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Arabs Enraged at U.S. Soldier Shooting Wounded Iraq
Reuters ^ | 11/17/04 | Samia Nakhoul

Posted on 11/17/2004 2:54:24 AM PST by kattracks

DUBAI (Reuters) - Arabs were torn between seething rage at images of a U.S. soldier shooting dead a wounded Iraqi in a mosque and dismay at Iraqi insurgents in Falluja for turning holy mosques into battlegrounds.

Viewers said images, which Arab televisions aired repeatedly of a Marine killing a severely injured Iraqi, fueled growing hatred against America and helped create more "terrorists."

"I am not a jihadist, I am just a normal Muslim but such scenes are pushing me to Jihad," said Dubai-based engineer Abdallah. "We don't expect this from the representative of democracy in the world."

"This is one of the things we saw on TV. God knows how many crimes they have committed which we have not seen," he added."

In Saudi Arabia -- the birthplace of Islam and of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, whose group carried out bombings in the country -- residents said insurgents were to blame for taking their battle into mosques.

"If I was in the U.S. soldier's place I would have killed all the insurgents because they are mercenaries," said Saudi Zaher al-Saleh, a 32-year-old teacher. "They have turned the mosques into battlefields and they're killing civilians."

Islamist extremists called for revenge through their Web sites and cursed pro-U.S. Muslim leaders for remaining silent.

"Oh God your enemies have killed your believers in one of your houses. God take revenge for us," one chatter said.

PERSONAL AFFRONT

Some Muslims saw the killing as a personal affront.

"It's as if they had killed every one of us. Today, it's that poor man, tomorrow, it will be me," said Sherine Mohamed, 27, a financial analyst. "Even if militants didn't respect mosque sanctities, U.S. soldiers should have done so because they claim to help Iraqis."

Muslims said pictures showing Marines lounging with their guns in a Falluja mosque were "insulting."

They said soldiers "sullied the ground with their boots" at the mosque where Muslims are obliged to take off their shoes in respect for the house of God.

"They are entering dangerous waters. If they think they are getting rid of terrorists this way, they are mistaken. They are creating more terrorists than killing them," added Abdallah.

International human rights groups said the killing could amount to a war crime and showed the need to better train U.S. forces about the laws of war.

The U.S. military opened an investigation into whether the Marine acted in self-defense, broke U.S. military law or committed a war crime in the fatal shooting of a wounded Iraqi in Falluja, the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and Iraqi and Islamist militants in the past week.

That shooting was caught on videotape by an NBC television crew embedded with the Marines.

The United Arab Emirates' Al-Ittihad newspaper said the killing was "shocking and provocative" and demanded Washington investigate the "horrifying crime."

"If this crime goes unpunished it will set a dangerous precedent in U.S. policies and will destroy everything (good) it has done for Iraq," it added.

Arab animosity toward U.S. presence in Iraq has ratcheted up since the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that resulted in the sentencing of several U.S. soldiers.

Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah TV al-Manar led its newscasts with the shooting and said it showed "the ugliness of the actions that occupation forces are carrying out in Iraq."

"U.S. forces violating laws and committing atrocities is not new. What has surfaced is only a small part of what Iraqis are facing," said Shehab al-Ahdal, editor-in-chief of Yemen's al-Nahar newspaper.



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: fallujahmarine
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To: kattracks
"If I was in the U.S. soldier's place I would have killed all the insurgents because they are mercenaries," said Saudi Zaher al-Saleh, a 32-year-old teacher. "They have turned the mosques into battlefields and they're killing civilians."

It would be nice if we could encourage that attitude. Instead, their mosques and clerics are encouraging all of them to rid the country of the infidel invaders.

41 posted on 11/17/2004 3:16:03 AM PST by Amelia
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Note to Arabs:

This is how enraged Americans have been known to deal with their enemies:

42 posted on 11/17/2004 3:17:21 AM PST by whd23
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To: The Red Zone

I only imply that the man was doing his job and doing it well. Yes, what he did was a common wartime action but if he is going to get crucified for his actions by the left, I'd go the opposite way and gladly say pin a medal on him.

And for whats its worth, I think all our boys over there deserve recognition.


43 posted on 11/17/2004 3:17:48 AM PST by Dissident Aggressor ("Well he's dead now.")
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To: kattracks

Standing headlines.

Arabs Enraged at......

...work
...hot water
...Asians
...Whites
...Africans
...Jews
...losing every war
...being losers of the world
...dirt
...cold
...heat
...sand
...rain
...drought
...being little weasels
...women who read


44 posted on 11/17/2004 3:19:22 AM PST by Leisler (The New Northern Railroad, help a lefty to Canada.)
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To: kattracks

Charles Sabine and Imus are treating the Marine with sympathy..Sabine says all the Marines he talked to are ready to back him using their names, O'Reilly backing the Marine(watched his talking point)..NYPost backing him..I believe the MSM isn't going to get far showing the video over and over and implying "war crime"..this time...I watched Michael Ware, Time treating this much more sympathetically than at first on CNN..


