Why are U.S. troops blamed for the civilian deaths in Iraq, when most of them die by fellow Iraqis?

Question

It is not the U.S. military that kidnaps bus loads of prospective Iraqi police officers or soldiers.

It is not the U.S. military that sends cars, trucks, or vans loaded with bombs into crowded markets.

It is not the U.S. military that kidnaps whole office buildings of Iraqi citizens who are mutalated and thrown throughout the country.

It is not the U.S. military that shoots down entire tennis teams because of they are wearing shorts.

The majority of the violence in Iraq is not even against the U.S. troops. So, why are they being blamed for the deaths?

And don't give me any BS about no one dying before the war began, because that is a lie. If the various religious sects would just stop killing each other, the U.S. would leave.

Answer 1

Because international media just loves any reason, especially a prolonged reason, to villify the United States, by way of its military or any other means possible.

Because people will believe anything they see on television, whether they live in Iraq, or the United States, and believe it to be the truth without wondering whether the information has been presented in a way to further an agenda.

Because for some bizarre reason, Americans think they're "tired" of a war that the overwhelming majority of them have had absolutely nothing to do with and is not affecting them in any way, except maybe taking up a little more airtime on their nightly news or increasing the gas prices slightly--which is a silly thing to complain about, since Americans STILL have the cheapest gas and many drive gas-guzzling vehicles they don't need.

Because it's an ongoing treasure trove of political ammunition for war opposers to use for their own agendas and to attempt to legitimize points of view that anyone with sense, especially in other circumstances, would never fly.

Because it's easier to blame someone else and not have to do any work yourself to make things better. This one goes both for Iraqis, and for Americans sitting at home as know-nothing armchair generals.

Answer 2

to the girl above.... the Troops don't "hate" Iraqis. that blanket statement is not grounded. come on now!

And to the question... you are very correct! it's amazing how a group can mortar a villiage of Iraqis and somehow it becomes the US military's fault!

Now it's clear that there are some cases of Military personnel doing what they shouldn't be doing and I see them in the paper facing court martial.... go figure... and how many of those are there in comparison to the numbers of people killed, beheaded, tortured, hung on bridges, thrown in rivers/garbage dumps by terrorist groups?

Another problem is when the coalition takes out a guy who looks like a civilian with a gun, all the pictures show is a guy who looks like a civilian with a gun. Of course the truth being it was an enemy combatant that attacked the coalition and had to be eliminated.

And of course the classic: there are those who think that America can do no right and their very presence anywhere in the world creates problems and they should be castrated, jailed and stripped of all their humanity because they are simply American.... and of course anyone who is against Americans must be in the right and the Americans will always be wrong, blah, blah, blah, blah. So thus America being there is why people die and that's it.

The truth is, you can do everything you can to avoid civilian casualties, but civilian casualties do happen especially when you are dealing with thug enemies with a thug mentality, like we are dealing with today.

Answer 3

You obviously have answered your own question and expect support for your stance. The US bombing campaign (remember "Shock and Awe"?) destroyed 90% of the Iraqi infrastructure. More poundage of bombs were dropped during the first week in Iraq than what we used in WWII. You are naive not to think that any Iraqis were killed in the bombings. With that plus insurgency attacks (which are made up of foreign fighters from many nations, including the US), the UN estimates that 150,000 civilians have died. This is based on counts from Iraqi morgues only that have been reported to the Interior Ministry of the Iraq Government. I am in agreement that the insurgency has caused many fatalities, THAT IS A FACT, and that a religious civil war brings out the worst in humanity on both sides. The US is stuck between a rock and a hard place. There are now 1100 daily attacks on US troops in Iraq, mostly in the Anwar province and Baghdad. We are now in defensive positions and have a right to defend ourselves. (My neice was seriously wounded there, and her "buddy" got killed.) But, it'd be rather close-minded not to think we have been responsible for many deaths. It's is a fact of war.

Answer 4

that's a good point. Alot of times you hear about "this many" people were killed today in Iraq,etc. But they often leave out that the Iraqi's are often killing each other.If you ask me, our military is preventing more Iraqi's from being killed. In that, it would be an all out civil war if they weren't over there. Or if Sadaam was still in power he'd be killing alot more then those crazy terrorists are.

Answer 5

i think it's cause we're all just sick and tired of the war. we want someone to blame. so... let's all point it at the military!!! on top of that, there's been issues like those in haditha dam and other times where the marines and soldiers stepped out of line. many people don't realize the stress and hectic situation they've been landed with. they're taken away from their families and forced to tread the desert for 1/2 years or longer without their wives, husbands, kids, family. the only family they have out there are the brothers and sisters standing next to them. i'm not by any means giving them an excuse for the horrible deeds they did. There's no excuse for meaningless exicutions, rape, etc. but i think that the people want the troops out so bad, they'll jump on them without thinking and talk without looking at the facts and throw so much publicity on stuff like that. the soldiers/marines who did the iraqi people wrong shame me and the rest of the u.s. military as well as the american people i think. but people need to see that it's not the TROOPS that want to be out there. the GOVERNMENT sent them out there in good intentions. stop hating on the men and women who risk their lives every day. we're trained put our lives on the line everyday and serve the government, our COs, and our fellow sailors, airmen, marines, soldiers. don't blame the troops.

Answer 6

They are blamed because the "anti supporters" need someone to blame...thats where our troops come in. They werent the ones who wanted the war sure they signed up for the military but they are not the ones who declared war. Im not blaming anyone...but I think its wrong that our troops get blamed, when the only choice they have is weather or not they join the military.

Answer 7

Because it was the American government that went to war without the approval of United Nations Security Council and torched a civil war in Iraq.

Answer 8

by blaming your troops it goes back to the president. so really there blaming him, as they should do as he is the most dangerour man on earth. What would he do if some leader of another country coughed in a meeting with him. DECLARE WAR thats what.

Answer 9

because we are there and we are in the news, this is starting to sound more and more like vietnam when everyone blamed the troops and not the real cause, i just hope we dont come to a point that we hate our own troops again, it did happen before

Answer 10

Iraqis hate the Troops...they blame the deaths on them then.
Troops hate Iraqis...so it's quite the opposite of the sentence above!