"Head Wounds And Whip Marks"
AP:
A body pulled from the Euphrates River south of Baghad Wednesday was identified as one of three American soldiers abducted two weeks ago in an ambush claimed by al-Qaida, relatives and officials said.Reuters:
Military officials told the family of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. of Torrance, Calif., that a commanding officer identified the remains recovered from the river, but that DNA tests were still pending.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the remains, later identified as those of Anzack, were recovered by Iraqi police.
Hassan al-Jibouri, 32, said he saw the body with head wounds and whip marks on its back floating on the river Wednesday morning. He and others then alerted police.
Police said the corpse of a Western-looking man pulled from the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday was that of one of three U.S. soldiers missing since an ambush on May 12. The half-naked body had bullet wounds and bore signs of torture.It's highly unlikely that his captors would have ever treated him humanely, regardless of our own interrogation methods. But to what extent can we be righteously indignant? If given the job of calling Pfc. Anzack's family to explain how he died, what would a chest-thumping, "enhanced interrogation" opiner or presidential candidate -- one unencumbered by previous military service, of course -- say?
Captain Muthanna al-Maamouri, a police spokesman in the provincial capital Hilla, said there were wounds to the torso and shaved head of the body, which was wearing U.S. Army-issue pants and boots and had a tattoo on the left arm.
"This is one of the missing soldiers," he said.
A river patrol police officer in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, said the man appeared to have been killed about a week ago, and his head showed signs of torture.
posted by The Cunning Realist at Thursday, May 24, 2007
6 Comments:
If given the job of calling Pfc. Anzack's family to explain how he died, what would a chest-thumping, "enhanced interrogation" opiner or presidential candidate -- one unencumbered by previous military service, of course -- say?
That this just proved everything our Preznident sez about how Teh Terr-rists are filthy, brutal subhumans who need to be slaughtered over there or else we'll have them slaughtering us over here. What, you were expecting some sense of shame from people like Willard "Mitt" Romney of "Double Guantanamo" fame? You could draw a graphic representation of the parallels on Mitt's pale torso with Magic Marker and he'd just give you a blank look...
Of course there's no chance that Romney or most of his fellow candidates would risk being exposed to the actual family of an actual dead soldier unless they'd been pre-screened for a campaign photo op, and even then he'd have at least two "security detail" thugs on hand for each family member, for fear that one of them might do something gauche like ask why none of Willard's FIVE strong healthy service-age sons might have signed up for Daddy's Favorite War. Which is obviously impossible, since those venture fund internships and political campaign blogs don't run themselves, and it's not as if Pfc. Anzac was Wall Street material, according to the Yellow Elephant Brigade. -- Anne Laurie
We are only useful to our rulers as workers or cannon fodder. Only one step above collateral damage (what we call foreigners) in their eyes.
Just to ask the question, "To what extent can we be righteously indignant," is to misunderstand the psychology of the modern [neo]conservative and the stay-at-home voter today. (I must of course exempt our host, TCR, from the rest of the conservatives, so I add the qualifier [neo].)
These people's entire philosophy is based on the unshakeable assumption of victimhood. The dolschtoss meme, which TCR has explained before, is only one example. Despite being the pre-eminent superpower with the most massive economy and superior technology that the world has ever seen, these people's entire politics and philosophy is based on the assumption that we (really, they) are the victims. It starts from the presumption that American-style government, commerce, and quasi-Protestant Christian culture/religion are The Correct Answer for the entire rest of the world to emulate. As proven by our superpower status. Therefore the American System "deserves" to spread all over the world and replace all the other millenia-old cultures that exist in foreign lands, i.e., conquer, hopefully peacefully, but if violence is necessary, it's worth the cost, because we're only going to raise the standard of living of these foreign primitives.
But Christian America is being prevented from achieving its true and righteous destiny by dastardly evil forces who are anti-progress and wish to harm Americans, and everyone else in the world (by preventing them from sharing in the inevitable paradise of the American system), simply because of their close relationship to Satan. Godless liberals at home, fickle allies such as the French, and heathen barbaric terrorists abroad.
So every atrocity that anyone besides a fine upstanding red-blooded Republican commits, (including backstabbing Leftists at home), is clear proof of how evil and depraved our enemies are. But every atrocity that Americans commit, well, we were forced into it in order to defend Mom and Apple Pie in a dangerous world --
...So every atrocity Americans commit is only further proof of how evil and depraved our enemies are!
Because if these people would simply lay down their arms and accept their inevitable and holy destiny at our hands, why, we would never commit any atrocities at all, and paradise for everyone would be just around the corner.
To a greater or lesser degree, (some, like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, much less religious than others), this is really how these people think, the 30% of the country who are "dead-enders" who still support Bush and the war -- I have several strong believers in this philosophy in my immediate family.
I have no idea how to change or enlighten these peoples' philosophy -- it seems so close to an identity issue, they feel personally threatened anytime anyone or any evidence suggests this isn't true -- all I know is that I am incensed at the politicians who keep pandering to this now-minority segment of the country, like many of the Democrats did a few days ago by caving in.
This will not work as a matter of fact, that's what I suppose.
The writer is completely just, and there is no skepticism.
An article in very deep.
Sobering
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