Agreed. It is a little cold to be talking **** right after shooting these people from several hundred yards away.

 

WOW I am amazed and impressed. I thought this thread was going to go really bad, and it still may but it hasnt yet.

People need to understand that in Iraq at least when I was there Fire fights are a spectator sport.

In america we hear gunfire we usually run, not in Iraq. I have had the boys in the Apachies bail me out on several occasions and will always be thankful for that.

They are the best trained helicopter pilots in the world and I cannot tell you how many countless hours they spend practicing to know what an RPG or AK looks like from 400-500 meters away. They do everything they can to not injure innocents. There career and lives are on the line every day. Did you know that the Americans will prosecute anything even appearing to an illeagal act. That is one reason why there are cameras and recorders on the apache.

A warrior carries a heavy heart yes, but immeadiately after a fire fight its a little hard to deal with and a little easier to relieve tension and guilt by minimizing.

This was a video created by a pissed off journalist who just lost a friend. No lead in at all like there were probably ongoing fire fights in the area all day hense the reason for the bradlys and the apache team in the AO. It was made and edited to make our guys look bad. Lets not allow this propaganda fuel the bleeding heart fire.

While I agree it is sad that innocent people were injured or killed I refuse to feel bad for the journalist embedding himself with insurgents. You wanna get good footage and not get killed try being on the winning side.

 

I've never been in a situation remotely near what these guys have, and it is almost impossible for me to imagine. But I have to believe that these sorts of reactions are part of a coping mechanism these young men have learned when they kill the enemy. I do know that almost 60 after WW2, my grandfather claims to be able to smell "****" from a block away, and it is clear he feels conflicted about why he hates them so much. I feel fortunate that he is still around, and find it fascinating to listen to him talk about his experiences. Many of them have obviously troubled him deeply. I find it ironic and scary that the nation seems so removed from our current war fronts, relative to what seems to have been the case in the early 1940's.

 

The second the United States declared war on afghan/iraq you know innocent people will die. That's how we do things. So if some Americans want to be dumb enough to run around with people that had AK-47s, that's their fault.

 

They werent Americans. Usually the dirty work I.E. on the ground photog work is contracted out to TCN's or third country nationals because they are cheap, expendable, and they can blend in with and speak the language of the host nation.

 

i am fully aware of casualties of war. it happens. however, taking out the van for trying to pick up wounded people is f*cked up. it seemed the gunner was trigger happy when he says, "they're carrying weapons into the van!" to get permission to light it up. yet they were not putting anything in the van yet, and barely trying to pick up the wounded person.

i understand **** happens in war. but if people aren't following correct protocol (talking about the van here) killing innocent people in the process, and we turn a blind eye, then we have pretty low standards for our military.

 

Apparently we have pretty low standards for declaring war, as well.