<<Just so you'll sound more professional, and therefore be more effective while on your mission, Snowblower, you don't refer to it as an "RPG launcher". Just RPG is the usual identifying set of symbols.>>
Sounds kind of dumb to me, BSB, because "RPG" also refers to the projectile. You'd think the military, with its love for precision, would have one word for the launcher and another for the projectile. But I appreciate the tip. Thank you.
Aside from my ignorant misuse of military terminology, what are your thoughts on the substantive points I was trying to make? Any comments on the military being caught once again in One Big Fucking Lie and Cover-up? Any comments about the willingness of the sheeple to continue to believe unquestioningly in anything the military says about the incident AFTER its Big Fucking Lie about it has been exposed?
<<BTW, I wonder how the Iraqi's are taking this? Concerned? Angry? Other things to think about?>>
IMHO, the US military has been there for a long, long time and the battle lines are already drawn. This isn't the first civilian massacre those fucking bastards have perpetrated and unfortunately it is far from the last. All Iraqis know this, regardless of where they are in the political spectrum. You can bet your ass that not a single one of them is exactly shocked by any of this. Those who already hate the Americans will continue to hate them, those who want or need their presence will continue to want or need it, and those who thus far have managed to stay out of the fray will continue to do so. The only exception that I can think of are the immediate families of the victims. If they didn't already hate the fucking guts of the invaders, they sure as bitchin hell do now; if they have any balls, they'll be looking for payback and I can't imagine them not knowing who to go to or how to get it. If there's a God in heaven, they'll get it, and fast. Unless they've already compromised themselves by working with Americans, in which case all they can do is suck it up.
BTW, "fucking bastards" was my considered judgment on the situation. More systemic than individual, in the circumstances. I was aware of the traces of humanity shown in the video - - the unseen designer of the system that obliged these guys to call in for permission before opening fire, the guy on the ground who actually RAN with one of the child victims to get help for her. Still it comes down to individual choices - - the entire invasion was illegal and criminal, yet every one of those fuckers FREELY CHOSE to participate, committed themselves in advance to killing on order, even in an unjust cause. My late neighbour gave me a complete education on the tendency of soldiers, especially after having been in combat awhile and survived a few nasty surprises, to shoot first in any doubtful situation and sort it out later, rather than take unnecessary risks with their own lives. They know from bitter experience what "unarmed civilians" can do to them. And they've seen enough death and killing that a human life just doesn't have the same value to them at the end of their road as it did at the beginning. Conversely, the value of their own survival, their own "human life," seems to loom larger in their value systems. (Not trying to teach you anything here, except that I don't need The Lecture.)
However, that said, I did not perceive any indication in that video that the soldiers felt in any danger of immediate attack. Their tones were matter of fact, and their impatience and eagerness to start shooting was palpable. At no time was any fire returned, which from a group of 15 "armed insurgents" about to die anyway seems just incredible. The attack on the guys in the van as they rescued the wounded was inexcusable. "Gun battle" my ass!!! Also remarkable was the lack of any pointed questions from the unseen controllers, like "What are those guys doing? Can they see you? Are they taking cover? Are they pointing weapons or taking combat positions? And BTW I don't see any barrier to a chopper camera's being able to transmit its images in real time to the controllers of the mission. IF anyone had been remotely interested in preventing atrocities like this.
It's simply IMPOSSIBLE to believe General Petraeus or any other lying fucking one of them who claims that the U.S. Army takes "every possible precaution" to avoid civilian casualties. That is absolute garbage, which should have been apparent from the time that Tommy Franks claimed "We don't do body counts." However anyone who still believes that shit after hearing Franks AND after watching this video has to be a total fucking moron. They take NO real precautions, but they sure as hell invest incredible amounts of their time and energy lying about it to the world and to the ever-gullible American sheeple AND to covering up their daily crimes and atrocities with their usual lies and bullshit.