An American soldier tells his story of beating up little girls in Iraq - Is that what he US stands for ?

Question

Read it first and tell me 2 things
This is a main stream and credible Canadian magazine and news source


Do you believe him ?

If yes - Is that what America land of the free stands for ?

If no - what possible motive does he have to lie - He is only in for a very hard time - He could have gotten out of the military other ways than this I am sure -So what is he getting out of this if the story is a lie ?


http://www.macleans.ca/world/global/article.jsp?content=20070205_140356_140356

Ok here are my thoughts

If the foriegn Minister hides under his desk and refuses to say anything - He was telling the truth ( Can't upset the American's)

If the Foriegn Minister trots him up and down the House - and makes a big deal out of him He is a liar and therefore the government will make hay out of it (See liberals we told you)

If he ends up with citezenship and in the hands of CSIS we won't know a dam thing

So in the end - I am waiting to see how the government handles these remarks to make up my mind as to his truthfullness

oscarsix

2 blogs and a generic dictionary definition are not proof of the Cdn view point - The fact that a major news source is however proof his story is being considered -

I find it interseting that you sound athoritive - were you the one with the narrow view - ?

I waited for some time to say wether I did or did not believe him and in the end - I still haven't said - I am waiting to see what unfolds as this story gains more in the way of plublicity what the very pro government will or won't say or do to form an opinion

Should the opposition wade into this all the better

But then I am after the truth - your apparent bias is that all should believe the US soldier is a John Wayne and never question such things

Here we still actually ask questions

"The very pro US government" is what I meant to say or rather type

Answer 1

I believe him, and I believe that this is what all war really is. So yes if you stand for war, you stand for this.

Answer 2

I am amazed! By his own account this deserter crossed into Canada in December of 2003. Assuming he entered Iraq shortly after the air campaign began on March 19th of that same year, it means he was part of a unit which saw less than a year's engagement down range before he was allowed leave. And this poor country boy from Oklahoma managed to climb over the linguistic and cultural hurdles to write a missive for a Canadian magazine which contains spelling that is only seen in the U.K. and Commonwealth countries. All this, less than four years after crossing the border. Sorry. I don't buy it. And I'm suprised that MacLeans didn't check out the story as well as they should have. It doesn't pass the smell test.

Answer 3

NOPE Her tale wasn't that undesirable. Bush and Cheney are no longer working for workplace nevertheless. Hillary has lied approximately Bosnia and each thing else on her resume and she or he has been mendacity to this united states for 2 many years. Bush advised some huge lies and have been given people KILLED. So after some attention i'm happy that neither Bush nor Cheney nor Hillary would be in workplace through fact i do no longer have confidence any of them. PEACE

Answer 4

He would be getting "fame" like Jesse MacBeth.
I won't make excuses if this is true, but just like society has plenty of undesirables, I'm sure the military gets a few. War is not for the weak.

Just don't assume that all soldiers behave like this story. John Kerry came back from Vietnam and told "tales". If these events really did occur as he said I'm sure there would be an investigation, but instead he writes a book (and I'm sure he's making a profit) I not only call that deserting, but cowardly.

Answer 5

He gets bonus points for creative writing skills, but massive negative points for lying about his service. Helpful hints:

1) Recruiters don't promise you're not going to deploy. It's illegal for them to say so. They ESPECIALLY wouldn't say that to an army infantry man.

2) Nobody goes on a 1 day patrol with a full ruck sack (4-5 days worth of gear). Only an idiot would carry 100 lbs of gear like that.

3) To the best of my understanding, Patrols are not done with full platoons in a single file line of 20 walking down the street. That would be tactical suicide. Fire teams and squads, staggered and spread out so that one gunman doesn't have a bead on the whole unit.

4) You don't stand back from a door charge, the goal is to get in the door as fast as possible, not spend 15 seconds coming back around the corner and inside

5) The M-249 is not a multi barrel machine gun, hence it does not shoot anywhere even remotely close to 2000 rounds per minute (not even in theory). No weapons specialist qualified to carry an M-249 on a raid would make such a stupid error. In fact, for a house raid mission, an M-249 would probably not be brought along (in favor of short range high accuracy SMGs and carbines like the M-4)

6) you don't supervise suspects with only one person, and you never get within weapons reach of a detanee. It's against policy and tactics

7) Random groups of lieutenants (and above) are not just wandering around the streets of Iraq looking to enter raids and rape people. Leaving base with equipment requires authorization and NO group of officers travelling like that would be able to make it off base without being on specific orders and mission. The entire last part of the article is absolute BS

Answer 6

Do you really believe that someone would incriminate themselves for war crimes? Hey, maybe he is being paid a bit of money to tell a story that gets readers' attention and possibly creates a little cash flow for whatever canadian paper it is printed in. He only gets money out of it, and probably a lot, especially if it generates enough spark to cause more ad sales for the newspaper!

Answer 7

Perhaps he is a sympathizer for the insurgents. A lot of people feel bad for the people of Iraq, I guess if it isn't Saddam they have to worry about it's someone else. Anyway, the style of writing makes me think it is made up. But, I was never in Iraq so I cannot say if any of the details seem out of place. But the fact of the story opening up with a sob story about how's pretty much stupid and tricked into joining the military gives it a hint of propaganda to open with. The rest lacks details that would make it seem more real. IMHO.

Answer 8

You know what the funny thing is? If nobody else including the Canadians don't believe this B.S. Artist, why do do you? Because it fits into your narrow 'lets-hate-America-first' view of reality???

If he had seen war crimes being completed by Americans, his first duty should have been to the truth! He should have stood and report the incidents he claims to true to the proper lawful authorities. He should have made sure that justice was done for the dead. Did he do any of this? The answer is no! He supposedly kept his mouth shut about all these horrible things he saw and the first chance he got he RAN! He didn't go to the American Press or the Anti-war movement or to a Church that might have offered him sanctuary.

Nope, he ran. If any of what he claims had actually happened don't you believe in his heart of hearts he should have done the right thing, stood his ground and reported it. Joshua Key is a B.S. Artist plain and simple. I would love to be at his court marshal for desertion!!!

Answer 9

I read the article. The man who wrote it answered the question you are asking someone here to answer. Those troops are so keyed up, so scared that they just lose it! Not all of them act this way, but the ones that do sure give our country a bad name. Running away isn't the answer for him, he needs help, although he may never have killed anyone he probably has post traumatic stress. I can understand why he felt shame, but not all of our troops act this way, otherwise why are we seeing pictures of kids swarming around our troops & being given candy etc. No, I don't believe this is a true picture of what America stands for, although I do believe that men under stress can do pretty horrid things!

Answer 10

The United States Military is capable of doing this but in this case if it was really true then CNN and other news would have told you about it. research the news source and see what their motive is. In other words beware!!

Answer 11

So what's the big deal. I was in the Army. You meet the very best and very worst people there. Saints and psychopaths, side by side.

Soldiers are just a sampling of the population after all, and we know that 10% of us are completely nuts.