45 posted on 11/17/2004 3:19:27 AM PST by MEG33 ( Congratulations President Bush!..Thank you God. Four More Years!)
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To: kattracks; bd476; Eaker; humblegunner; Travis McGee; Squantos; Jeff Head; river rat; t_skoz; ...

The rag heads make me want to go puke.

Off to the shower and then off to work.


46 posted on 11/17/2004 3:19:31 AM PST by SLB ("We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." C. S. Lewis)
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To: solsrchr2

I'm not sure I understand the difference between a terrorist and a journalist.


47 posted on 11/17/2004 3:21:39 AM PST by shibumi (John Galt is alive and well. He tends bar in a casino restaurant.)
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To: Squantos; FormerACLUmember
Squantos, here is an example of a journalist who needs to be sent home immediately. Kevin Sites is the one who reported the Marine defending himself and his fellow soldiers in the Fallujah mosque.

Here's another example of how Sites has gotten into trouble:

"...Sites's reporting was cut short, however, when Iraqi Fedayeen militia outside of Tikrit captured him and his team. They were stripped of all their equipment and threatened with death until their Kurdish translator negotiated their release after four hours in captivity."

kevinsites.net

48 posted on 11/17/2004 3:22:40 AM PST by bd476
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To: snarks_when_bored

He could have turned it over to DOD..He knew this would incite and if ONE Marine loses his life to a "dead " or injured insurgent because of this video uproar I hope he suffers...but doubt he will.


49 posted on 11/17/2004 3:22:41 AM PST by MEG33 ( Congratulations President Bush!..Thank you God. Four More Years!)
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To: kattracks

These jerks show little or no remorse when non-combatants - even women - are beheaded on video and squeal like a hit pig when a militant is shot dead. Arab's sense of justice STINKS.


50 posted on 11/17/2004 3:22:41 AM PST by azhenfud ("He who is always looking up seldom finds others' lost change...")
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To: kattracks
In Saudi Arabia -- the birthplace of Islam and of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, whose group carried out bombings in the country -- residents said insurgents were to blame for taking their battle into mosques. "If I was in the U.S. soldier's place I would have killed all the insurgents because they are mercenaries," said Saudi Zaher al-Saleh, a 32-year-old teacher. "They have turned the mosques into battlefields and they're killing civilians."

Hey, my kind of Arab!

51 posted on 11/17/2004 3:25:22 AM PST by fortheDeclaration
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To: kattracks
Good. The whole intent of this war is to give the Muslims a lasting image of our dogs of war. Do they really want to travel down this road?
52 posted on 11/17/2004 3:25:23 AM PST by ohCompGk
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To: kattracks

Thank the anti-war Mr. Sites for enraging the armed masses of the Arab world in his self-centered quest for peace.


53 posted on 11/17/2004 3:27:59 AM PST by wildcatf4f3 (out of the sun)
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To: azhenfud

Maybe our guys should have hacked the terrorist's head off, then burned and mutilated his body. That kind of thing doesn't seem to faze the arabs.


54 posted on 11/17/2004 3:29:33 AM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks

"I am not a jihadist, I am a normal Muslim, but such scenes are pushing me to jihad"

Fine. Try your jihad and the Marines will kill you too, a-hole.


55 posted on 11/17/2004 3:29:35 AM PST by Levante
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To: SLB
Check this out quickly before you take off.

Then ask yourself how many people you know who are serving or who have relatives serving our country who appreciate Kevin Sites being over there with our soldiers.

Sites is in our soldiers' way while being paid to push forward his traitorous agenda.

Traitor

56 posted on 11/17/2004 3:31:04 AM PST by bd476
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To: bd476

Once the Fedayeen checked out his website he was OK


57 posted on 11/17/2004 3:31:23 AM PST by The Red Zone
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To: kattracks

Arabs and rage. Nothing new, it's a routine story in their world.


Arabs and peace!! Now, that's newsworthy!!!


58 posted on 11/17/2004 3:32:35 AM PST by DustyMoment (Repeal CFR NOW!!)
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To: kattracks
Time for the Pentagon to keep these damned reporers out of this war.

They will politicize the war and make it impossible to win.

The fifth column is alive and well and living at ABC, SEE BS & NBC.

59 posted on 11/17/2004 3:34:20 AM PST by Radioactive
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To: MEG33
Yes, he could have. But it probably would have come out anyway. And if DOD wanted embeds to do that, it should have been in their contract (or on the permission papers that the reporters had to sign).

That would have made the agreements between DOD and embeds something like the agreements between Presidential campaigns and "Newsweek". "Newsweek" agreed not to disclose anything about what their reporters saw or heard behind the scenes in the campaigns until after the election. We know how that went!

60 posted on 11/17/2004 3:35:02 AM PST by snarks_when_bored
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