Here is an update on this incident from a reader:

The cameraman in question was shot by soldiers in my son's unit. First hand reports are that the moron sped into the middle of a firefight, jumped out of his car and threw up to his shoulder a TV or Movie camera with a sound boom and telephoto lens.

It was [understandably considering the circumstances] mistaken for an RPG and the moron quickly became the late moron.

Incidentally, this crew was told beforehand NOT to go into the area of the firefight, as it was entirely too dangerous.

After a post-battle debriefing and investigation, the soldiers were determined to have adhered properly to the rules of engagement, and were found innocent of any wrongdoing.

Actually, the first hand report was: "Some dumb b**tard came up to us in a speeding car, jumped out and pointed his camera at us. We thought it was an RPG and lit him up."

Perhaps Reporters Without Borders should be complaining about Reuters not training their crews to have some common sense instead of seething against the U.S. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 03:30 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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Chrenkoff posting here and here. Since my site is usually devoted to bad news, it might do your soul some good to go read all the good things that aren't being reported in Iraq.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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John Hawkins is in classic form as he attempts to answer 10 FAQs about Iraq. The questions are:

1) Some people are saying that Iraq's Constitution will lead to a theocracy.
Is that true?
2) Well, if it's a pretty good Constitution, why aren't the Sunnis on board?
3) So, since the Sunnis oppose the Constitution, does that mean it will be
voted down in October?
4) What happens if the Constitution is rejected by the Iraqi people in
October?
5) Would it be a significant setback for the US if the Constitution were
rejected by the Iraqis?
6) What is "victory" in Iraq?
7) Do US forces have to destroy the insurgency to win?
Well, why aren't all these troops trained already? What's the hold up?
9) Ok, so the Iraqis are making progress. What does that mean for our
troops? When can they start to come home?
10) That sounds good in theory, but can our military hold up under the
pressure? Are we wrecking the military by keeping them in Iraq under the
current circumstances?

Go check it out.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Al Jazeera has enough chutzpah to call the men who executed 15 civilians 'fighters'. Unfortunately I don't have enough chutzpah to call al Jazeera a news organization. Instead, I'll settle for propaganda arm of murdering terrorists.

Cindy Sheehan's freedom fighters at it again.......

Al Jazeera:

Fighters have executed 15 Iraqis after ambushing their vehicle on a road north of the city of Falluja, police said.

The armed men ordered the passengers out of the vehicle and lined them up before shooting them in daylight on Sunday afternoon, police on Monday quoted witnesses as saying.

They did not specify whether the victims were civilians or off-duty security personnel but said they were believed to be from the neighbouring town of Saqlawiyah, in the Sunni Triangle.

Pools of blood covered the scene of the attack on the desert road, next to empty cases of pistol and AK-47 machine gun bullets, suggesting that the victims were shot from close range, an AFP correspondent reported.

The road was blocked for nearly 10 hours until tribesmen from the neighbouring Sunni town of Ramadi removed the bodies, police added.

Linked at OTB

Posted by: Rusty at 03:07 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Amid all the pessimism over the Iraqi Constitution, it looks like one of the largest Sunni parties may support it in the end. Let's hope they do.

I have been arguing to my students lately that the forces lined up for and against the Iraqi Constitution are engaged in a struggle over symbolic politics. Sunnis object to the Constitution not on its merits, but because it symbolizes Iraq's defeat. The Constitution legitmizes the U.S. occupation and thus must be opposed, in their eyes. The details of federalism really don't matter.

Thankfully, symbolic politics only have subjective meanings. The same Sunnis who choose today to see the Constitution as a symbol of defeat and Arab subjegation to some Neocon-Zionst plot, may be able to view that same document in the future as a triumph of democracy over the Arab socialist fascism of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Al Jazeera:

One of Iraq's biggest Sunni parties has said it might back the country's constitution, despite calling for changes to a text agreed by the Shia-dominated parliament.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, a multi-ethnic group seen as moderate Islamist and opposed to violence, said on Monday that there was still room for negotiation on the constitution.

"We have not signed the constitution and we still have the time starting from now until the referendum comes.

"[But]we might say yes to the constitution if the disputed points are resolved," party general-secretary Tariq al-Hashmi told a news conference....

