US soldiers pose for photos with dead Afghan bombers, media frenzy to ensue

[Steelman]

Why don't you try going to war with both hands and one foot tied behind your back and tell me how much you are driven to be an exemplar of using Marquis of Queensbury rules against people who have no qualms about using any method devised by the imagination of man to kill you even if they have to kill themselves in the process.

They are expected to kill, not parade around with corpses.

 

[IndyDave1776]

They are expected to kill, not parade around with corpses.

OK, I understand. You are more perfect than God, have infinite composure and never have any need to vent steam (and do no material damage while doing so as they are already dead).

 

[Steelman]

OK, I understand. You are more perfect than God, have infinite composure and never have any need to vent steam (and do no material damage while doing so as they are already dead).

Yes. Yes. and No.


When I vent steam it does not involve a corpse or urinating on a corpse. My steam venting also does not provoke further attacks from the same group of people.


It's a lose-lose, until someone decides to bring them home.

 

[tv1217]

It really is exactly like posing with dead animals, because that's what they are, or rather, were.

 

[Compatriot G]

This reminds me of something from my days in the Marine Corps. One day while we were working on my tank, our maintenance chief was showing us some old photos he had from Vietnam. The last four were interesting. He had pictures of four dead Vietnamese. Of course, we all asked about the the four dead Vietnamese. He told us they were his four confirmed kills from Vietnam. We asked how he had four kills, since he had been a crewman on a tank retriever. He told us these were four men he had killed trying to storm his retriever during the Tet Offensive. Three were shot with his .45. The fourth one had a big gash in his head. He killed this man with his e-tool.

Nobody got upset. Nobody alerted the media. There was no official investigation. The only reason he had brought in the photos was to show his maintenance people that even though they may be in the rear, they could still be attacked and they needed to be ready to drop their wrenches and grab their weapons.

My grandfather had pictures of dead Japanese from Okinawa. And in some of those pictures, the bodies were posed with G.I.'s. around them. He even has a picture of him guarding a Jap prisoner. If I remember correctly, this may be a violation of the Geneva Convention.

This sort of thing has gone on since cameras became small enough for troops to carry them in the field.

 

[cobber]

Not meaning to address this to anyone in particular.

If they're dead, let them lie, or bury them. They're images of the Creator, whether they were your enemies or not. It seems more in keeping with our cultural values to allow some dignity to the dead.

Instead of, for instance,dragging mutilated corpses through the streets. If we really think they're just dead meat, why did it bother us when the Somalis did this to dead US troops?

 

[IndyDave1776]

Not meaning to address this to anyone in particular.

If they're dead, let them lie, or bury them. They're images of the Creator, whether they were your enemies or not. It seems more in keeping with our cultural values to allow some dignity to the dead.

Instead of, for instance,dragging mutilated corpses through the streets. If we really think they're just dead meat, why did it bother us when the Somalis did this to dead US troops?

I cannot disagree with your point, but still I have a problem crucifying our troops for a relatively minor indiscretion which seems much like fraternity antics by contrast with the actions of our enemies against our troops, especially when it seems that this has largely stopped and the 'new' incidents are actually quite old incidents resurrected from years past.

I would further point out a general military issue. In the two world wars, only something on the order of 15% of the troops on both sides could be determined to have fired their weapons at the enemy with the issue being the natural human aversion to killing other humans. They got the numbers us a little in Korea. By Vietnam, they discovered the problem and solved it by intensively training our troops to become ersatz sociopaths so they would function efficiently in combat. The problem there is that at the end of their tours, they simply put them on a plane and then dumped them out in public when they returned and wondered why they often were at least off center compared with the prevailing average. Now we are demanding that they alternate between being ersatz sociopaths and exemplars of civility on demand, and often on demand after the fact. Some people in Washington need to make up their damned minds.

 

[Hookeye]

I don't think such actions provoke more attacks.

Read an article years ago, some dude asked a Muslim immigrant cab driver in NY why some folks over in his homeland hate the US so much.

His response I thought rather interesting....

They don't hate the US for what it does wrong, they hate the US for what it does right.

 

[Hookeye]

Deer are game animals and a managed resource taken under the rules of sport.

I doubt the photo of a dead deer when shown to another deer is of any upset.

And since by my religious beliefs, humans have souls and animals don't (that also how I think "Created in His image" to be taken- the Creator a spirit, souls being of same), I fail to see the logic of calling dead combatant pics the same as deer hunting trophy pics.

Never a vessel for a soul vs former vessel of a soul, even if both by bullet rendered to mere chunks of rotting flesh. I think the difference before matters.

At least for me.

I kill animals, in sport, and have pics.

Somebody breaks in my house and I blast them, I won't be taking pics nor will I want copies from the police dept.

If some soldier kills a combatant in war, if he wants to take a pic or not I think that his/her decision. Do think that such photos should be kept away from other folks though. In the old days they did that, in the digital age it's just too easy for them to get spread around.

Could care less what excuses the enemy uses to kill our folks, am more concerned with a troop upsetting his mom or grandma- that kinda thing.

What goes on goes on, not everybody need know about it.

 

[turnandshoot4]

Deer are game animals and a managed resource taken under the rules of sport.

I doubt the photo of a dead deer when shown to another deer is of any upset.

And since by my religious beliefs, humans have souls and animals don't (that also how I think "Created in His image" to be taken- the Creator a spirit, souls being of same), I fail to see the logic of calling dead combatant pics the same as deer hunting trophy pics.

