Mosque Blows Up and Laughter Ensues.

[reprehensor]

From "BAGnews";

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2007/05/liveleak.html

May 18, 2007
Exhibit #1 Why The Military Wants To Keep Our Boys Off YouTube

Can't decide what's more "striking," the audio or the video.

(Clip title: Mosque Vs F-18. uploaded: May 16 2007 by max. location: Iraq. Possibly Tajii. Via liveleak)

[meegbear]

1. ...

:wow:

[Tucson is On Fire]

82. I don't believe that emoticon could emphasize what I feel.

No wonder they hate us. We do so much to crap on their religion and way of life.

I'm sure if that happened to a church, they'd be mortified.

[Dhalgren]

2. It is hard to have respect for a people or a culture when your job

is to crush them beneath your boots. Everyone in an occupied country is an enemy and is treated as such. Oh, there may be "friendlies", but at the slightest provocation the friendlies will be crush right along side of the "enemies", because they are all "Hajjis" - right? This can never, never, never end well. There is nothing anyone can now do to make this end in anything but massive death and mayhem. The longer the US stays the worse it will be. Someone, somewhere must be able to see this small, but obvious truth. Ending it now, today, right now, is the best we can possibly do...

[Rosemary2205]

3. Wish I could recommend your reply......... nt

[BlooInBloo]

8. Me too! It's SOOO reasonable to murder a 14 yo girl's family, then rape her, then kill her!

It's just war!

Phew - I was about to be upset there for a minute. Thanks for clearing THAT up for me!

[Rosemary2205]

29. Huh

You obviously read those post different than me. I didn't read it as EXCUSING inhumane conduct -- but pointing out putting soldiers in an insane situation like this isn't exactly good for our soldiers, mentally or physically.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6615510,00.html

Petraeus 'Concerned' by Ethics Report ..............


47% of U.S. soldiers and 38% of Marines believe noncombatants should be treated with respect...............

Only 40% of Marines would report another member of their unit for killing or wounding a civilian.

[BlooInBloo]

30. Yup - I read it as nothing but an apology of inhumane conduct.

[dave_p]

32. No, you're so wrong

Please take another read. It's not what you think.

[BlooInBloo]

33. Apparently we disagree then.

[dave_p]

38. People aren't getting it

I'm taking it that we're discussing Dhalgren's post - this subthread's getting so long.

Why would troops be amused at the destruction of a minaret? Because they're born Islamophobe demolition fetishists? No, because they're in a hostile and threatening environment where survival dictates alienation from the population and its culture.

It's a safe option to assume that such conduct's abnormal and the result of "bad eggs". In war, safeguarding local heritage comes way down the list, lower than a belly-laugh at an act of destruction that means you survived another day. That's why these occupations don't work.

"Ending it now, today, right now, is the best we can possibly do" is hardly a celebration of the conflict or its excesses.

[BlooInBloo]

40. LOL!

"Why would troops be amused at the destruction of a minaret? Because they're born Islamophobe demolition fetishists? No"

ROFLMAO!!!

I like how you included the ringer "born". Without that, you recognize perfectly well that it could be true. A rhetorical masterstroke on your part. Kudos.

[dave_p]

41. Well, it was rather crucial to my point ...

... there's no denying that, surely? :)

And some are certainly that way by choice, no question about that here. I don't think most are.

[Dhalgren]

39. If you are referring to my post #2, I don't see how you can make it

out to be any kind of an apology or justification of any action by any troops. If so, please explain so I can re-word my post, because that was not the intent. TIA

[dave_p]

42. Your post was quite clear, and an excellent indictment of this war

I'm anti-war as hell, and I got it. If others don't, then let's share our puzzlement.

[Dhalgren]

74. Thanks. I couldn't quite figure out how I had become an

"apologist for the occupation"! Anyway, I appreciate you words. :hi:

[mitchtv]

52. I got it

It must've been simple enough

[tavalon]

99. So, how did you do in school at reading comprehension?

Read it again, Bloo. You Bloo it!

