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Duh! Who is the bright light?manu1959 said:ok this is just stupid.....a US offical says on the news a minute ago.....
"We are very concerned how they will react to this?"
yea they might attack us!
Lefty Wilbury said:you know i find it amazing that they comdemn the burning of bodies and say its a againest their religion but its ok for them to basically vaporize people with planes and burn everyone else in the building.
That was my first thought.Adam's Apple said:And don't forget cutting off people's heads while they are still alive and cutting out the innards of people and hanging the desecrated bodies up on poles for all to see.
I also heard Dupont (the Australian who made the video) say on TV that the soldiers were up in the mountains where there was no place to bury the bodies. They told him they burned the bodies because they were afraid of contamination from the dead bodies.
Lefty Wilbury said:you know i find it amazing that they comdemn the burning of bodies and say its a againest their religion but its ok for them to basically vaporize people with planes and burn everyone else in the building.
Adam's Apple said:And don't forget cutting off people's heads while they are still alive and cutting out the innards of people and hanging the desecrated bodies up on poles for all to see.
I also heard Dupont (the Australian who made the video) say on TV that the soldiers were up in the mountains where there was no place to bury the bodies. They told him they burned the bodies because they were afraid of contamination from the dead bodies.
theim said:NEW YORK TIMES, 1945 (satire)
Concerns are rising over American brutality toward's their Japanese counterparts. According to reports, American soldiers are employing use of a tool known as a "flame-thrower", which burns Japanese soldiers alive.
"Use of this tool is absolutely unacceptable." said Suzuki Toyota, a Japanese official, in a prepared statement. "Burning soldiers alive goes against our religion. We demand that this practice be halted and these weapons destroyed."
Upon recieving word of the controversy, the Truman Administration went into a panic. "I know the Japanese had the dubious habit of herding American POWs into air-raid shelters and burning them alive, but we are Americans, we are supposed to be better than that." said an anonymous administration official.
This disturbing news of yet another American Atrocity comes just off the heels of a humiliating American defeat on the island of Hondamitsubishi, where 3000 Japanese defenders died but an entire 18 US Marines were killed, forcing a retreat. One prominant senator called the loss "apalling" and wondered if "this 'World War' is worth the horrendous bloodshed inflicted upon American families. This is not the way to victory. We must win their hearts and minds, which is the why National Shinto Act was such an important success." he said, refering to an act which earlier this year made Shinto the official religion of America, with the goal of making the Japanese slaughter Americans with less abandon."
theim said:NEW YORK TIMES, 1945 (satire)
Concerns are rising over American brutality toward's their Japanese counterparts. According to reports, American soldiers are employing use of a tool known as a "flame-thrower", which burns Japanese soldiers alive.
"Use of this tool is absolutely unacceptable." said Suzuki Toyota, a Japanese official, in a prepared statement. "Burning soldiers alive goes against our religion. We demand that this practice be halted and these weapons destroyed."
Upon recieving word of the controversy, the Truman Administration went into a panic. "I know the Japanese had the dubious habit of herding American POWs into air-raid shelters and burning them alive, but we are Americans, we are supposed to be better than that." said an anonymous administration official.
This disturbing news of yet another American Atrocity comes just off the heels of a humiliating American defeat on the island of Hondamitsubishi, where 3000 Japanese defenders died but an entire 18 US Marines were killed, forcing a retreat. One prominant senator called the loss "apalling" and wondered if "this 'World War' is worth the horrendous bloodshed inflicted upon American families. This is not the way to victory. We must win their hearts and minds, which is the why National Shinto Act was such an important success." he said, refering to an act which earlier this year made Shinto the official religion of America, with the goal of making the Japanese slaughter Americans with less abandon."
USMCDevilDog said:Religion has no place in war, you really think we give a flying fuck what you believe in when you're shooting at us? I don't stop to think, "Oh shit, this is against their religion, I gotta stop using this" while theirs bullets flying over my head. War isn't some game, it's not "fair", it isn't something where you choose which weapons you're gonna use, shake hands and press play.
