Blog For Arizona

Why we fight now

The First Lieutenant of a platoon stationed halfway between Baghdad and the Syrian border called Seymour Hersh with a harrowing story. His unit had hired 36 local men as guards for a grainary. He and the men in his unit came to know and like these men who they worked with. Then one day the orders came from Baghdad to "clear" the village. Another platoon from the soldier's company came and executed the Iraqi guards. One by one, every one of the guards were killed in cold blood.

He and his platoon, and the local villagers, of course, went nuts. Hysterical with grief and outrage, he went to his Captain to report this atrocity. The company Captain told him "No, you don't understand, that's a kill. We got 36 insurgents. Don't you read those stories that say we had a combat maneuver and 15 insurgents were killed?" That is how the body count is fulfilled.

Hersh told the Lieutenant to keep his mouth shut and his head down and to come back without a dying of a 'friendly fire' incident. Good advice. And that's why we are fighting in Iraq.

Fuck 'em if they can't take a bullet. Vote Bush.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 10/14/2004 02:09:00 AM