[uppityperson]

55. Wrong bloo. Explaining is not excusing or apologizing.

[uppityperson]

54. trying to understand behavior, explaining behavior is NOT excusing it.

Understanding behavior is in no way excusing it. You do not seem to be able to understand the difference.

Understanding that things like this happens in war, that part of it is dehumanizing "the other", and why this happens is a good thing because then we can begin to change that behavior.

This in no way excuses the behavior. This is a big reason to NEVER EVER go to war without extreme necessity because atrocities happen. There is no excuse, but there is an explanation. The next step is figure out how to stop this behavior from happening. How to train people to fight other people without turning them into "the other".

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. Speaking of boots

the troops do have a bad habit of entering the mosques and walking all around without removing them.
Not exactly helping to 'win hearts and minds'.

[dave_p]

31. I recommend it

This is how it works. You can go in with whatever ideals you want: they won't last long if you're not wanted. It all ends up much the same way. This isn't excusing anything, it's what happens.

[sanskritwarrior]

Like I've said before

2 points

1. When the enemy is trying to kill you and you kill him first, laughter does come out of you.

2. If this is Taji, the local Sunni insurgents like to use their mosques as sniper lofts as they know we are reluctant to destroy the mosque, however if a commander feels that the mosque has become an insurgent position then we have every right to destroy it as the insurgents made it a target by using it.......IMHO there is not enough evidence to warrant derision towards the soldiers.

[Dhalgren]

6. "we have every right to destroy it" That is the main problem with our

country, our government and our culture - right there, in that one little statement...

[sanskritwarrior]

9. LOL that's funny

if someone is trying to kill me and using a mosque as a weapons platform, under the rules of war WE as in ANY SOLDIER OF ANY NATION has the right to destroy that mosque.........it has nothing to do with being american.

[Ron Green]

11. Your rules of war

can kiss my ass.

[JVS]

don't worry, the rules get violated plenty

[Zywiec]

15. I agree with you, Ron. There should be no rules of war.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

88. There are no rules.

The "rules" are just words on paper and have no meaning whatsoever in country. War = killing and maiming in the name of "force protection" without regard to age, innocence, or ideology. War is death and living nightmares, the shrieks of the dead and dying, their children and parents and grandparents, the suffering of infants and the relocation of huge masses of humanity.

There have never been any rules to war outside of the well-insulated offices of the war profiteers and their minions, the generals.

[The Magistrate]

23. As A Matter Of Curiousity, Mr. Green

What do you think of using the minaret of a mosque as a firing point?

[Ron Green]

36. I think Americans would set up rifles in the steeples of churches if a foreign force were to

occupy this country, and sadly we'd see those churches attacked. As a disabled US Army vet, my statement about the rules of war stands. It galls me to read any post that defends the tactics of combat without questioning the basic premise of war.

[The Magistrate]

48. And As You Say, Sir, Those Churches Would Be Rubbled

And the people who shelled them would not have violated the Geneva regulations when they did it.

[Ron Green]

59. Would not have violated the Geneva Conventions, but certainly would have done wrong.

My point is that all war is failure, and to prosecute it is to consciously pursue failure.

[The Magistrate]

63. If One Shares Your View Of War Itself, Sir, But Not Otherwise

[Ron Green]

66. The problem, of course, is that not enough share my view of war, and too many otherwise.

[Karenina]

44. YOU have no "RIGHT" to be there in the first place.

Your "mission" is to KILL IRAQIS, steal their resources, destroy their heritage, poison their land and force them to submit to the will of a small elite who are making $kedoodle$ while denying, even you, BASIC HUMAN RESPECT.

[LeftyMom]

46. The only time you're ever been a soldier was when Mommy bought you an Xbox game.

Go play internet tough guy somewhere else.

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. WE INVADED THEIR COUNTRY!!

Of course they are trying to kill our soldiers.