USViking said:I got an official warning on another board for suggesting
we should have thrown a few slices of bacon on the fire,
and maybe saved a few more bodies, and thrown a whole hog carcass
on the next, larger fire.
Hurt the hell out of my feelings.
Hobbit said:You know, it's offensive to me to see good Christians decapitated, disemboweled, scorched, then hung upside down off a bridge. That's against Christianity.
Saturday October 22, 2005
Burning Taliban
********scroll down for updates********
If this situation goes any further at all, I feel a war comin on (Pantano style)
Report Of U.S. Burning Bodies Investigated
The U.S. military said such abuse would be repugnant, and the State Department said U.S. embassies around the world have been told to counter a potential backlash by telling local governments that the alleged actions do not reflect American values.
Burning Taliban body - dead 24 hours
The Australian photojournalist, Stephen Dupont, who shot the video footage that is now being splashed around the globe as evidence of American atrocities, has been VERY clear that the burning of the bodies was done for hygiene purposes, and not as a deliberate atrocity. He goes on to add that psy-ops then saw an opportunity to send a message to the Taliban to try and smoke them out and provoke them to fight the Airborne troops. Duponts account is very different from what ended up as the SBS Dateline segment. Anti-US activist/journalist John Martinkus report is highly skewed. Heres an excerpt of Martinkus Dateline report:
At the top of the hills above the village the soldiers have taken the tactics of psychological warfare to a grotesque and disturbing extreme. US soldiers have set fire to the bodies of the two Taliban killed the night before. The burning of the corpses and the fact that theyve been laid out facing Mecca is a deliberate desecration of Muslim beliefs.
UPDATE(via IM from Chad at In The Bullpen) : Bare Knuckle Politics is the only place Ive found that has the uncensored video footage as recorded by Australian Stephen Dupont. BKP says that MSNBC and SBS have already removed their video links for sensitivity reasons. Hes got two video links. Must see.
screenshot of video footage
Watch a six minute interview with Dupont. (Real Player required) Heres a backup link.
Read the transcript of the interview.
Dateline archives with links.
Heres a transcript of the Dateline Australia segment created around the controversial footage.
More headlines on the burnings:
Yahoo News: Afghanistans Karzai condemns Taliban body burning
We in Afghanistan, in accordance with our religion and traditions and adherence to international law, are very unhappy and condemn the burning of two Taliban dead bodies, Karzai told reporters at the presidential palace.
We do not like such incidents and I hope such incidents will not occur again.
And heres a lesson in human rights from a Taliban spokesman:
Abdul Hai Mutmaen, the Talibans chief spokesman, urged Muslim countries to show a united reaction to the incident and challenged right groups over their silence.
Where are the human right groups? Why are they not raising their voice about this brutality?
Coleman points out bodies not oriented west, as anti-US activist journalist Martinkus claims.
Huh? Is it possible to be brutal to a dead body? Is it as bad as sawing off someones head with a steak knife or raping a woman because her cousin twice removed pissed off the wrong family? Hmmm let me think
Wait. Let me go here to remind myself what brutality really is, courtesy of Muslims around the world.
Yahoo News: US troops burned bodies in Afghanistan because they stank
Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (bookmark this site): Who will stop the disgraceful body burners?
Anti-Islamic warfare is at its peak and this time it has shown its ugly face in a sick and twisted form. The perpetrators of the abuse reported below prefer to call it fancy names like psychological warfare. They have Specially trained units to perform these calculated atrocities.
What should Muslims be doing to prevent these kinds of despicable events?
How can we let them get away with human rights abuses and insults to our faith.[sic]
Thank you mainstream/moderate Muslims, for reminding us exactly where you stand (as if we ever had any doubt).
Now to counter that crap, heres a response to the above propaganda from a man named Ahmed:
The Taleban and their allies are quite happy to murder imans, to blow up mosques, and to car-bomb fellow muslims.
Yet when one fraction of their irreligousness and brutality is returned, they and their supporters yelp like beaten dogs.
