Posted on 09/28/2006 9:44:04 PM PDT by beaversmom
Some of you have probably already seen this and/or read about it, but it was new to me when I saw it on TV tonight and I'm guessing it will be new to a few other FReepers out there as well.
That's why... I thought it's hard to get past censorship...
Why was the guy filming anyways? He was supposed to be driving.
Whats the point of having a military escort if they won't defend a driver?
Disgusting.
What would have been disgusting is if the escort had abandoned the other ten trucks before getting them to relative safety - and the other ten trucks had been destroyed and their drivers killed.
I don't believe that elements of the American Army "retreated" from anything. Moving out of a beaten area to flank ambushers is SOP.
Seems to me that our military continues to be too small for its myriad missions. The Red Ball Express was not a civilian contractor operation...
Shortly after the Viet Nam War many people - politicians, media pundits and others - complained about the “ratio of head to tail” in the US Army. It was decided to drastically cut the number of support troops when the Reduction in Force was put in place. The Transportation Corps was hit particularly hard.
In a effort to make up for combat strength lost due to the cuts, Combat Arms equipment was modernized. Not so with the Transportation Corps. In my own branch - marine transportation - we lost what few ships we had and kept using our WW II and Korean War vintage boats until we received a few US Navy design Viet Nam Era landing craft in the late 70’s. We received no new equipment until after my retirement in 1986. The number of Transportation Companies were further cut in the 1990’s.
There is still the attitude among many, even in the military that support troops aren’t “real” soldiers. Some of these “real” soldiers in Viet Nam realized their mistakes when they transferred to the boats and found out why we needed them. Army boats were even taking Navy volunteers because we were taking an average of 40% casualties every mission (weekly) during the Tet Offensive and Tet Counteroffinsive.
But we weren’t “real” soldiers, even though we always managed to get the fuel, ammo and rations to the “real” soldiers regardless of losses.
End Of Rant
C'mon, man this is WAR. Can't just go around killing people, ya know.
From another contractor at the scene:
Loren Bradshaw told CTV Newsnet late Thursday that while three of five gunner humvees sped away from the ambush, two of them travelling behind Wheeler's stalled truck stayed and fought. If they hadn't, Bradshaw said he believes all the drivers may have been killed.
I WROTE:
[I can't figure out what's more stupid: the KBR policy forbidding the drivers from carrying rifles, or the idiots who would actually obey such a policy.]
YOU WROTE:
[We follow the policy whether we like it or not. We are contractors, not combatants. Nor are we idiots.]
It's your life. Feel free to waste it in whichever manner you please.
Seems to me that it doesn't matter if you're mil, contractor, or just a regular American homeowner in Mayberry, USA- the point is the same: If someone's shooting at you, shoot back. If someone wants to kill you, kill him first.
BTW, you do NOT choose whether or not you're a combatant. The enemy often times makes that decision for you. You can't tell haji, "The Army says I can't carry a gun, so I'm a non-combatant. Go kill someone else."
Pal, it ain't gonna work.
Those who willingly enter a gunfight armed with nothing more than a video camera are exactly what I said they were; IDIOTS!!!
It's a fornicating WAR!!! Arm yourself!
Nuke their ass. The libs love this press....pricks.
Year old video re-released before election when GWBush makes a speech and Pelosi has madman murtha advocating surrender.
Pelosi is demanding we read the ambushers Mirada Rights before shooting back.
"Why is ABC showing this now?"
Because...War = Bush = Bad
ABC= Liberals anti war = Good
Turn the shiite off!
Exactly shoot the poeple throwing rocks, let them know at any threat results in Death.
That video proves to me what I've said all along. We won't win this war because we don't have the will to win it. The kids that throw rocks now are going to lobbing grenades in 5 years.
#4 why is a year old tape popping up before elections and along with a GWBush speech which directly attacked democrats?
year old video.
year old video.
nothing recent.
The Army investigation is a lie. I was at the base that convoy was heading to, Camp McKenzie, now closed. The Army escorts DID NOT FIRE BACK! They pulled their crew served weapons into their armored Humvees and waited for the QRF to arrive. One of the Sergeants in the QRF told me this and it was corroborated by several other NCO's on the QRF. The Army convoy commander had never been to McKenzie and got lost. There is a cardinal rule when heading to McKenzie, "Never turn south onto the Al Jabouri Peninsula". There is no place to turn around, it's a dead end and it's full of Sunni insurgents. Nobody at McKenzie, either KBR or the Army knew this convoy was coming! If that had been known, the Army unit stationed there would have been in the town, guiding them through and providing a protective overwatch. The name of the town is not Samarra, it's Ad Duluiyah and it's a hell hole. Don't blame Halliburton or KBR, they go where the Army tells them to go. Blame poor leadership and incompetence on the Army's part. Halliburton and KBR care deeply about their employees. The KBR driver at the rear without a trailer was driving up and down the road trying to distract and run over any insurgents attacking his convoy. You want a hero? He's the one.
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