[gaspee]

57. Your premise is wrong

We invaded their country. Start from there and work forward. Or does the US have the right to invade any country it wants to, for any reason it wants, then can apply "the rules of war."

As I said, your basic premise is flawed.

It's kind of a "no shit, sherlock" thing to say that troops are going to be happy when *anything* of the "enemy's" is destroyed, including their lives and their noncombatants.

The problem is we don't belong being an occupying force in the first place.

No matter what the troops do, they are going to be in the wrong. Because the war is wrong.

And that's the reality on the ground in Iraq. We're poisoning an entire generation of Iraqis with anti-US feelings. And they have a right to hate us. We've destroyed their country.

[Dhalgren]

76. Well said! And dead on!

Your points are direct and true, but will probably be missed. Some people have a blind spot when it comes to fellow countrymen committing crimes. And the crimes all stem from the initial crime of the invasion, itself, and all following acts bear that mark...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

77. I can almost understand the tactical necessity, but what about the laughter? -nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. The enemy is trying to kill our soldiers because

we illegally invaded their country.

So yes, I have nothing but derision towards our soldiers who behave this callously and then have the nerve to post the video on the internet. No surprise they have been ordered to stay off of youtube.

[VTMechEngr]

72. How have they acted callously?

Neutralizing an enemy sniper and laughing after the fact as you realize that you lived through it is normal. Men in every war laugh when the enemy is forced to retreat or bites the dust. Why do you think pilots cheered so loud after they set the Japanese carriers on fire at Midway?


Try to remember that many of these men didn't have a choice to be there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

90. My dad was a WWII vet and my hubby is a Vietnam vet

I NEVER heard either of them tell stories of killing people and laughing afterwards.

You asked for callous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9A_vxIOB-I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nNSovh3hYs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDassT0PLxo&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhkcKv9L71Y&mode=related&search=

[sanskritwarrior]

4. Like I've said before

2 points

1. When the enemy is trying to kill you and you kill him first, laughter does come out of you.

2. If this is Taji, the local Sunni insurgents like to use their mosques as sniper lofts as they know we are reluctant to destroy the mosque, however if a commander feels that the mosque has become an insurgent position then we have every right to destroy it as the insurgents made it a target by using it.......IMHO there is not enough evidence to warrant derision towards the soldiers.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Right. Any place "they" are shooting from is a target

Nothing against Mosques or Islam. We destroyed a few churches in WW2, did a real good job on the Monte Cassino monastery. A few temples in Hue got damaged, though some effort was made to preserve them. Anyplace the enemy is shooting from is a valid target.

That said, none of those Mosques should be targets, because we shouldn't be there. We shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. It was none of our business that Saddam invaded Kuwait. One thugdom conquers another thugdom. Who cares? WTF was in GHWB's mind to go there? WTF is keeping us there?

[sanskritwarrior]

18. LOL again we are there

and until we leave if I'm there and I'm taking fire from a mosque, holy site, ancient historical ruins, whatever, if I am taking fire and my men are endangered, we are going to destroy it. The ruins on Nineveh pale in value next to the lives of my men. Don't like it? Tough S!it!!!!!!! Tell Congress to get off their asses and pull us out. Until then I will do everything to protect my guys, if a mosque get blown to shit because the enemy was using it, OH FRIKKING WELL.......

[uppityperson]

56. What about blowing up minarets pre-emptively?

Because they might be used at some point.

Why they hell is the USA occupying Iraq? Rhetorical question there. Edited to add, s.w., I think our previous discussions were about Iraq.

[gaspee]

60. So, should we say

OH FRIKKING WELL when a US soldier is killed in Iraq. After all, it is a war and they are soldiers and soldiers do die in war. It's kind of their purpose. Kill or be killed. And they volunteered to be over there. Unlike most of the Iraqi people.

So, does oh fricking well (you might as well have said "boo-hoo") apply in that case as well?

[Zywiec]

19. A few churches in WW2?

I'm guessing you've never traveled throughout Europe, unless you define hundreds as a few.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. Well, ok, maybe more than a few ...

