Idiots shoot Margaret Hassan in the head.

[bigtree]

Aid Worker Hassan Believed Slain in Video

Wednesday November 17, 2004 12:01 AM
By MARIAM FAM

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Margaret Hassan, the British aid worker kidnapped after decades of helping Iraqis, is believed to have been murdered by her captors, a British government official said Tuesday, based on a video that showed a hooded militant shooting a blindfolded woman in the head.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4619665,00.html


Who are these 'insurgents' fighting for anyway? Does it make any sense to anyone here that they should be killing the ones who would help the Iraqi people recover from our own abuses?

I carry deep resentment for the clowns who blow up Iraqi innocents as they seek to inflict damage on the U.S. and our supporters. I don't hedge my resentment between our own maddness and that of the mindless 'resistance'. Both are to be condemed for their heinous acts of violence against the civilian population. Amnesty International came out today with a condemnation of both. Spot on.


Iraq: Urgent action needed to prevent war crimes
Press release, 11/16/2004

Amnesty International is also calling on the US and Iraqi forces to ensure that all those wounded in fighting in Falluja, both civilians and fighters, receive prompt and effective medical treatment. In addition, urgent measures must be taken to address the drastic humanitarian situation in the city. There is currently no water, electricity or organised evacuation of the wounded, who have no access to proper healthcare. The Iraqi Red Crescent Society have been able to reach the hsopital on the outskirts of the city, but are still not allowed to deliver humanitarian relief or assistance to those in need inside the city. Most of the civilians in the city are reportedly trapped in their homes or hiding places. There are is no information of civilian casualties or injuries.

"There are acute humanitiarian needs within Falluja. Measures should be taken urgently to allow the Iraqi Red Crescent Society and other humanitarian organizations into the city."

Insurgents are also reported to have violated rules of international humanitarian law: "Commanders and fighters of armed groups in Falluja also have an obligation to respect fundamental rules of international law. Acts such as booby trapping dead bodies are also war crimes," Amnesty International said.

http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE140572004

[DrWeird]

1. I've heard...

the marines are looking for a few good men.

[bigtree]

4. whatever you are implying

What in god's name is right about shooting an innocent woman in the head. If you are suggesting that what the marines did somehow justifies the cold blooded murder of this woman than we will never end this conflict. Someone has to stand up and say that all killing is wrong. I'm sorry you can't bring yourself to that.

[Fovea]

15. It doesnt matter if Dr Weird associates

Abu Ghraib, the marine's shooting a wounded Iraqi with this execution.

It only matters if Iraqis and other Moslems do. Do they? Yes, I suspect they do.

[w13rd0]

20. Al Queda and Zarqawi...

...had stated that she should have been released. I still believe "the coalition" has contracted with a few Apartheid enforcers and south american death squads, and they are doing what they do best.

[UNIXcock]

7. Are you implying that her murders are good men? Please ...

... explain

[timber84]

2. Bye Bye

those 12,000 British troops.

[onebox30]

3. Don't Investigate Too Closely

or you will find that whenever war (aka mass murder) occurs, BOTH sides are wrong.

[kiki]

5. Hmmmm...

Kind of ignoring the fact that war "occurred" ENTIRELY due to the actions of ONE side...

[bigtree]

9. Cold blooded murder is not 'war'

it's murder.

[Cuban_Liberal]

11. Yes.

And Margaret hassan was murdered. Nothing can justify that.

[DjTj]

12. "He started it" is not a valid defense...

...I learned that in kindergarten.

[kiki]

19. Well that's a point...

...but on the other hand, it's very easy to point out that both sides in war commit terrible acts, while glossing over the fact that - caps alert - IF IT WASN'T FOR THE ACTIONS OF ONE SIDE AND ONE SIDE ONLY (in the case of Iraq and Vietnam), NOBODY WOULD BE COMMITTING ATROCITIES BECAUSE THERE WOULDN'T BE A WAR IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Imagine that I, a total stranger, walk up to you and punch you in the face. So you punch me back. Pretty soon we're scrapping away, and then I gouge your eye. "No fair!", you say. "Hey, that's fighting," I say. "People get carried away and do some rough things."