No wonder that Islamism has brought into disrepute. It is the refuge of the weak, the cowardly and unmanly. The Taleban are only brave when they are murdering old men or beating women.
CNN: U.S. probes burning bodies report
The U.S. military said the Army Criminal Investigation Division had opened an investigation into alleged misconduct that included the burning of dead enemy combatant bodies under inappropriate circumstances.
Dupont said the soldiers who burned the bodies said they did so for hygiene reasons. However, Dupont said the incendiary messages later broadcast by the U.S. army psychological operations unit indicated they were aware that the cremation would be perceived as a desecration.
They used that as a psychological warfare, I guess youd call it. They used the fact that the Taliban were burned facing west (toward Mecca), Dupont told SBS. They deliberately wanted to incite that much anger from the Taliban so the Taliban could attack them . Thats the only way they can find them.
Time Online Edition: Stench Prompted U.S. Troops to Burn Corpses
There simply wasnt enough room on the rocky hilltop above Gonbaz village in southern Afghanistan for the U.S. platoon and the corpses of the two Taliban fighters. The Taliban men had been killed in a firefight 24 hours earlier, and in the 90 degree heat, their bodies had become an unbearable presence, soldiers who were present have told TIME. Nor was the U.S. Army unit about to leave the hilltop commanded a strategic view of the village below where other Taliban were suspected to be hiding.
Earlier, Lt. Eric Nelson, the leader of B Company, I-508 platoon leader had sent word down to Gonbaz asking the villagers to pick up the bodies and bury them according to Muslim ritual. But the villagers refused probably because the dead fighters werent locals but Pakistanis, surmised one U.S. army officer.
It was then that Lt. Nelson took the decision that could jeopardize his service career. We decided to burn the bodies, one soldier recounts, because they were bloated and they stank.
Well, if it didnt matter to the Afghan people themselves, who gives a damn? They obviously didnt care enough about the bodies to bury them according to Muslim tradition.
AP: Video spurs outrage in Afghanistan
We need to stir the fires of American outrage against an unecessary and trumped up investigation.
Whos blogging on it:
Hyscience And if you arent really sure whose side one of the two reporters is on(and there may be some serious questions about the other) - wait until you see the journalists photo from his own bio. Perhaps the report might be just a wee bit slanted, dont you think?
Little Green Footballs This has got to be the most ridiculous trumped-up scandal yet
Mudville Gazette Posted a link in Dawn Patrol (no commentary): Karzai Condemns Alleged Body Desecration
Jack Army At the PAOs request, along my own sense of Soldierly duty, Im posting the CENTCOM news releases regarding this situation.
Blackfive Until we know the details, dont jump to conclusions. And Im sure a lot of you dont have much sympathy for the Taliban here, but the military will be concerned about causing riots over this (like the Koran desecration myth that killed demonstrators that rioted in Pakistan).
American Soldier Terrorists dont need to be treated like soldiers in an Army. They dont fall under the Geneva Convention rules.
GMs Corner Remember not too long ago when John Martinkus reported that US troops desicrated muslim bodies for Psy-Ops purposes? The stink that followed as all reality based lefties raised a ruckus about the no good rotten US forces? Turns out that it was a total fabrication, with proof and with cooberation from a lefty journalist no less.
Riehl World View Isnt it interesting that this was obviously filmed some time ago but breaks right on the heels of the Iraq election? Thats a bit convenient for changing the news slant of the effort in Iraq. I hope combined intelligence operations have taken a good look at these guys. This strikes me as an incredibly well-timed bit of propoganda.
Jason Coleman The purpose of this post is to add to an explanation of what the REAL STORY is with regard to why two Taliban soldiers bodiers were burned in Afghanistan
Update Jason Coleman audio clips and analysis
more from Jason Coleman MR. MARTINKUS IS ENGAGING IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA AND HER ARMED FORCES!!!!
MR. MARTINKUS IS ENGAGING IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE DESIGNED TO ALSO INFURIATE THE MUSLIM WORLD AGAINST AMERICA!!!!
