I'm 16 years old and I'll make no attempts to hide it!

[ScopeScene]

Given the ridicule phonies get on this site I decided to come right out and admit I'm totally just a wannabee, hence my name. I am extremely interested in the military and foreign affairs and am pretty well read in the area (not to be boastful, I'm ignorant compared to many posts I've seen on this site.) In any case, my question regards a botched coalition raid on "Taliban" forces in Afghanistan last year. If you'll recall, the target ended up being a weapons cache for troops friendly with Hamid Karzai and in the aftermath the bodies of the men were found with head wounds and bound hands. Were they executed? According to the NY Times a note was also left in the broken glass of a window, "Have a nice day, from Damage Inc.!"
Anybody want to support or discredit these reports? Sorry to raise such a contreversial issue right off the bat. Trust me, I have faith in our military, but not blind faith. Thanks

[JiJoMacLE45]

You flex cuff everyone, dead bodies included. You never know if someone is playing opossum.

That does not explain the wounds, but that could be a number of things. Good shooting, psyops, or just an exaggeration of the truth by the media.

[OzMan]

Always secure everyone, friendly or not. And if they cause trouble, then you cause trouble for them. Over the years I learn to say that most specifics in the media are just plain BS. Leaving a note like that seems like something only **** Marcinko and his Red Cell would do. In this case I would just say it's a combination of all of the factors. The media's probably just jerkin' you a little and obviously there was an intelligence foulup. And yes, like JiJoMacLE45 said, secure even the dead. Often an "eye thump" is done to check for any deep pain to someone who is unconscious.

And to kinda level with ya, I'm only 15. p-)

[rnwang]

Deltawannabe

The sad fact is that in war, soldiers are very capable of committing all kinds of atrocities. The very nature of combat does that to a person. The killing of prisoners has occurred in every war. As Americans we like to think that we are different but we are not.

At SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) school we were told that the most dangerous time when you are capture is the first 3 hours. That is when the "blood is up" and when you are most likely to be shot by your captors. After that your captor start thinking of you as a human and that make it more difficult for them to kill you.

Never confuse fiction for fact, and remember that old soldier story are always cloudy at best. War is a brutal, vicious, soul numbing affair. But sometimes it is necessary.

If you want a good book on the subject try LTC David Goldman's book titled On Killing. He is a psychologist and a Ranger Officer.

RNWANG
Capt USA(ret)
age 39

[desertfox]

im sixteen too and im joining the ARMY as soon as im eighteen

[papabear]

Just a small correction: On Killing was written by David Grossman--it's a good book, though opposed by many who object to his thesis that violence on TV and in video games contributes to lowering our natural aversion to using violence.

[redondomarine]

I think about half of us on this forum are still in school, just waiting to join.
Age 18 USMC DEP
leave June 23, 2003