Wouldn't you feel like saying "How about not fuckin' punching me in the face in the first place?!"

[DjTj]

25. If it wasn't for Sandra Day O'Connor...

...Bush would never be President.

...If 9/11 never happenned...

...If we had never armed Saddam in the first place...

We can always look back at the past and point out wrongs that could be righted, but nothing absolves us from morality going forward.

You would be wrong to gouge my eye out and I would be wrong for getting into a fight with you if I could have walked away.

I'm not saying the U.S. doesn't hold the burden of responsibility for what's going on in Iraq, but that doesn't mean that other people can't share in the blame.

[kiki]

26. Again,

I do think you have a point - obviously, neither side HAS to resort to such barbarism, and both should share the blame to some extent...

However, my bottom line is still that, if you start a war with absolutely no legitimate justification, and with the world screaming at you that you have no right to do so and that it will turn into a bloodbath, you have to take a much larger share of the blame when the whole thing turns into - wow, who saw that coming? - a bloodbath.

As far as the Iraqis are concerned, they're defending their homeland. What's "our" excuse?

[Cuban_Liberal]

16. Margaret Hassan didn't start it.

Neither did she participate in it, on either side. What was her 'crime'?

[jdj]

28. Ironic isn't it,

every Iraqi is an insurgent,
so every westerner is culpable.

such are the times we live in.

[bigtree]

6. I believe I have said that in no uncertain terms

There is a blind side here and I'm refusing to shut my eyes to the barbarism on either side.

[Bluebear]

8. RIP to this poor woman...anyone else wonder why she was shot, not beheaded

Strange that they would suddenly change tactics.

[Zynx]

10. Maybe it was a different group

Al-Zarqawi supposedly denied responsibility for kidnapping her and called for her to be released.

Could have just been ransom kidnappers. That's very common in Iraq.

[Bluebear]

21. Could have been any number of groups trying to stir up feelings

:(

[merh]

13. That was my first thought!

But you know me, I post at DU, so I am just a stupid conspiracy theorist. <sarcasm> :mad:

May she rest in peace. At least she will know it now! :cry:

[Piperay]

22. They have shot others too instead of beheading them

and perhaps they thought beheading a woman would cause them more problems. :shrug:

[Malva Zebrina]

14. and nobody in Britain tried to save her? nt

[superconnected]

17. The Koran forbids killing women

but that's okay, the Bible forbids killing.

[Artemis Bunyon]

18. It was a small mercy that she was spared a slow decapitation.

Damn this fucking war.

Damn this fucking species.

Stick a fork in us, Universe. We're done.

[Darranar]

23. This is a despicable atrocity. n/t

[Forkboy]

24. We need a program to tell each days despicable atrocites apart

what a mess.

[RBHam]

27. THINK! WHO BENEFITS?

"Why this just goes to show how BARBARIV those TERRORISTS are!"

Thus, shall the continued slaughter of Iraqi civilians shall be justified.

[oblivious]

30. I've been thinking about that all day.

Who did she regard as the enemy?
The UN for the sanctions and the UK and US for enforcing them

Who's side was she on?
The Iraqi people

Who called for her release?
Virtually every part of the Iraqi resisistance, even the ultimate bogeyman, Al-zarqari's group

Who benefits?
Duh!

[Ferretherder]

31. Nail on the head, my friend! At least...

...that's the way I am leaning in assessing this particular incident.

WHO stands to benefit from this 'senseless act of barbarism' - not the Iraqis and their attempts to draw attention to the fact that THOUSANDS of their citizens are being slaughtered in the middle of this 'War on Terror', so, who then?........

Hmmmmmmmm.......

[AP]

29. I heard a former colleague of her's interviewed on the radio. He implied

or said outright (I can't remember -- I was half-listening) that this looks like it was a kidnap-for-profit. He said it doesn't make sense that they'd kidnap an Iraqi woman who was been in the country for years. He thinks they must have been doing it for the money. The other explanation would be that they were doing it to get a particular kind of publicity.