Yeah, I was there for a few years. Most of the damage from WW2 was repaired/rebuilt by the time I got there.

Bombing was not as accurate in WW2, so a lot of churches, schools, hospitals got taken out by the massive bombing campaigns. After the invasion, any church that seemed to be used by German snipers, spotters, or commanders was a target. Otherwise, it was generally inspected and left standing. Except that we also used them for sniping, spotting, and command posts, so the German artillery and engineers took out a few as well.

[BlooInBloo]

5. (shrug) I imagine there was a certain amount of laughing at the 3-little-girls-church-bomb too....

... It's just how (a certain segment of the American population) is.

[Dhalgren]

7. You're right. It's sad, but you're right...

[sanskritwarrior]

10. Here we go comparing laughing at the death of your enemies

to a hate crime. The anti military wing on DU is so predictable.....

How do you know they are laughing out of fun? Maybe they are laughing out of survival? Maybe there was insurgent snipers using the minaret, a common tactic..........You don't know, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt you're off to the races to say "it's just like X group that did Y crime, there is a % of the american population like that" Are you saying these soldiers are cold blooded and evil, because that's what it looks like and I will stand for no bashing of me or my fellow soliders if there is no evidence wrongdoing occured, and from the video there isn't any.......I smell an alert coming

[BlooInBloo]

14. I don't know how long you've been in this country, but giving the benefit...

... of the doubt to Americans killing brown people is just about the stupidest thing conceivable.

Is it theoretically possible that the laughter was benign? Sure - it's theoretically possible. It's too bad that theoretical possibility exhausts your "argument".

[sanskritwarrior]

20. LOL

Half brown......born and raised merikin...........Again see above, if they were taking fire and I myself have taken fire from a mosque, it is getting blown up. Too bad so sad insurgents, don't use your holy site as a weapons platform.

Don't like my opinion, tough I've been shot at too many time to change my mind about this subject. Thank you now it's time for me to leave 0900 formation is only 40 minutes away and we're training today...........ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Namaste

[proud2BlibKansan]

53. Yeah right

You are in the army and in your spare time you post on internet discussion boards?

Sure.

[Marrah_G]

61. I have a number of army friends that post online

When some of them were in Iraq that was our way of knowing they were okay. We looked forward to posts a great deal. Phone calls were precious and reserved for the girlfriends and parents.

To many people think all sailors and soldiers are blood-thirsty republicans and frankly that just is not the case. There are many that are liberal democrats. They are fulfilling commitments they made long ago. As for their reactions when the mosque was destroyed? You don't know how you would react if snipers had your group pinned down and maybe killed some of your friends. Perhaps you wouldn't act in the nicest way either when it was taken out. You are talking about young men throw into this shit by a wanabe cowboy president. They have been shot aty constantly, blown up, watched thier friends writhing on the ground without limbs... Most of us will never know what that would do to our own minds. The answer is not to demonize these boys. The answer is getting the leadership out of office.

[proud2BlibKansan]

64. The answer is bringing our troops home

As for soldiers posting online, surely you realize there are quite a few trolls (not so much here on DU but on other boards) who claim they are active duty in Iraq and only come on line to stir up shit.

[Marrah_G]

65. Of course the answer is to bring the troops home

Trying to make them out to be monsters is something I will never agree with.

[proud2BlibKansan]

67. I never thought I would either

but between this video and the one where the soldiers throw water bottles at the kids as they race after their truck and the one where the soldiers belittle the kids for asking them for money, I am about over supporting the troops. I am also very much in favor of the military's decision to keep them off of youtube.

No wonder the rest of the world hates us. We need to get out of the middle east before all of our soldiers turn into monsters.

[sanskritwarrior]

100. Squatch is in the Army and he posts online.......

next......