Earlier, hundreds of people marched in the city of Tikrit to protest against the constitution, witnesses said.

They carried photographs of the former president Hussein and held up banners saying "No to the Zionist-American-Iranian constitution". Some Iraqis say the Shia-led government is too close to Iran.

Posted by: Rusty at 02:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I love news like this. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 12:44 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Are our soldiers as good as Cotton Hill claims? Apparently, yes. Fifty al Qaeda killed in single raid. AP:

U.S. warplanes launched multiple airstrikes Friday against a suspected "terrorist safe house" in the western Anbar province, destroying the building where up to 50 militants were believed to be hiding, the U.S. military said.

Coalition ground forces were alerted by local residents that a number of members of the terror group Al-Qaida in Iraq had gathered in an abandoned building northeast of Husaybah, near the Syrian border about 200 miles west of Baghdad.

Posted by: Rusty at 03:50 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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As I've said a million times before, regardless of the reasons we went into Iraq, we are now fighting al Qaeda there. CENTCOM:

Coalition forces captured a known Al Qaeda-in-Iraq member, two suspected terrorists and destroyed a terrorist sanctuary, weapons and equipment near Al Asad Aug. 23.

Acting on tips from local Iraqis, Coalition forces raided the hide-out and confirmed that the location was being used by the terrorist to facilitate weapons and vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) operations.

After he was captured, the Al Qaeda-in-Iraq member provided information about related terrorist activity in the area. Based upon this information, Coalition forces captured two suspected terrorists. Coalition forces also captured and destroyed a VBIED and two weapons caches consisting of mortars, rockets and rocket propelled grenades.

UPDATE: Dread Pundit Bluto has more.

Posted by: Rusty at 04:53 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Some relevant pragmatic wisdom from Michael Yon's latest dispatch, Gates of Fire:

Although the situation in Mosul is better, our troops still fight here every day. This may not be the war some folks had in mind a few years ago. But once the shooting starts, a plan is just a guess in a party dress.

Prosser had beaten the terrorist in the head three times with his fist and was gripping his throat, choking him. But Prosser's gloves were slippery with blood so he couldn't hold on well. At the same time, the terrorist was trying to bite Prosser's wrist, but instead he bit onto the face of Prosser's watch. (Prosser wears his watch with the face turned inward.) The terrorist had a mouthful of watch but he somehow also managed to punch Prosser in the face. When I shot the propane canister, Prosser had nearly strangled the guy, but my shots made Prosser think bad guys were coming, so he released the terrorist's throat and snatched out the pistol from his holster, just as SSG Konkol, Lewis, Devereaux and Muse swarmed the shop. But the shots and the propane fiasco also had brought the terrorist back to life, so Prosser quickly reholstered his pistol and subdued him by smashing his face into the concrete.

These are the kinds of images we need to see more of out of Iraq.

Posted by: Demosophist at 02:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Rusty wrote about something I neglected, because I wasn't sure how to frame the issue. I considered posting something using precisely the same quote from Michael Yon that Dr. Shackleford used here. While folks like Chuck Hagel suggest we're losing in Iraq, based on the train wreck of incompetent reporting and distorted information provided by MSM, genuinely astonishing things are happening that point to precisely the opposite conclusion. Does anyone understand how difficult a global war against stateless totalitarianism actually is? And does anyone appreciate the almost-miraculous fact that we're not just holding our own, but beating them at their own game one small victory at a time?

more...

Posted by: Demosophist at 10:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Iraq The Model tells you why.

Posted by: Drew at 08:49 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Donald Sensing, on Winds of Change points to the implications of some counterintuitive (for idiotarians at least) statistics documented by Strategy Page. Turns out the annual death rate in Iraq, so far in 2005, is less than half what it was under Saddam Hussein. It has dropped from over 100 deaths per 100K (not counting those who died in the Iran/Iraq war) to about 45. This is also lower than the death rate in South Africa, the only African country that keeps good statistics on the figure, and probably far less than some place like Darfur, which doesn't even figure on the idiotarian radar.

So next time someone brings up "the terrible cost of the war for Iraqis" you can say that the coalition not only brought democracy to the country, but cut the death rate in half!

(Cross-posted by Demosophist to Demosophia)

Posted by: Demosophist at 11:43 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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