NYT's Bob Herbert says Soldiers didn't try to stop Fallujah Mutilations!

[KoKo]

In his excellent Op-Ed Article "No End in Site" about Bush's mistakes in Iraq he makes this odd comment below. Has anyone else heard anything about this?

There were 4,000 marines stationed near Falluja when Wednesday's gruesome attack occurred. But Marine commanders, as The Times's Jeffrey Gettleman reports, decided they would not intervene to stop the mutilation of the bodies. The atrocity unfolded without interference.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/02/opinion/02HERB.html

[diamond14]

1. "We are mired in a savage mess in Iraq, no one knows how to get out of it

-snips-

On that same day five soldiers were killed when their convoy rolled over a bomb buried in the road in a town 15 miles west of Falluja. A major trade show in Baghdad that was supposed to be held next week to showcase investment opportunities in the new Iraq had to be postponed yesterday because of security concerns.

We are mired in a savage mess in Iraq, and no one knows how to get out of it. More than 600 U.S. troops are already dead. The rest of the world has decided that this is an American show, so we're not getting much in the way of help. (Even the Saudis have been sticking their fingers in Uncle Sam's eye, leading the effort by OPEC to cut oil production.) President Bush won't come clean about the financial costs of the war. His mantra remains: tax cuts, tax cuts.

We're flying blind. There's no evidence that the president or anyone in his administration knows what the next act of this great tragedy will be.

[Vadem]

2. I can understand it....the Marines are probably hoping that...

the media would show them non-stop as they did the mutilations of the US soldiers' bodies in Somalia which caused such an uproar in this country that Clinton was forced to withdraw. They want to get the hell out of Iraq and who can blame them?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Excellent point

I really appreciate your posts and points..they always add a perspective I hadn't considered.

[Vadem]

8. Thanks, NSMAM! I'm very flattered by that considering your

many cogent and intelligent posts!

[Robin Hood]

11. Jeezus people, Get a room.

lol..

[Vadem]

12. Aaaawaaa, LG, I love you too! LOL n/t

[Robin Hood]

14. That's better.

I just wanted to be included. Love back at you.

[pinto]

3. I heard mention that Fallujah is a "no go" zone, unless en mass, military

is apparently holed up in perimeter base.

[mhr]

4. See This DU Post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1330098

[grasswire]

6. On Crossfire today...

...Tucker Carlson was infuriated that the bodies remained unrecovered for, if I recall correctly, about 12 hours. Carlson mentioned the 4,000 troops nearby and ranted that no effort was made to get the bodies for all that time.

[Rex]

13. Carlson should have 'armored up' to go fetch the bodies.

Since we all know what a Rambo type man he is. :eyes:

[MetaTrope]

15. Two words for Tucker

Uday. Qusay.

[Must_B_Free]

7. Tin Foil on: Were the Fallujah Mutilations another LIHOP miscalculation

someone pointed out that the media seemed to be on hand for it. And it appears that none of the 4,000 soldiers staioned in Fallujah did any thing to stop the event until the next day.

Could this be another failed LIHOP miscalculation to whip up anger at all muslims? Was this an attempt to rekindle a failed war?

[Vadem]

9. I'm wondering, as well, that since the Americans were....

mercernaries, that there may have been a little hostility towards them by the Marines? I could be way off base, here. Just wondering....


On edit: My brother was a Marine in Viet Nam and was in the seige of Khe Sahn, so my proclivity leans towards the Marines.

[Old and In the Way]

10. Could be, or it could be symptomatic of a paralysis at the the top.

I suspect that things are getting more and more stage managed from Washington...and this may be a case where a consensus on reacting to the problem wasn't reached. So nothing happened.