Outside of posing with something now dead, I think there to be a difference.

I kill animals, in sport, and have pics.

Somebody breaks in my house and I blast them, I won't be taking pics nor will I want copies from the police dept.

People taste horrible too.

 

[IndyDave1776]

People taste horrible too.

I don't think I want to know how you came by that information!

 

[Hookeye]

Maybe a former South American soccer player...........

 

[turnandshoot4]

I don't think I want to know how you came by that information!

They also smell bad when cooking.

 

[Hookeye]

Try a Mediterranean, I hear everybody loves Italian.

 

[IndyDave1776]

They also smell bad when cooking.

I KNOW I don't want to know!

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

I can't wait till these jaded warriors come home and become public servants.

Maybe you should join them for a while and you won't be so afraid of them.

Jaded warriors huh? I am so glad you sleep well at night. You didnt even have the balls to stand up for your ron paul sign, yet you condemn the men that make some bad judgements while going through what is possibly the most difficult thing a man can do?

The killing part isn't so hard. The hard part is having to put up with criticism from Internet commandos and liberal sissies that lack the nuts to stand up for their [STRIKE]sign[/STRIKE] own convictions and who would have us speaking some foreign language under occupation if it fell on their shoulders to prevent it.

I'm going to say the same thing as when soldiers video taped themselves urinating on dead bodies:

America is held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. We should not be applauding or excusing this behavior.

For those of you making the "hunting trophy" analogy, I question that you're mature enough to handle the responsibilities of owning a firearm.

Two different things. Taking pictures while urinating on bodies was an embarrassment. Taking pictures to document a dead Hajji is nothing.

Stuff your higher standard crap. I'm guessing you're just another Zima-sipping libtard that's never walked [STRIKE]a mile[/STRIKE] three feet in our shoes yet feels morally superior enough to condemn actions you cannot begin to understand.

I don't think such actions provoke more attacks.

Our existance provokes attacks. They don't need any more justification than that.

 

[Kutnupe14]

It's distasteful. For all those that say that they don't care, fine. Just as long as the next time they mutilate and string up an American on a bridge, or drag a downed flyer through the street you don't complain. It's the exact same thing.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

It's distasteful. For all those that say that they don't care, fine. Just as long as the next time they mutilate and string up an American on a bridge, or drag a downed flyer through the street you don't complain. It's the exact same thing.

No, it isn't. The left uses photos of dead Hajjis as justification to tuck tail and run and hate our military. We use pictures of our dead hanging from bridges and drug through town streets to remember the Alamo.

 

[cobber]

No, it isn't. The left uses photos of dead Hajjis as justification to tuck tail and run and hate our military. We use pictures of our dead hanging from bridges and drug through town streets to remember the Alamo.

You're talking about using images of the dead to inflame emotions, regardless of who does it. And don't forget that these images are broadcast overseas as well.

So it's good when we use these pictures to inflame passions for war, which is good, but if mobs in the Arab street use photos of dead Americans to excite their own anti-Americanism that's bad? Or are they entitled to their Alamo too?

Using the dead, regardless of who does it, strikes me as contrary to our own Judeo-Christian heritage. We don't have to lower ourselves to the behavior of our adversaries. Unless we're accepting their lower standard as appropriate for ourselves too.

It's a shame if in fighting these people we end up becoming just like them. In which case our argument to the world about American exceptionalism begins to pale a bit. (Never mind our government's actions against its own people which begin to look more and more totalitarian.)

They're children of God. Their souls can be saved. It's not our place to know what God's plan for them is, whatever they did in life.

My

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

You're talking about using images of the dead to inflame emotions, regardless of who does it. And don't forget that these images are broadcast overseas as well.

So it's good when we use these pictures to inflame passions for war, which is good, but if mobs in the Arab street use photos of dead Americans to excite their own anti-Americanism that's bad? Or are they entitled to their Alamo too?

Using the dead, regardless of who does it, strikes me as contrary to our own Judeo-Christian heritage. We don't have to lower ourselves to the behavior of our adversaries. Unless we're accepting their lower standard as appropriate for ourselves too.

It's a shame if in fighting these people we end up becoming just like them. In which case our argument to the world about American exceptionalism begins to pale a bit. (Never mind our government's actions against its own people which begin to look more and more totalitarian.)

They're children of God. Their souls can be saved. It's not our place to know what God's plan for them is, whatever they did in life.

My

The worthless puke who released them did so to inflame emotion. They guys who took them did so for whatever reason they chose - document a kill, emotional release, tourist photos, I don't know why. It's interesting that I saw live Hajjis posing in the photos along with the bits of dead ones. I wonder if anyone is climbing up their ass too.

I watched a video on Youtube a couple years ago of Saddam breathing his last breaths on this rock. Somebody there videoed it on his cell phone. Interestingly, I don't think it was an American soldier. Same thing when Quadaffi (or Kadafi, or whatever) was killed. Where was the outrage and [STRIKE]righteous[/STRIKE] feigned indignation then?

The dead are dead. They do not know they are dead (rep for the movie reference). Their souls have ascended to Heaven, or decended to Hell, depending on the wishes of God. What remains is carbon based chemical mush. That dead Hajji should have thought about God's plans before he blew his head and shoulders off the rest of his body. Taking pictures of the parts that are left isn't really going to influence God's decision one way or the other. And in any case, why should we care more about his soul than he did?

Bury what's left of him in .