Stuff Happens


Recently I came across an ESPN special about Pat Tillman. The focus of course, was on the tragedy of Tillman's death, although a few passing references were made in regards to the (very cynical) attempts by the military and this administration to score political points before the real story--he was a friendly fire casualty--eventually surfaced.

One other thing, though, stuck with me. Even as Tillman was (rightly) praised, and even as one soldier said something to the effect that he hoped those who accidentally killed him would remember it "for the rest of their lives," hardly ANY attention, much less any sympathy, was evinced towards a second casualty: an Afghan national. Allied with the US, he was on the same hill, and took a number of .50 caliber rounds, which killed him instantly...just prior to (likely) the same .50 caliber killing Tillman himself.

I hate to say it, but if he'd been the ONLY death on that day, I doubt seriously we ever would have heard about it.

In light of that, here's a story hardly more uplifting:

American soldiers shot and killed four Iraqi firemen after mistaking their fire tender for one hijacked by insurgents, US military headquarters has said.

"After receiving word that a fire truck and its crew were just hijacked, coalition forces pulled over a fire truck matching that description," said a statement describing Monday's incident in the western city of Fallujah.

When the unarmed firefighters got out of the fire tender US soldiers opened fire and killed them, after mistaking them for armed insurgents.

"The suspected insurgents were in fact firefighters responding to a call. The fire truck number did not match the one of the hijacked truck. All four of the firefighters that exited the vehicle died," the statement said.

"Minutes later another fire truck was spotted and pulled over in an area nearby. The occupants fled. It was determined that this truck number did match the truck that was hijacked," it added.

American forces are often accused of using excessive and indiscriminate force in Iraq, although commanders say the problem is now taken more seriously and the number of wrongful killings has diminished.

You know, it's because stuff like this DOES happen that war should always be a LAST, LAST resort. This administration, on the other hand, thought it'd be just swell to embark on an "easy" little conflict. That's bad enough: playing games with people's lives for crass political game--but now it's come back to bite them hard, and it's not letting go.

Just you wait--from what I've seen in the news and the blog posts, IF the Democrats don't screw it up and win the Congress, there will be a Texass'ed sized hue and cry for an end to "partisanship" and much whining, wailing, and gnashing of teeth about "wild" Democrats and their hearings/investigations.

Well, considering the destruction these assclowns have brought on ("bring it on")--hearings, investigations, and yes, hopefully some Texass'ed sized crow/humble pie--is pretty mild punishment indeed. Others--like Tillman, the anonymous Afghan national, the four Iraqi firefighters, the US soldiers killed or wounded...and the countless thousand innocent people who's "crime" was living in the wrong place at the wrong time--have paid a hell of a lot more.