[MyNameGoesHere]

24. Being ex military

and now a proud member of the anti-military wing of DU, I think anyone that laughs at Killing enemies is full of shit or just plain evil. A true warrior knows the pain of watching death,some shrug it off and some carry it with them for the rest of their lives. But none that i know stand there laughing like they are playing some fucking video game. Your statement of laughing when you kill your enemy is a sure sign you are not right in the head.

[Zywiec]

28. No one should be laughing at death

I can't tell whether it's cathartic or psychotic. And your statement about laughing when you kill your enemy is a sure sign you are not right in the head, reminds me of all the dancing and singing at Falwell's death. People simple enjoy death of their enemies. I just don't get it.

[Rosemary2205]

34. Not right in the head

I'm not saying the soldiers in the video qualify -- but your post reminded me there are soldiers in Iraq, on multiple tours, that have sustained brain injuries with no outward signs of injury, that have been repeated sent back regardless. We have reports of 1000's of soldiers requesting mental health services and being turned away, or put on hold and redeployed anyway. Which tells me some (not all) of our soldiers in Iraq really AREN'T "right in the head".

[MyNameGoesHere]

45. I agree but boldly stating that

somehow laughing in the face of death and destruction is some kind of "norm" for soldiers is a lie. Usually when someone brags about how they would laugh at dead people i assume they are full of shit or have a screw loose and should be committed. The "brave" other poster definitely goes in one of those categories.

[Amonester]

37. Thank you, LibFromWV.

The world today needs to hear your words as they speak the truth to these senseless, undisciplined, an un-American "video-game warriors".

My own father bombed the s**t out of countless German civilians and probably "a few churches" too as he was the guy who had to "push the damn button" to drop the bombs from the bombers he was flying during WWII and I am afraid he would be spinning in his grave right now if he had to watch those sick, "un-Americans" laugh like they do on this sickening clip.

Thanks for setting them straight! :thumbsup:

[VTMechEngr]

75. Disagree

I see too many examples of otherwise fine men cheering or laughing at the enemy's demise. It goes on in every war at a rate too often to be mental illness.

I think it's a natural human emotional release from the intense stress of the moments just before - no matter how it disgusts us here.

[MyNameGoesHere]

96. well first i guess you have to be a human being

for me it wasn't an option. i am human. whatever these people are i don't know.

[spoony]

47. You'd think laughing at the deaths of your enemies would be

more popular here, considering the last few days.

[piedmont]

12. So they blew up a minaret that was used as a sniper post.

They're out there fighting for their lives. Do we expect them to act like robots? My problem with this is it shouldn't have been posted on the internet.

[EstimatedProphet]

27. Exactly

If they are over there getting shot at, and they laugh because they didn't get killed first, that's a laugh of release.

If freepers are getting off on the video here, and laughing because they think it's funny that a dumass furriner got killed, that's a laugh of psychosis.

[uppityperson]

58. I see the problem is that they were then laughing at it, dehumanizing Iraqis

That problem that always happens, making everyone else "the others", dehumanizing them.

[Marrah_G]

62. That always happens in war

The enemy is always dehumanized. From the beginning of time until now it has always been so. It's not right, but it is reality. It also becomes far worse in this kind of a war. Snipers, IED's, car bombs. Anyone can be the enemy and if they don't think that way they end up dead or captured.

I honestly wonder if human beings will ever learn to solve problems peacefully instead of resorting to fists. Probably not, but one can hope right?

[slackmaster]

81. What would you expect soldiers to do under the circumstances?

Hold a solemn moment of silence?

They just saved their asses from someone who was trying to kill them.

[VTMechEngr]

69. Cheering at the demise of your enemy is normal.

Its no different then Americans Huzzahing as the Brits retreated at New Orleans, Civil war soldiers cheering the retreat of the opposing side from the field, Pilots in WW2 cheering the burning of the enemy carriers at Midway, etc.

[quinnox]

17. in war things happen

I think the reaction is understandable in the context of blowing up a place where enemy sharp shooters were killing fellow comrades. It is hard to imagine for people who aren't there what it is like to be in a killing zone, it must be hell and plays havoc with your emotions.

