Mudered Italian security guards hold no candle to the newly generated orphans, thanks to the trigger happy folks at various US Military check points in Iraq.
What did these kids do to deserve two murdered parents?
Slice:
American and Iraqi officials say they have no figures on such casualties, just as they say they have no reliable statistics on the far higher number of civilian deaths in the fighting that began with the American-led invasion nearly two years ago. But any Westerner working in Iraq comes across numerous accounts of apparently innocent deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers who drew American fire, often in circumstances that have left the Iraqis puzzled as to what, if anything, they did wrong.
3 comments:
Hard to know what exactly happened in this situation. According to some, the car was speeding towards a checkpoint- according to others, there was no checkpoint. Not an irrelevant point, but just to note that the stories are still coming out.
That said, it's an awful thing when innocent lives are lost. But wouldn't prudence dictate that (1) rescue operations would try to let those doing all the shooting know what they were up to, at least the car and route they were planning to use; (2) you shouldn't drive really fast towards American troops in Iraq, especially in dark conditions; and (3) we should develop some other kind of checkpoint arrangement to both reduce the lives lost by civilians and soldiers?
I'd be curious to know what happened to those orphans... Is the US going to help them, or have they been tossed to the side with a curt "sorry kids, our bad."?
Dexter Filkins on Iraq's War
In an interview broadcast today on Fresh Air, (Listen to it here), Mar 9, (recorded Mar 8), the NYTimes reporter was queried on US checkpoint practices. Filkins travels in an armored car with Iraqi bodyguards and with a trailing car carrying more bodyguards. Checkpoints are dangerous for both sides. The police or soldiers are expecting car bombs. Most checkpoints are manned by Iraqis. The Iraqis are less disciplined than US troops, and more apt to shoot.
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