Two down and two to go

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by tesco samoa:
perhaps instead of 50 cal, tows , kiowa helicopters they could have used a swat team with teargas or just a plain old simple wait them out.

I do believe that hvt 2 and 3 were more important alive than dead.

that is all i am saying.

Well, it wasn't really all you were saying, but that's ok.

And I agree with you it would have been better had they been taken alive. And I believe the military does as well. But waiting has some serious risks from their escape, to counter attacks from other forces under cover of dark. Especially considering this part of Iraq isn't exactly soldier friendly. (As if any part is. ) Allowing them to get away could have had more serious implications then getting them killed trying to capture them.

Geoschmo

[von_toaster]

And was it necessary to show to the world the reconstitued bodies of the two Hussein brothers? I mean, what's next? Saddam's head on a pike on CNN?
Why isn't people reacting against this?

Should this have been the other way around, Iraq would have been nuked by now (ok, it's a little extreme, but you know what I'm talking about).

This is truly grotesque.

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by von_toaster:
And was it necessary to show to the world the reconstitued bodies of the two Hussein brothers? I mean, what's next? Saddam's head on a pike on CNN?
Why isn't people reacting against this?

Should this have been the other way around, Iraq would have been nuked by now (ok, it's a little extreme, but you know what I'm talking about).

This is truly grotesque.

Once again this is a matter of damned if you do and damned if you don't. The initial intention of the US was to NOT release the pictures as it is agaisnt our policies and standards. Only after a HUGE backlash from the Arab world and accusations of bumbling, coverups and cultural insensitivity did they agree to allow photos. The Iraqis WANTED the pictures released and most that were interviewed insisted they wouldn't believe they were dead unless the pics were shown.

You didn't hear about that?

Geoschmo

[ July 29, 2003, 13:38: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[tesco samoa]

yea that was a double edged sword to show the pictures. The US gov did what they had to do.

They released the picutures. Now CNN showing them every 5 minutes... That was CNN not the US Gov

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by tesco samoa:
yea that was a double edged sword to show the pictures. The US gov did what they had to do.

They released the picutures. Now CNN showing them every 5 minutes... That was CNN not the US Gov

I couldn't agree with you more. There is no good reason for CNN and others to be showing these pictures over here constantly. Most westerners couldn't have picked the brothers grim out of a lineup even before they were all shot to hell. It's not like we need to see the corpses to believe they are dead. It's pure Ratings garbage.

Geoschmo

[dogscoff]

Couldn't they have found a person or small group of people that are trusted by the middle east and asked them to to view the bodies in private and confirm the identities? Surely there must be some leading figure in Saudi or Kuwait or occupied Iraq or somewhere who would a) recognise the corpses and b) be believed by the majority of Iraqis.

[TerranC]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Couldn't they have found a person or small group of people that are trusted by the middle east and asked them to to view the bodies in private and confirm the identities? Surely there must be some leading figure in Saudi or Kuwait or occupied Iraq or somewhere who would a) recognise the corpses and b) be believed by the majority of Iraqis.

I heard that Al-Arabiya or Al-Zajeera interviewed the former iraqi head of intelligence to confirm the bodies, and that he said that he's very skeptical.

I suppose that's as close as you can get to having an official examine the bodies.