Plain Talk
From Dictionary.com:
Main Entry:: in·sur·gent
Function: noun
1 : a person who rises in revolt against civil authority or an established government; especially : one not recognized as a belligerent
2 : one that acts contrary to the established leadership (as of a political party, union, or corporation) or its decisions and policiesSource: Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
As 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops launch their attack on Iraqi insurgents in Falluja, I was thinking about the word “insurgent”. When you read a word like that in the news, it’s easy to forget that an insurgent is a person. One US Soldier on today’s attack:
“We’re going to start at one end of the city, and we’re not going to stop until we get to the other,” said Lt. Col. Pete Newell, a battalion commander from the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division.
“If there’s anybody left when that happens, we’re going to turn around and we’re going to go back and finish it.”
I’m not making any judgements about these people. I’m not implying they are good people or that they’re bad people. Just that right this very minute, US troops are killing a lot of Iraqi people.
Is it uncool these days to be sad about killing people?
Kristof said,
November 9, 2004 @ 10:45 am
“I’m nervous for them but I know for a fact they’re going to tear the place to pieces,” said Lance Cpl. Nicholas Peel, 19, of Boise, Idaho. “It’s kind of a justice after what they did to us.”
- Excerpt from Military Hospital Set for Fallujah Assault Associated Press. Nov 5, 2004
“Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”
- Albert Einstein
“The first patient I had was six hours after I got here,” Lovell said. “His heart was out of his chest. I said ‘Whoa, that’s a shaker. Welcome to Fallujah.’”
- Excerpt from Military Hospital Set for Fallujah Assault Associated Press. Nov 5, 2004
Piper! said,
November 9, 2004 @ 3:29 pm
I read your piece and wanted to put my head down and cry. I heard a high ranking officer say on the news yesterday, “The attack will be fast and violent.” God help us. God help us all! Thank you for providing this thoughtful essay and medium for thoughtful discussion!
Piper! said,
November 9, 2004 @ 3:31 pm
Oh, by the way. I guess at least two people consider me to be an insurgent: Merriam and Webster! Peace is not fashionable at the moment. Is it?
Kristof said,
November 9, 2004 @ 5:44 pm
“My son got shrapnel in his stomach when our house was hit at dawn, but we couldn’t take him for treatment,” said Abboud, a teacher. “We buried him in the garden because it was too dangerous to go out. We did not know how long the fighting would last.”
Doctors said people brought in at least 15 dead civilians at the main clinic in Falluja on Monday. By Tuesday, there were no clinics open, residents said, and no way to count casualties.
U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday he did not foresee large numbers of civilian casualties in the assault, saying U.S. forces were disciplined and precise.
Those words were of little comfort to the Abboud family, sitting in a house damaged by the bomb that killed their child.
“We just bandaged his stomach and gave him water, but he was losing a lot of blood. He died this afternoon,” said Abboud.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=618134§ion=news
Luke said,
November 15, 2004 @ 2:28 pm
From an AP photog in Falluja:
“I decided to swim … but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river.”
He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he “helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands.”
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_escaping_fallujah_1