[Dhalgren]

25. The problem is that this is not a war, it is an occupation. We are not at

war with Iraq, we are occupying Iraq. The enemy there are Iraqis who want their country back. You fellows who expound the military line, speak as if there is no moral or ethical onus in the taking of an action, just so long as it conforms to the "rules of engagement". That I heartily disagree with. If the initial action taken is illegal, dishonest, immoral, unethical, or illegitimate then all succeeding actions stemming from it are tainted by it. "Just following orders" is not a justification for any act - and "rules of war" in an illegitimate occupation is, at least, suspect.

[VTMechEngr]

70. I take a simple approach to it -

Driven by having friends and family in the conflict. I'm an American, the soldiers are American, and if someone shoots at those Americans, let death come to them swiftly. Period.

That said, I hate the war, and wish it would end. I opposed it at the beginning, and still do. That said - if someone fires on my family or friends, I hope they napalm you.

[Dhalgren]

78. Never lose sight of the fact that your family and friends are over in Iraq

killing Iraqis and destroying their country. Go ahead and talk like this is simple self-defense. It isn't. The Iraqis are defending their homes from an invader. Your family and friends are the home invaders. Think about that the next time you read a newspaper story where some family in an American town killed someone invading their home...

[VTMechEngr]

83. What an ignorant response.

You tell people who lost a loved one that too?

[Karenina]

86. No, not ignorant. Enlightenened and empathetic.

Perhaps you should read it again.

Dhalgren
Response to Reply #70
78. Never lose sight of the fact that your family and friends are over in Iraq killing Iraqis and destroying their country. Go ahead and talk like this is simple self-defense. It isn't. The Iraqis are defending their homes from an invader. Your family and friends are the home invaders. Think about that the next time you read a newspaper story where some family in an American town killed someone invading their home...

EVERY AMERICAN committed at this time to the *MIC for whatever personal reason, has life, limb and sanity on the line to enable the THEFT of resources for the BENEFIT of the current crop of "Robber Barons" who give not a whit about life, liberty or the pursuit of ANYONE'S happiness but their own. NO American in Iraq is "defending America." NOT A ONE. They are defending CORPORATE INTERESTS and being USED to promulgate a GLOBAL CORPORATE AGENDA to the detriment of every value they may hold dear. THOSE ARE THE FACTS, DEAR FRIEND. Read Smedley Butler and get a real education.

[VTMechEngr]

89. Bullshit

When one of my friends was nearly killed by an RPG, he was just driving down a road. He was basically on patrol like a local police officer.

I've had some bitter arguments about this war with this guy and a few other friends, but I am still friends with them, and I wish them home safe and well. I'm not going to stab them into the back by wishing harm to them.

So you can see I have strong opinions on the topic.

And you are not my friend.

[Karenina]

93. I wish no one harm

I DO wish that American soldiers be IMMEDIATELY returned to their homes and leave others, who have to survive the chaos the *MIC has wrought, alone. Your friend was NOT a "local" police office. He was a member of an invading and occupying force. I wish him a complete, speedy recovery.

[Solon]

94. There is a difference between wishing harm on individual soldiers and....

actually understanding the motivations of the insurgency. In my case, I value Iraqi and American life equally, that's the default, they are both human after all. But this also brings up a conundrum of sorts, the Americans, in this case, are the aggressors, so I can't say that the Iraqi insurgents are my "enemy" no more so than anyone else who fights aggressors, regardless of who the aggressors are. The United States isn't fighting a war, the war was a farce, as much of a farce as Vietnam or the Spanish-American war.

Look, I sympathize with your friend's position, however, I cannot blame the Iraqi who fired the RPG either, he is fighting for his country, after all.

[Solon]

87. Well, turn the tables, what you said applies to the Iraqis' enemies as well...

"...let death come to them swiftly. Period."

