I fear for the lives of missing troops in Iraq

al-Qaida says it has missing U.S. troops
By THOMAS WAGNER,
Associated Press Writer

12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Thousands of U.S. soldiers searched Sunday for three Americans who were missing after their patrol came under attack in an explosion that killed four of their comrades and an Iraqi army translator. Two bombings — one in northern Iraq and another at a market in Baghdad — killed at least 62 Iraqis.

The Islamic State in Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, said it had captured several soldiers in the attack, but offered no proof to back up its claim, posted on an Islamic Web site.

The search for the missing Americans began after insurgents attacked a patrol of seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter before dawn Saturday near Mahmoudiya.

The U.S. military said Saturday that five people were dead and three were missing.

On Sunday, U.S. spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell confirmed that the Iraqi interpreter was among the dead — and that all the missing were Americans. He said about 4,000 U.S. troops were involved in the search.

end of excerpt.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070513/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
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Here we go again. Isn't this how the Israeli-Lebanon war started last year? What will we hear next? That they escaped with them into Iran? I wonder firstly if this is true, but if it is, were these troops part of Bush's "surge." They certainly then didn't need to be there. I also then hope if true that they are found safe, but it does not look good. Considering the propensity of our own government for torture and the teaching of blatant disrespect for Iraquis, God only knows how they will be treated in return. This is why following the rule of law and conducting ourselves as humans is important for the safety of our own as well. Damn those who got us into this. See, this is why I don't discuss this too much anymore. I can't wthout crying. This is just getting to be too much. WE HAVE TO STOP THIS WAR NOW.

as far as torture goes, I do not envy those missing at all.:-(

As they are basically at this point all hostages of mad men on all sides. I particularly however fear for those captured, especially now.

Bush should be arrested and charged with high crimes. This is fugging murder.

And this is just the cover story.

there is no place to "go" awol in iraq

I actually find that a bit hard to believe under the circumstances, and I don't think it's bullshit. The Pentagon is also hiding the incidences of suicides, PTSD, and who knows what else. Do you also refute that troops are committing suicide to escape the pain of the hell they are in? Do you really think they wouldn't try to at least cross the border into Syria? Thousands of Iraqis do it every month.

Americans can't travel freely from Baghdad to Syria. The attack on this patrol is testament to that. Only if we had troops patrolling the Syrian border would I anticipate anyone making a break for it.

I don't contest that there are deserters - or would-be deserters - but I don't think for a second that the ones who survived this attack decided to pick that moment to head off into hostile territory. THAT is bullshit.

and this surge business of Gen. Patraeus has officially now proven to be a fucking failure. bring them home.

An occupation that has now led to a civil war.

We didn't set a standard of sawing the heads off ours.

We are much more civilized blowing up and burning up, men, woman, and children by the thousands with bombs and fire dropped on them from 10,000 feet in the air.

Especially when we do this to people that never attacked us.

We are much better.

Don

War has always been a nasty bloody brutal affair - But when you have subdued your enemy, and disarmed him through capture, it is wrong to murder him. At that point, it is no longer self defense.

As for the rest, while I opposed the war from the start because I knew Bush was lying, I do feel we at least try (with a few inevitable failures and other actions relating to the human condition) to avoid killing noncombatants.



And for the Record - WE Are Better. I don't have to explain why when we have an opposition who drive car bombs into crowds of children.

Nevermind the crimes against humanity we're committing in Iraq. Nevermind that those american troops very presence in Iraq is a war crime.

How many good friends and relations do you have over their trying to avoid being blown up by wackjob fundies every day?

...themselves against a foreign occupation. When we did it we called it PATRIOTISM. When our victims do it they're "wackjobs?"

Yeah, we are SO much better than them.

Their not wackjob fundies who want to establish a theocracy, and brutalize women and make them second class citizens, and make nasty mundane regulations controlling every aspect of peoples lives and instituting horrible punishments for things like listening to music - oh no, their patriots.

Sorry, I call Bullshit.

I'm heading out for mothers day. Be back late.

And what is the difference between driving a car bomb into a group of children and blowing their arms off from the air by dropping bombs on them? Or say, giving countless other generations birth defects and diseases from DU and the toxification of their country? Or stealing their resources and their livelihoods? There is no higher ground to take here any longer. It is simply time to get out.

I do not agree that we are equal to the insurgents and fundamentalists over their. We have had our shames, and I still feel most were not done on purpose. The same cannot be said about the opposition.

This all said, I want the troops out as well. But I still stand by saying we are better than the insurgents.

They wouldn't be there if we weren't. Remember, we attacked them preemptively and under false pretenses. Of course, it does not excuse their crimes, but again, if we weren't there continuing the Crusades... Just for an example, if say, China attacked us in the same way what would you do to stop their occupation? Would you just sit and take it, or would you fight to take back what was taken from you? And just what IS an insurgent exactly in the broad usage of that word?

:eyes:

Especially with the intent to steal that countries natural resources. I sure wouldn't want someone to do that to America.

Don

With or without the head intact. There is NO excuse for what we have done and certainly none for what they do.

We are all in danger (in many different ways) with this maniac in the WH.

He is war criminal.

Ghost in the Machine (1000+ posts) Sun May-13-07 09:37 AM
Original message

al-Qaida Says It Has Missing U.S. Troops

Published: 5/13/07, 9:05 AM EDT
By THOMAS WAGNER
BAGHDAD (AP) - Thousands of U.S. soldiers searched Sunday for three Americans who were missing after their patrol came under attack in an explosion that killed four other American soldiers and an Iraqi army translator.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x876810

125 views, yet it sunk like a rock to page 2

These kids are in great danger of dying for Bush's lies. If that happens I fear the payback from our will increase

then there is very good reason to fear for these soldiers. The question is, is what will the American public say if these soldiers are tortured? That it was like college pranks? No big deal?

I suspect if our own get the treatment we dish out our citizens will react quite differently than when receiving word of our bad behavior.

Julie

For those of us with loved ones in harm's way this is harder to deal with then death. There is very little chance they are alive and the reality is that soon there will be a video out on the web of thier heads being sawed off while they are alive or something just a horrible. My brother is a mid-level officer, I can't even wrap my brain around what would be done if he were captured.