Iraqi mujahedin are using women and children as human shields against American soldiers. They do this, of course, because they know that the Americans are scrupulous about civillian casualties. And if one of their human shields does get hit, of course, then the Left can claim that the U.S. is ruthlessly and callously targeting civilians. From the New York Post, with thanks to Ted Robertson:
April 19, 2004 -- Bloody fighting in Iraq over the weekend killed at least 10 U.S. soldiers, including five Marines slain in the first 90 minutes of a brutal battle with guerrillas on the Syrian border.The most fierce fight erupted in the northern Iraqi town of Husaybah next to Syria, where several hundred rebels launched deadly assaults on Marines throughout Saturday with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, U.S. Army officials and witnesses said.
The guerrillas first lured Marines from their nearby base to the former Ba'ath Party headquarters in town by detonating a roadside bomb there, said one witness, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Ron Harris. The rebels then opened fire on the Marines.
For hours, the guerrillas then played cat-and-mouse with the soldiers by ducking in and out of empty buildings and strafing those Marines who followed them with gunfire.
The five fallen Marines all died when they were ambushed by Iraqis hiding inside what the soldiers had thought was an abandoned house, Harris said.
The U.S. forces eventually quashed the rebel insurrection hours later after calling in reinforcements.
Marine officials said the rebels were so desperate at one point during the fighting that they grabbed women and children to use as human shields around their gunners.
"We're trying to get the snipers in position for a shot . . . [But] some are using children to shield themselves!" one commander could be heard warning other officers via radio, according to Harris.
"We will not take shots in which we could possibly hit children," the commander said.
In addition to the dead Marines, at least nine more soldiers were wounded in the battle. Up to 30 guerrillas also were killed.
They're using the same cowardly tactics that were used during the firefights in Somalia. They have no respect for anything, or anyone.
Disgracing not only their own religion, but the entire human race. This is yet another example of why this fight can never cease until these loons are wiped out.
how about showing film footage of these cowards hiding behind women and children show how they fire weapons while using women and children for shields that might help the us public see the truth
Hiding behind non-combatants, women, children, the sick and elderly is an acient battle technique. In the days when armies respected civilians this worked. And the stigma has come down to our time. Remember the vilification of returning VietNam War soldiers that were falsely accused of being "baby killers?" In our tradition this is a cowardly act.
The Vietcong did not hesitate to use women, children, and even infants as human shields and human bombs. Their traditon is the same as Islams in this respect. However, Islam creates martyrs, Vietnam only created statistics and Western political dissent. We were tarred with the accusation of causing these people to blow up their own children.
Do some Muslims consider this to be a cowardly act? I don't know. The radicals don't, and they seem to be in the driver's seat at this time.
When is the World going to wake up and realize we are at war against terrorists that know no low?These devils are not humans but some sub species more closely aligned to animals...(No offense to the Animals intended.) Why all the dialog? Do you dialog with rabid dogs intent on tearing out your throat?? Then why dialog with sub humans that use women and children to protect themselves and blow up those they consider their enemies?
Susan, thanks for saying no offense intended to animals.
You wouldn't believe how badly animals are treated by these jokers. It even extends to some "health practices." Our medical personnel in that part of the world, including North Africa, are warned not to get too friendly with many kinds of animals because of the belief among the irrational, anti-knowledge primitives in that part of the world that if you have a STD, you can get rid of it by "giving" it to an animal. You do this, of course, by having sex with the animal.
Animals act in accordance with the demands made upon them by their nature. A lion eats a zebra because it is an obligate carnivore, and will not survive unless it does. It does not go out and slaughter zebras wholesale, nor does it go out of its way to make the process of killing it more painful than it has to be.
It goes on and on. This is only one example.
Primitives are cruel, with "cruelty" being defined as those actions which deliberately create more pain and anguish than is necessary to accomplish a rational goal.
Sure, we are guilty of cruelty too, but we are working on it, and we're way ahead of those jerks.
P.S. We now have fourteen "Dream Speaker" nominees for the "Dream Conference."
Keep them coming. I'll gather them up and post them in about a week or two.