Article

2004-01-08 Iraq

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Posted by Anonymous2U 2004-01-08 1:17:07 PM|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 What was the cargo? I take this sort of letter with a large grain of salt.

Posted by flash91 2004-1-8 1:46:25 PM|| 2004-1-8 1:46:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 There has been a long and animated discussion on his blog. Some of the salient questions:

1.) Why would the troops have walked 1.5 miles to throw two guys into some water?
2.) If they were cuffed, how did the jacket come off the guy? If they weren't, why would the troops have removed the cuffs?
3.) Why would the "official" have refused an investigation and, then, a week later change his mind? There are policies for handling complaints pertaining to the occupation, they would have been followed.

This letter looks like an attempt by someone familiar with Baathist oppression (but unfamiliar with the US military and Occupation Authority policy) trying to make the US look bad and sow dissnension.

Posted by mjh 2004-1-8 2:08:10 PM|| 2004-1-8 2:08:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 While I agree this has to be investigated, it sounds to me like the cousins were up to no good, of whatever variety, and the surviving cousin thought he would dodge some family flak by making up a story about the big bad Americans.

What I particularly liked were some of the commenters on Zayed's blog who gleefully ran off to report to the Guardian message boards. You know damn good and well the thing could be investigated and found baseless tomorrow, and in two years some Guardian-reading drooler will still be bringing it up.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2004-1-8 2:38:49 PM|| [http://darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2004-1-8 2:38:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 I wouldn't want to dampen some people's enthousiam but I have my doubts over this and a few other Iraqui blogs. They live in a non-English speaking country, their country has been isolated for years and however they seem to know many details about America (Medicare), about its media people (Martha Stewart) and their English is far too good. One of them alleges he is 23 and a dentist meaning the he has had not that much time to improve his high school English and that he is in a profession where being fluent is in English isn't essential. However his English is far better than mine despite being in computers (where English is a requiremnent) and having had much more time to tune it than him. Could be that I am bad but he is also more fluent than any of the (French) programmers I have met.

I am wondering if it could not be a leftist pasing for an Iraqui. First he establishes his credentials by scorning the old regime and once he has got an audience he proceeds to demoralize it
through histories of friends passing to the "resistance" or of people being shot by US soldiers.

Posted by JFM 2004-1-8 2:44:41 PM|| 2004-1-8 2:44:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 There's a lot of doubt about this over at instapundit. The story doesn't make much sense to me either, and I'm gullible enough to have believed that lady's claim about the 'lost' lottery ticket.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2004-1-8 2:47:04 PM|| 2004-1-8 2:47:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I'm looking for a word to describe this....Ahh there it is BULLSHIT.

Posted by JerseyMike 2004-1-8 2:56:17 PM|| 2004-1-8 2:56:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Is this an Iraqi Blogger or someone from DU? JerseyMike had the correct description....BS!

Posted by Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-1-8 3:03:54 PM|| 2004-1-8 3:03:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 To me the urban-legendish embellishments -- like it being his wedding day, finding the jacket, the crushed car (originally a truck) -- make it seem like this is just a story.

It needs to be investigated, if only to expose it.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2004-1-8 3:16:43 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com] 2004-1-8 3:16:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Sigh... even if investigated and exposed as untrue, remember the old saying, about a lie going halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its' boots?

Posted by Sgt. Mom 2004-1-8 3:31:10 PM|| [www.sgtstryker.com] 2004-1-8 3:31:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 very clever; it is obviously untrue and yet has the kind of emotional stuff to fool Zayed

Posted by mhw 2004-1-8 4:21:08 PM|| 2004-1-8 4:21:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 JFM's got it.

We've been trolled b4.

Posted by Shipman 2004-1-8 4:56:20 PM|| 2004-1-8 4:56:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Instapundit just pointed out that the main Samarra/Bagdad road doesn't come within 50 km of the Tharthar dam as shown on this map. This and other inconsistencies that others have found would indicate a hoax.

Posted by 11A5S 2004-1-8 5:11:04 PM|| 2004-1-8 5:11:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Check out the arabic version of the letter. Its clearly printed, while the iraqi blogger gives the impression he has seen the original letter.

This strikes me as a propaganda exercise.

Posted by phil_b 2004-1-8 5:12:08 PM|| 2004-1-8 5:12:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 Walking 3 clicks from their area of responsibility, and waving a flashlight around in the dark, in a combat zone? Unlikely.

Posted by mojo 2004-1-8 6:30:29 PM|| 2004-1-8 6:30:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 I've been reading Zayed's blog for some time and his willingness to believe this surprises me. My guess is that it follows the more realistic wedding injury so he is, as he points out, being incoherent.

Posted by remote man 2004-1-8 6:56:10 PM|| 2004-1-8 6:56:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 I think it's an urban myth/disinformation ploy for all the reasons listed over at Instapundit.

On a related note; did any of you catch CNN showing the mooks let out of jail today? One punk, mid-20's, was complaing, saying the US wrongly picked him up on suspicion of "killing a general".

Yeah, our Generals have been dropping like flies over there.

I can promise you though that when that prick gets back to his 'homies', he'll be braggin' that he did bust a cap on a US general and fooled the stupid Americans.

It's an honor/shame thing...

Posted by JDB 2004-1-8 7:11:58 PM|| 2004-1-8 7:11:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 As to Zayed command of English,hesays hec spent several years in England growing-up.

Posted by raptor 2004-1-8 7:47:17 PM|| 2004-1-8 7:47:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 That's one less person that I and every other taxpaying American have to pay for. I say too bad the tree branch didn't brake and didn't take away the other jerk who was violating curfew.

Posted by fatbags75 2004-1-8 10:07:53 PM|| 2004-1-8 10:07:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 And just to let everyone know where I stand, I don't believe for a second that the above letter is authentic.

Posted by fatbags75 2004-1-8 10:10:56 PM|| 2004-1-8 10:10:56 PM|| Front Page Top

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