Theodores World This is not the end I am sure, but IMO it never should have been a situation to deal with. Our troops are busting their butts in Afghanistan, Iraq and all over the world. They deserve better then to have to answer for every breath they take, every shot that is fired and every bomb that goes off.
Confederate Yankee If the body was facing east or west, the shadows would be running parallel with the alignment of the bodies. As you can tell by looking at the feet of the bodies, they are perpendicular to the shadows. The narrative does not hold.
Blogs For Bush If you read on in the story, youll find that the troops werent taunting mere villagers - their goal was to draw out Islamic militants (and note that they opted to use the words militant and fighters rather than terrorist - surprise, surprise).
Homemade Sin Can somebody remind me how many people were cremated by UBL and his Taliban butt buddies one nice September morning not too long ago? Im not going to lose much sleep over this.
Sister Toldjah This is yet another classic example of how the media manipulates news to support their anti-war viewpoints. Our fighting forces are in Afghanistan to smoke out (no pun intended) terrorist thugs who want to kill us and turn our country into an Islamic state, yet we get this nonsense about alleged brutality/desecration done by our troops to them? This is such a horribly reported story that its pathetic.
MyVast Right Wing Conspiracy Dont let the agenda-driven mainstream media distort reality (again) and fuel the anti-American hate machine - spread the word!
Mark Kilmer If these things did occur, which now seems likely, someone was doing something which they should not. They were disobeying orders.
Reasoned Audacity Apocalyptic, misleading, headlines
Say Anything The debatable point in all of this is not whether or not we should have burned the bodies (if the troops need to be rid of the rotting corpses of enemy combatants then burning seems like an efficient way to do that) but rather whether or not the psy-ops troops should have used the occasion to taunt the terrorists.
Some say this is not an effective tactic. They say, in fact, that it is largely counter-productive. Im willing to listen to those arguments (though I largely disagree), but what is not acceptable is accusing our troops or war crimes or misdeeds.
Political Pitbull I am interested to see where this story will go in the US. One can only assume that it will be used by the MSM to depict the US military as inherently evil and reinforce the notion that the Bush administration has a systematic policy of torture when it comes to captured terrorists.
Delftsman An unfettered press is a necessity in a free society, but with that freedom comes the responsibility to stick to the facts and not use that power in furthuring a personal or corporate agenda. And its a citizens responsibility to hold the press to just reporting the news and not manipulating it, unfortunately, all too often, the citizens have become unquestioning and uncritical sponges of what they read and see.
Flopping Aces First, if this video existed I have a sneaky feeling it would be all over the news right now. Second, the Geneva Convention does not apply to unlawful combatants, such as the Taliban who do now wear a uniform. Third, burning dead bodies (cremation) is not unusual, it is a proven way of preventing disease. Fourth, why is it so hard for the media and the liberals to understand that PsychOps are a very useful tool?
In the Bullpen The act was not against Geneva Convention guidelines as has been suggested by several media outlets and the only thing I even have a problem with is burning the bodies because it shows the frustration of soldiers in that field of operations. Calling out to a nearby village in an effort to draw the enemy out is called psychological warfare, and I certainly do not have a problem with that.
Dread Pundit Bluto Colemans analysis points out not only gaping holes in Duponts story, but a revealing photo of Dupont (from Duponts website) showing the freelancer seemingly dressed as a Talibani for a Halloween party.
ROFASix Geez, here we go again. All sorts of concerns steeped in cultural relativism. Next thing you know we will have soldiers performing the washing ritual on the bad guys they kill. Have we lost our minds?
Publius Pundit Some jackass journalists desecrated their supposed profession
______________________________________
Im kinda suprised certain blogs havent picked it up yet: Malkin, FR, Dr. Sanity, Cao, Instapundit, Indepundit, or the AntiIdiotarian Rottweiler, California Conservative, OTB, Wizbang, The Political Teen, 2 Babes and A Brain, MacStansbury, Publius Rendevous, and so on. If anyone finds any links to the story as more bloggers pick it up please let me know in comments so that I can include them here.