TokyoNiGHTS

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/...bes/index.html

With Bush's recent focus on gay marriage and the Ann Coulter incident this has kind of been swept under the rug. This is very bad news if it turns out to be true. I was listening to a marine on Olbermann who said he feels this is just a result of the situation in Iraq and how forces in general there are starting to be worn down and so stuff like this happens.

UnsilentMajorty

It's this generation's Mi-Lai Massacre and it only goes to prove how similar Iraq is to Vietnam in terms of the stress being put on the soldiers both there and when they come home.

It was reported the marines who alledgedly took part in this massacre are on their third tour in Iraq. This alone should prove how mismanaged this whole sad fiasco is going as no one should be doing three, or four tours anywhere, let alone in a full-on combat siutation like Iraq.

It is not good for the pysche and what you never hear in the news is the stories of young vets in their 20s, both men and women, coming home and being mentally screwed up (scarred) for the rest of their natural lives due to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from their experiences over there.

In fact, one of the military photographers who had never even seen combat first hand said he has nightmares of the bodies he had to photograph in this incident. He said one in particular, the one where there is an entry wound in the forehead of a dead child with glassy eyes, makes him wake up screaming -- And remember, he was not part of this masscare or has even seen a lot of combat himself.

I don't think people have a real idea what life in a forward combat zone is like. It is 24/7 fear.

FEAR.

Fear for you life.
Fear for your friends/comrades lives.
Fear for you saftey driving anywhere due to IEDs.
Fear for your life as you go from one building to the next due to sniper fire or motar attacks.
Fear that you will make a mistake that will cost your friends lives as well as your own.
Fear that when you go door to door there is an insurgent waiting on the other side to kill you and your squad.
Fear you will be captured and tortured by the enemy.
Fear you will be captured, torturned and raped by the enemy (females).
Fear you will never see your loved ones again.
Fear of car bombings who arent't even targeting servicemen/women.
Fear most of America is not behind the war and don't care about you.

And the worst fear of them all... That you become completely numb to fear itself and part of you enjoys it to some degree.

This is the reality you never see on the nightly news, or whenever they interview soldiers in documentaries. Namely because most are young and can't process this yet, but as they get older they will unfortunately see the real effects if they survive long enough... Such as having PTSD and waking up in the middle of the night to images of people's bodies being blown apart, their entrails and servered limbs lining the inside of a humvee, etc, etc.

Sorry for the OT side discussion, but it is relevant because fear.. and anger... Is probably what sparked this masscare and again, it just more proof we shouldn't be there and never should have invaded in the first place. But hey, Saddam's not in power the world is safer because of it, right? Yeah...

TokyoNiGHTS

I think its definetly relevant because trying to lay all the blame at these soldiers feet (although they ofcourse do deserve some) is wrong. Having to go day in day out in a situation you have no idea is going to end, especially in a war is going to impact people in strange ways. It doesn't justify the killings or anything but its definetly about time that reporters and others start to bring this into discussion. And now just another round of "How are you going to punish them people did this?".