiers would often become paranoid because of this. They would often ignore any and all children they saw. Some times they would kill them "just incase" even if there was no real sign of a threat. It was a terrible war and so is the war in Iraq. War makes me sick. You hear so much about people who fought in the Vietnam war and how messed up it made them. Im afraid we wil have people just like after the war in Iraq.

It really is amazing that human kind has managed to survive as long as it has.

No, I didn't think it was the victims fault, but they probably should have finished high school first to get at least a minimal comprehension for functional literacy. If they don't get that, then they will never be able to read posts and understand what ideas are being expressed.

edit: whoops, wrong thread.

[edit on 16-3-2008 by Mr. Ree]

reply to post by Rockpuck


its not justified. you cannot harm innocent people. its still going to happen, considering obvious military habits. war is rape and everything else too i guess. a bunch of dumb monkeys we all are.mmmmmmm.

Originally posted by -0mega-
I think some are still stuck at the original posted story from the Iranian news-source, which makes it sound like they were shooting a 10 year old just for the sake of it. (Instead of the YAHOO & MSNBC (sp?) sources that claim she was shot by accident because she was behind a berm

Since when has the Pentagon been honest about what really happened?

Originally posted by TheWalkingFox
This is absurd beyond belief.

Not really. It's quite normal. This sort of thing happens every day in war zones everywhere, bar none.

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth
I cant help but be reminded of stories from the vietnam war about the vietnamese soldiers who would strap bombs to children and send them up to the american soldiers and have them beg for food. Once our soldiers would get close enough the vietnamese would blow up the child and any american soldier who was close by.

What is absurd is that people don't understand this.

[edit on 16/3/08 by NuclearPaul]

First of all the US military does not shoot at ANYONE until THEY are under attack.

2. Those that attack them hide within the population and use civilians and civilian occupied buildings as shields. It is amazing the few numbers of civilian killed by the US military because of this, but the Military goes to great lengths to prevent it as much as possible.

3. On the other hand the insurgents/secularist that are fighting each other care nothing for civilians and use them as only tools to reach their objectives. Just the facts of car/suicide bombers that target only civilians prove this.

4. Many say that the US is the invaders, but at the cost of the Congress and most likely the White House to the republicans, 3.00 per gallon, weak dollar etc. just shows that the real war of the insurgents/secularist is to continue to maintain chaos AND keep America in that hell hole as long as possible. THEY DO NOT WANT US TO LEAVE!

5. 99.9% of the troops over there are good responsible people just trying to do their job the best way they can, and who care about life, and only want to succeed in Iraq and come home. To take the wrong actions of a FEW and accidental incidences under the harsh conditions that the insurgents/secularist force our troops to fight under and try and suggest it is wide spread and institutionalized is just plain wrong.

6. For those that have a zero idea of what it is really like over there except from only what they choose to read just continue to read 1 thru 5 over and over and maybe it just might sink in…I doubt it though…