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| Iraq | ||||
| These Iraqis seemed to be totally prepared to die for their country | ||||
| 2003-04-04 | ||||
WE HAD just arrived at Saddam International Airport yesterday when the battle for Baghdad erupted in its full fury right above our heads. In seconds we were huddled inside a makeshift shelter with six terrified Iraqi soldiers as mortars and artillery shells whistled overhead. Our government minder had taken my cameraman, Phil Dye, and I the 12 miles out out to the airport on the capitalâs southwest fringe to rebut reports that coalition forces were massed to attack.
Nah, first bomb em, then liberate the survivors
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| Posted by:Murat |
| #31 By the way, Bopp, we only have 1 resident troll around here, his name is Murat. He is much more interesting than YOU because he is Turkish, hence it is fun to bait him about Cyprus and the Armenians or the Kurds whenever he opens his trap. You on the other hand can just troll off to wherever you like to hang on the net. Probably the DSP or Resistance or Greens websites... |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-04-04 19:29:03 |
| #30 Boppa AUstralia: I am Australian too, and YOU bring shame on our country. WHy don't you Bopp on off to Iraq. I and many other Aussies SUPPORT the US and UK for doing what is RIGHT instead of what is POPULAR. Thank goodness there is FINALLY a US president who not only means what he says, but acts on it. NB: Bush just nominated Daniel Pipes for a seat on the Peace Institute or somesuch. Hoorah! Boppa: what will you say, when the Ba'ath party is wiped off the board, and the remaining Iraqis commence living in peace and prosperity, and are actually HAPPY to be liberated? What rock will you crawl under then? |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-04-04 19:23:20 |
| #29 boppa australia: Get bent. Who is this "we" you speak of that wishes you hadn't backed us? Seems to me, the last I heard, that a lot of Australians do back us. As I recall, thee are Australian combat troops in there with us and the Brits. Good lads too - and some Poles, and some others just to name one. When did Saddam attack us? In 1993 when he tried to have our first president Bush and our current President Bush's wife assassinated in Kuwait. In 1993 (I believe) when he funded a group that bombed the World Trade Center. They didn;t succeed either time, but the connections have been made and it's clear. Murat: I used to have respect for your views and avidly read most items that you posted from Turkish news agencies. Now, you are simply another of the "useful idiots" that Lenin spoke about so long ago. I have lost the respect I had for you due to the dribble and diatribes you spread in this community against the US. That saddens me as I thought you were smarter than you apparently are. So, you get bent too. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2003-04-04 17:45:01 |
| #28 Learn about Jose Antonio Gutierrez, USMC, now one of America's heros - http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bminiter/?id=110003295 |
| Posted by: Don 2003-04-04 17:03:24 |
| #27 Murat: The word you should use is "ironic" in your statement describing Gutierrez and Garibay's sacrifice. "Sarcastic" is an adjective that means saying one thing yet meaning the opposite, with the opposite meaning obvious to all around. How about an example, I don't know, a statement like, "Murat is an excellent debater." Listen, pal, I teach bunches of new-comers to these shores who have names like Gomez and Hernandez. They may not be as sophisticated as you, (refer to previous explanation of "sarcastic"), but 90% are honorable, hard-working, and gutsy. You see, you think you've just tweeked us, but all you've done is make the readers of this blog more resolute in our belief that we are a nation of ideas and not bloodlines. (Please refer to your belief of Kurds as "Mountain Turks") BTW, 70% of the Turks I have taught here in Chicago are whiney babies who are just here to pick up a little English before running home to go work in their Dad's textile factory. The other 30% are just looking for an American to marry so they can be legal here. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-04-04 14:06:51 |
| #26 Two âUSâ soldiers who died in Iraq Jose Gutierrez from Guatemala and Jose Angel Garibay from Mexico received their American citizenship after their death, in the glory of patriotism. Murat, you know how some of the posters on this site say a lot of foolish things about Turkey -- even though they're obviously talking about something they don't understand? Congratulations, you just did the same thing about the US with your comment above. It's extremely normal -- extremely American -- for immigrants to serve in the US military. My grandfathers came from Italy and Slovakia (then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Heck, when you get down to it, they were both draft-dodgers from the army's of the nations in which they were born. Both served in the U.S. Army during World War One. Neither was a citizen at the time. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-04-04 11:06:22 |
