Iraqis see justice from America

A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 25 years confinement for the murder of an Iraqi National Guard soldier in May, coalition military officials said in a news release Saturday. Spc. Federico Merida pleaded guilty and was also given a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank.

edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast … index.html

Wonder if al Arabiya and al Juzeira will make this front page news? What do you think?

Why is the title of this thread so misleading? You are assuming they see this as justice?
Yes, they will probably see it, to answer your question…right underneath the death toll of civilians by coalition forces. :wink:

you may not completely agree but it’s not misleading.

Of the 20,000 to 30,000 deaths in Iraq since the invasion began, an estimated 7,500 are Iraqi soldiers killed in the war, 1,200 are coalition forces killed, and then for Sadr’s army and insurgents, it could be another 5,000 to 7,000. That leaves 10,000 Iraqi civilians. Of these, most were killed by bomb attacks planted by insurgents and terrorists. Probably no more than 5,000 were killed (top figures) by the invasion, and collateral damage from US forces. A more likely figure is probably 3,000 or fewer. Not something to celebrate per se, but it is when compared with other conflicts. The US forces have been extremely careful to limit civilian casualties. Can the same be said for the terrorists or Saddam’s own army which deliberately placed military forces near civilians to better protect them, knowing full well that the US would be somewhat limited in the course of action by its efforts to reduce and limit civilian casualties. When your own enemy uses your very magnanimous and merciful nature against you, I think that it is a sign that most people recognize the inherent goodness that underlines most American military responses.

Its the Islamofascists versus the Christofascists. May the most bloodthirsty religion win the field.

Well there are many Muslims in America. Ditto for Arabs and our system allows them a role in society, politics, etc. and guarantees that they will be treated the same as all other citizens. Are there bands of Christian terrorists in America seeking to kill all the infidels? When US troops engage enemy forces in Iraq, do they seek to maximize deaths of Iraqi civilians because they are nothing but filthy Arab dogs? No. So I think there is a very big difference between democracy and respect for human rights and life and those forces are on the US side. That is why we will win and that win will mean that all Iraqis and Arabs and Muslims win. Good for us all.

fred,
I think you are making too broad an assumption about how Americans see Arabs and others from the Middle East. The truth is that while I agree that many Americans may not see Iraqi civilians as “filthy Arab dogs,” I do think that there is often a general sense of uneasiness about people who come from certain parts of the world. This can take the form of a person believing that people from those places are or support terrorists,and that they are not as deserving of respect as people from other places. (Certainly, I believe that many Americans would not see an Iraqi civilian with the same eyes that he/she may see a Brit/ Canadian/ Aussie, or even a Mexican).
We Ameicans simply are not as familar with folks from the Middle East and this can easily lead to feelings of suspicion or mistrust about Iraqi civilians.

[color=blue]3,000 or fewer in one year and six months including the invasion versus 2,100 in the past six months. Who’s telling the truth and who’s distorting the facts?"[/color]

Knight Ridder Newspapers, 25 Sept, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis - most of them civilians - as attacks by insurgents . . the interim Iraqi government recorded 3,487 Iraqi deaths in 15 of the country’s 18 provinces from April 5 - when the ministry began compiling the data - until Sept. 19. Of those, 328 were women and children.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9753603.htm

It’s all propaganda. No one knows who is telling the truth or telling pork pies. A big big mess, just like Iraq.

I don’t believe any of it.

We Ameicans simply are not as familar with folks from the Middle East and this can easily lead to feelings of suspicion or mistrust about Iraqi civilians.[/quote]

what is your point? i don’t see that you contradict Fred’s argument at all.

Wonder if the reporter is in any way biased Spook?

This goes unchallenged by your earnest man in the field and comes from the same article that you posted. Nowhere in the article does anyone have anything good to say about the Americans. Objective? Hardly but this really takes the cake.

“The Americans do not care about the Iraqis. They don’t care if they get killed, because they don’t care about the citizens,” said Abu Mohammed, 50, who was a major general in Saddam Hussein’s army in Baghdad. "The Americans keep criticizing Saddam for the mass graves. How many graves are the Americans making in Iraq?

This has got to be a joke right? By anyone’s account, the total number killed TOTAL in Iraq since the invasion began is 24,000. Saddam killed millions and there are no mass graves. Also, does anyone really believe that the US army is deliberately targeting civilians?

I mean you cannot have it both ways, you have argued that we are still in a war and have not controlled anything and that Bush was wrong to say the war was over. Okay, fine. Have it your way, the war ain’t over but the person is citing a figure of 3,500 for the past six months? During a war? Does that sound like an outrageous figure to you? And where is the proof that the civilian deaths are caused by American weapons? Smell what you are shoveling here.