Saturday, July 01, 2006
Rape and murder allegations
Oh, geez. Here we go again!
Citing an unnamed official? WTF?
Haven't we seen this before?
No, it isn't. The regiment isn't attached to anything. The regiment doesn't even exist as a unit. The Second Brigade Combat Team is probably what's attached to the 4th ID. The reporters and editors don't know what a regiment is vs. a brigade.
The article goes on to try to contextualize this allegation in terms of combat stress and the failure of the military to provide enough counselors. Like counseling has fuck-all to do with preventing soldiers from raping and murdering people.
Katzfrey is wrong, and so is the reporter. Iraq was not a weapons-free zone in May-June of 2003. I will not discuss specific rules of engagement, except to say that AT THAT TIME, you couldn't even chamber a round except in certain circumstances, under the letter of the CFLCC ROE - so concerned were they to prevent needless shootings. Things changed later - I think it was more by consensus than by decree.
Splash, out
Jason
The alleged rape and killings took place March 12 in the insurgent hotbed of Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, when five soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division allegedly raped a woman, burned her body and killed her family in a "crime of opportunity," the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed American official.
Citing an unnamed official? WTF?
Haven't we seen this before?
Maj. Gen. James Thurman, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, ordered the investigation after a preliminary inquiry. The 502nd Infantry Regiment is attached to the 4th Infantry Division, which operates in Baghdad and its southern outskirts.
No, it isn't. The regiment isn't attached to anything. The regiment doesn't even exist as a unit. The Second Brigade Combat Team is probably what's attached to the 4th ID. The reporters and editors don't know what a regiment is vs. a brigade.
The article goes on to try to contextualize this allegation in terms of combat stress and the failure of the military to provide enough counselors. Like counseling has fuck-all to do with preventing soldiers from raping and murdering people.
Overall, U.S. troops use their weapons far more carefully than they did in the first months after the invasion in 2003, when Lt. Peter Katzfrey of the 299 Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division summed up the rules of engagement as "shoot to kill. No questions asked."
Katzfrey is wrong, and so is the reporter. Iraq was not a weapons-free zone in May-June of 2003. I will not discuss specific rules of engagement, except to say that AT THAT TIME, you couldn't even chamber a round except in certain circumstances, under the letter of the CFLCC ROE - so concerned were they to prevent needless shootings. Things changed later - I think it was more by consensus than by decree.
Splash, out
Jason
Comments:
You know I heard somewhere that this case was started by some soldier that had "heard some guys talking, and then seen blood on them later" ,and was upset and felt guilty after those two Joe's got kidnapped and killed, and told someone what he had heard and seen. I think he might have felt that the two incidents were related or something. I think I may have heard that on Fox news, but I'm not sure.
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