| #25 Osama and Sadaam should have taken a lesson from Pearl Harbor, before they attacked our shores. Blather on all you want to Murat, about inspections, preemption, unilateral, action and "illegal conflicts", but do take note: Threaten our freedom and way of life, and expect our young men and women to be ready and prepared to defend it with their lives AND the full might of what a country founded on freedom and democracy can bear. It is a fierce and terrible fury that will not be quelled until the theat to our freedom is subdued. Watch and learn. so saddam invaded the us funny i didnt see it on cnn or one of the other alphabet lookalikes its really sad-when sept 11 happened -the world stood behind you in support and now-we wish we hadnt |
| Posted by: boppa australia 2003-04-04 11:06:09 |
| #24 Men armed with Kalashnikovs were manning sandbag emplacements on the corners. I had never seen so many armed Iraqis on the streets. So what? So the fedayeen are milling around with weapons. Big deal. How many of Baghdad's residents are NOT fedayeen, and where are they? The Americans and British may say their motivation is to liberate the Iraqis, but these people gave every impression that they were prepared to die for their country. That could be arranged quite easily. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-04-04 10:58:18 |
| #23 tu3031, Yes, and even at his advaced age, the -man- below could probably unstrap one of his prosthetic legs and beat Murat to death with it: http://www.homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_herrera.html |
| Posted by: Ernest Brown 2003-04-04 10:23:52 |
| #22 Our government minder had taken my cameraman, Phil Dye, and I the 12 miles out out to the airport on the capitalâs southwest fringe to rebut reports that coalition forces were massed to attack. Heh-heh! That worked well, didn't it? Wonder if the sight of the 3ID convinced the government minder, at least. "Pay no attention to the shootin' and shellin'. It's just ... elk hunting!" |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-04-04 10:09:59 |
| #21 Murat,Murat don't you watch anything besides Al-Jeezera. I've seen plenty of support for the Imperialist Merkins from Iraqis. Why don't you talk to the Shites of Najaf,I don't hear you saying anything about U.S.military restrant when being shot at by Fedayeen murderers/rapists who were using the Ali Mosque for cover(much less condemning these bastards)? How come you haven't condemned these a-holes in Qom Qusar,and Nassariha for keeping food and medicine from starving women and children? Is it part of the Turkish mindset that it's ok to shoot at an enemy from behind the cover of women and children(human shields)? Do you have the courage to answer these charges with honesty? Or will hide behind Anti-American propagnda,AGIN |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-04-04 09:57:58 |
| #20 Murat. First, I'm glad you consider the death of two good men as an occasion for "sarcasm". Again, what's that say about you? What does it say that two men were willing to fight and die for a country they weren't even citizens of? I think it says a lot. Second: You may get your bloodbath. It'll be the death throes of a dying regime slaughtering it's own people. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-04-04 09:39:14 |
| #19 In grozny the russians received no help from the local civilians, IIUC. In southern Iraqi cities local civilians have helped coalition forces to find fedayeen/baathists, weapons caches, etc. This has helped immensely. It show that a POLITICAL strategy is a key part of urban warfare. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-04 09:34:21 |
| #18 murat, There are reports of welcoming civilians from Um Qasr, Nassiriyah, Al najaf, and now Bagdada. there are also reports of civilians who are sullne and distrusting becauase we failed them and 1991, and they are waiting to see if we really mean it this time. And then there are the fedayeen and Baathists who are attacking bravely even suicidally. But is it for their country? Or because they expect that their neighbors will kill them when the regime falls, so they have nothing to lose? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-04 09:32:09 |
| #17 This will all be made clear when Saddam's goons and party members (murat's heroes) are hanging from lamp-posts, placed there by Iraqis who agree with them - you SHOULD INDEED die for your country. |
| Posted by: Dixie Normus 2003-04-04 09:14:13 |
| #16 Your point being, Murat? Can't see many foreigners dying to achieve the status of "Turk"... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-04-04 09:10:24 |
| #15 Perfect Americanism? Two âUSâ soldiers who died in Iraq Jose Gutierrez from Guatemala and Jose Angel Garibay from Mexico received their American citizenship after their death, in the glory of patriotism. Sorry but I had to post it, it is too sarcastic this perfect Americanism. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-04-04 09:05:57 |
| #14 Leave it to a Turk to back a Genocidal, megalomaniac, who also happens to lead a group of murdering, torturing, rapists. And also leave it to a Turk to recognize that same group of murdering, torturing, rapists as "the people of Iraq". That way, he can say that "The Iraqi people" don't want us there. Of course, the left in this country is just as guilty as our Turkish friend(s). "If you're not a Democrat by the time you're 20, you probably don't have a heart. If you're not a Republican by the time you're 30, you probably don't have a brain." |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-04-04 08:50:51 |