[DS1]

21. Notice the gunfire stopped after the Mosque went down

Don't want your favoritest place of worship blown up from under your feet? Don't shoot guns from it. Seems pretty simple to me.

[VTMechEngr]

73. agree. nt

[liberalitch]

22. I think I'm going to be sick

[Marie26]

26. Well... that's war.

This is what fighting an insurgency involves. If we don't like it, we should pull out now.

[guitar man]

43. do we know who it is in the video?

Are they troops or is it some of those damn Blackwell mercenary guys??

really no way to tell from that, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out they were mercs.

[krispos42]

49. I think the reaction is understandable

Seeing that kind of action in the first person tends to elicit that kind of response from people.

People turn out by the thousands to see buildings demolished all over the world. I've done it myself, in Hartford, CT, when the state imploded an office building it had purchased but wound up not using.

There were a hell of a lot of people hanging around very early on a chill morning to watch that one go down.

Throw in a an advanced fighter dropping precision munitions, and make the building home to snipers shooting at you, and you have the video.

I think what was NOT said was the key. Nobody said "Fuck you, ragheads" or "take that, you damn Muslims" or any other of a variety of racist, theocratic terms that could be used.

[VTMechEngr]

68. I'm NOT outraged.

Listen to the audio carefully and you can tell that they were engaging someone on the tower, and they were celebrating basically kicking his butt. You might whine about it, but celebrating giving your enemy an butt-kicking has been a part of every war mankind has been involved in!

And just so you know, if you use a religious building for military purposes, it becomes a legitimate target.

[Malikshah]

84. Whatever lets you analyze it away and feel good about yourself.

[VTMechEngr]

85. Oh the horror - I chose to be rational!

I chose to analyze the tape and gather what was going on before commenting rather than just misrepresent the men on the tape and feign outrage.

[Karenina]

95. From an Iraqi point of view

ANY MEMBER of the invading, occupying force is a LEGITIMATE TARGET.

[sanskritwarrior]

101. Well my dear, I'm not an Iraqi, I'm an American

if you shoot at me I will kill you, that's not tough guy talk that's survival talk. Until the war ends and we get to come home, anyone attacking my men will be dealt with.

As for the poster that "called me out" by doubting my service. Like I said the other day I can prove I am a soldier......

One can see by my IP I am posting from Hawaii, one with access to AKO could see I am a soldier, of course I would have to trust that person implicitly as giving one's name out over the internetz is risky business, and finally I can post a lot of pictures from previous tours from Iraq, and finally if you just wait until December I can post a lot more when I return to Iraq. So please doubt away, but don't cry too much when I prove myself and you are left sputtering at the fact you attacked me and were wrong.........

BTW I am a Democrat, but in Iraq if you are an insurgent and if you shoot at me or my guys you will die, that's no threat, that's no tough guy talk, that is simple reality, I will do anything including breaking laws to bring home the incredible young men I have been entrusted with. Don't like it, put me on ignore. I have in no way violated DU rules, your distaste for me and for the military is palpable. Please stop now!

[proud2BlibKansan]

91. And if you invade a country,

they are going to fight back.

[sanskritwarrior]

103. But hey

celebrating the fact that you are still alive is apparently wrong..........Whatever

[FastHorizon]

71. Did you expect anything different?

This is war.. and they are being shot at.

The real problem is that we are there in the first place.

[slackmaster]

80. Exactly right

The real problem is that we are there in the first place.

Which is NOT the fault of the men who made the video.

[slackmaster]

79. It was a well controlled shot, damage to the mosque was limited

That'll buff right out!

[Rex]

92. I hear someone shooting at them and then the Mosque

gets blown to smithereenees. I didn't think it was funny, that guy laughing has clearly lost it.

[eridani]

97. However understandable the cathartic reaction--

--this video is going to make great Al Qaeda propaganda.

[conspirator]

98. It was a controlled demolition :) nt

[MrSlayer]

102. One of the more unfortunate things about war is the dehumanization of everyone involved.

The "winners" the "losers" and everyone in between.