| #13 The russians were bogged down in Afghanistan too, Murat! Don't forget Afghanistan! It was their Vietnam! Oh. You DIDN'T want my help in reminding you of the Russians in Afghanistan? *blinks back tears* why, I was just TRYING to be helpful, y'know. I mean, just because there were no worldwide protests of Russians unilaterally invading Afghanistan, just because they sowed land mines disguised as children's toys to maim and kill The Chidlren (TM), and just because the Americans succeeded where the Russians failed aren't good reasons to IGNORE the Russian Vietnam of Afghanistan, is it? They are? Well, phooey on YOU! See if I come help you after THIS! |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-04 08:46:40 |
| #12 tu3031, and you must be expecting Iraqis to jump and kiss the boots of their "liberators", that word has become a sarcasm since almost all cities are still resisting to be liberated. Let's be fair, we talk about occupation and read liberation. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-04-04 08:42:22 |
| #11 Our government minder had taken my cameraman... and I That's some professional journalism. Editor on vacation? |
| Posted by: Dar Steckelberg 2003-04-04 08:34:14 |
| #10 You really want a bloodbath in Baghdad don't you, Murat? So what's that say about you? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-04-04 08:32:00 |
| #9 How could John Irvine be the *last* journalist at Saddam airport? I saw Ted Koppel reporting from there just last night. Oh, wait -- that's right... it's been renamed as Baghdad International Airport. ;-) |
| Posted by: Reed 2003-04-04 08:08:20 |
| #8 Marines Say 2,500 Iraqi Guards Surrender I guess they had second thoughts. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-04-04 08:08:14 |
| #7 "but these people gave every impression that they were prepared to die for their country." You may well be right and unfortunately it looks like we have to accomodate those who are prepared to die before Iraq can move on to the twentieth century ( yes, I realize we are in the 21C). |
| Posted by: Phil B 2003-04-04 08:04:52 |
| #6 "Even if we do kill Saddam, there will still be some question about whether resistance will go away," says Andrew Terrill, a professor of national security at the U.S. Army War College. "We seem to have a lot of folks in Iraq not interested in being liberated by us, no matter how repressive the regime is." USATODAY In 1942, the German army attacked the Russian city of Stalingrad, unleashing wholesale bombing and shelling. But tenacious Russian defenders turned that into an advantage as they used the chaotic, rubble-strewn landscape as a fortress that became a black hole of casualties for the Germans. The battle turned the tide of the war on the Russian front. Half a century later in 1994, the Russians sent their large army into the Chechen capital of Grozny to put down a rebellion. There, a ragtag band of several hundred rebels employed guerrilla tactics to destroy entire tank columns, used dead Russian soldiers as shields and defeated the much larger force. Grozny has become a tutorial in how not to fight in cities. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-04-04 08:03:43 |
| #5 Can anyone recall of a worse PR exercise than this?! "Come see, come see, our airport is open and doing good business. The Americans are a hundred miles away...[one hour later]...Aaargh! Merkins everywhere! Run away! Run away, back to the city!" |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-04-04 08:00:15 |
| #4 Not unlike Japan and Germany in winter 1945.If anything,the Japanese and the Germans were much more committed to their Emperor and Fuhrer,respectively,as well as being better fighters than any Arab force,past or present.Not that it helped them any better,you know. |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-04-04 07:49:10 |
| #3 Osama and Sadaam should have taken a lesson from Pearl Harbor, before they attacked our shores. Blather on all you want to Murat, about inspections, preemption, unilateral, action and "illegal conflicts", but do take note: Threaten our freedom and way of life, and expect our young men and women to be ready and prepared to defend it with their lives AND the full might of what a country founded on freedom and democracy can bear. It is a fierce and terrible fury that will not be quelled until the theat to our freedom is subdued. Watch and learn. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-04 07:47:04 |
| #2 Very bravely waiting for the enemy AWAY from the airport. I'm surprised you're supporting a bunch of armed hoodlums, bullies, and gangsters. That's all they are, threatening the Iraqi People, holding families hostage to force the men to fight, using women and children as human shields. I have, as yet, to hear a SINGLE WORD OF CONDEMNATION out of you or any Muslim outside of Kuwait. You continue to FAIL to convince me of your ability or qualifications to sit in judgment of ANYONE. They're crooked players. YOU'RE a crooked referee. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-04 07:41:48 |
| #1 Is this all you've got, Murat? That the Fedayeen death squads are "prepared to die" defending the regime that is the source of their power? Is this the best you can do at this point? Loser. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-04-04 07:25:27 |