US Soldiers Kill Iraqi Boy, 12, After Thrown Grenade

New York Times:

American soldiers shot and killed two people in the northern city of Mosul, including a 12-year-old boy the military said had thrown a hand grenade at a passing patrol.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Clint Nielson]

The ROE state that if someone is exercising hostile action towards coalition forces you can engage them, as long as you positively identify them. I'm guessing someone identified the boy and they opened fire on him. Its an obvious screw-up and the higher-ups are trying to cover for the soldiers. If it was stray rounds the story probably would have been worded differently.

You can blame the soldiers if you want, however urban warfare is confusing and chaotic. Iraqis are everywhere, and a lot of them don't even bother getting out of the way when something goes down. The children love the soldiers - they'll run up to them all the time. Its not an easy scenario for the soldiers to fight in.

Which is why I'm glad that they're coming home. Iraq has enough IA and IPs to defend itself, and we've already put way too much money into their country.

[Paulo1]

Anyone who thinks you can fight a war without killing innocent people is insane. It is part of what makes war so horrible and to be avoided.

Weep for the kid and work to end the war don't blame the soldier.

[rjdemont]

Sort of OT. A couple of weeks ago in psych class, we watched a video on returning vets. Oddly enough, it was shown that the higher of an education a person had, the easier it was to deal with taking a life. This struck me as bizarre. Does anyone else think this is counter-intuitive?

[funktor]

F US!

[afgail]

What presumably street savvy 12 year old boy in Mosul would stand next to a guy with an obviously visible hand grenade? Was he deliberate cannon fodder planted for the purpose of propaganda by the Sunni extortionists to shape the story? That he was killed is a tragedy, but he was probably cravenly duped into being there.

[Icomeinpeace]

I love how the association between soldier and president stop now that obama is in office.

[AngieMom57]

What?

[afgail]

This isn't Obama's war. He inherited from Cheney/Bush.

[Paul]

The problem in a nutshell: Even when we win the tactical engagement, we lose.

[kustom]

Very poor journalism the boy did not throw the grenade he was standing near the person who threw it according to witnesses . Typical terrorist cowardliness.

[baba2nde]

If you read the whole story you will note the multitude of eyewitnesses who said the boy DID NOT throw the grenade. Blame that on the fog of an unnecessary war.

[AngieMom57]

Yes, please read the article!

This young boy was standing next to the villain!

[Steambomb]

Note to Obama. You have to have the Iraqi leadership speak out against the insurgents using children to conduct their war. You have to have the leaders in lockstep with you in the world political spectrum otherwise you are constantly dealing with a double agent in the worlds political arena.

[amdezurik]

it seems the young boy was NOT "used" except as a target for the soldiers..­.if you actually read what was written...

[Disdain]

These bad soldiers having the temerity to shoot after having a grenade thrown at them! What were they thinking?

[sheilaofmiami]

I think throwing a grenade with children standing anywhere nearby can constitute "using children to conduct war", war is for adults, not downtown slums. And, yes it should be stopped here too, but then human history makes these both highly unlikely.

i disgust myself sometimes too.

[booker52]

Look back to the Viet Nam war and you had children being used then as well. It's not the first nor will it be the last time a child had died in war.

[brit prof]

Why were you in Vietnam? Did they attack you? No, you just didn't like the idea that they might choose a commie pinko government. How dare they attempt self-determination!
Here is a good way to stop kids dying because of American actions: stop invading countries and killing innocent people. OR, go pick a fight with someone who can really hit back: China, Russia, India, somewhere like that. They've got some great resources too. No? Scared of a fair fight? Yes, most bullies are. So, who's next? Iran? Pakistan? Venezuela? How about Bangladesh? You could wipe out the whole country in a fortnight, (14 days).

[ThomasPaineWeNeedYou]

In the sixties we had many slogans that are stil true today and need to be brought back.
What if they gave a War and nobody came?
Give Peace a chance.
Make Love not War.
I just learned from Sicko the movie they had an englishman who said if you've got millions and billions for war you can afford healthcare and he stated that the English National Health Service started right at the end of WW II when they were deep in debt. Let's spend our money on healthcare for everyone not the military.

[brit prof]

Yes, we were broke at the end of WWII, (unlike the USA which turned a tidy profit out of the venture) but the war was fought to change society, for basic human rights at home just as much as it was to stop the Nazis. It begged the question: what sort of country are we fighting for? What is it that we want that the Nazis will take away? That's why the war-hero Churchill was kicked out of office after the war.
America will never have a National Health Service. There's no money in it. It costs money. In Britain we pay taxes and the govt. uses that cash for free health care. We like this very much. But for the dogma-driven US, this sensible idea--afforded to most European citizens--is communism, a thin edge of the wedge. Ideology, it appears, is more important than the end result. Yes, with an NHS all citizens can get adequate health care BUT at what cost? Our democratic principles, you can hear the mob chant! Wow, you guys are so mixed up!
Mao said exactly the same thing: "So what if millions starve? The Great Leap Forward is key to building a modern socialist state."

[ThomasPaineWeNeedYou]

I agree with many of the post we shouldn't be there, we are occupyers, the boy has a right to defend his country, but even though I'm a progressive and a dem when in war like situations it's never good but our troops must defend themselves and little boys and girls will get killed if they throw gernades. In WW II it didn't matter how old you were in Germany if you took up arms you were fair game. This is why wars should never be the answerr. We stopped the spread of communism in Europe with the Marshall Plan which spent money to rebuld socites shattered in WW II by investing in infrastructure, creating businesses, building up their defense capabiiitiies. We must find the peaceful way of life, the Pesident said in the campaign he's like to establish a Peace cabinet, it's long overdue and let's try it.
As John Lennon said Give Peace a Chance. I'm all for it but untill we get there our troops must do what they have to protect themselves even if they are 13.

[LHoney]

Didn't anyone here actually read the article?? The boy did not throw the grenade!

[ThomasPaineWeNeedYou]

I hate war, I hate the kid got killed, the fact is he had a gernade it takes seconds to throw and we are not on the ground or witnesses to the event and in war decisions happen in seconds, and I'm sure the young man who killed the kid will have to live with it the rest of his life and only the ones there know what happened and what had to happen to save lives, unfornately it was not the 12 yr old.
Let's get out that will stop us from killing but I'm sure killing will go on, I pray it won't but it probably will.

[petphotos]

I have been at scenes of incidents where the "bystanders" lied to protect the guilty. The evidence was very clear what really happened. Since I was not at this happened, I cannot say who really did what, but I do not buy the witnesses story. Like has been said elsewhere on this posting, children are used for propaganda and other purposes.

[JerryLevy]

If the boy has a right to defend his country, should he not be defending it against radical terrorist insurgents who seek total domination of Iraq and not the U.S. troops who are seeking to leave their country as soon as it can govern itsself. You make no sense. Yeah, a peace cabinet to talk with Hamas, Iran, and the Taliban. What dreamworld do you live in?

[baba2nde]

Here is the problem, Jerry: one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Nothing revolutionary there, until you take a serious look in the mirror.

Think about Nelson Mandela, for instance. No serious person today can doubt his contribution to South Aftrican and World peace. Yet, for the better part of 27 years he was locked in a cage as "the terrorist" in his own land.

No one will know what contribution that boy - or the thousands of 'collateral damage' - would have made. But a a good look in the mirror can reveal the humanity in all of us. Try that from time to time.

[KarateKid]

Why is this even a story. It's war. What are our boys supposed to do with grenade throwers and suicide bombers? As them for their ID before they fire? If the enemy want to recruit young boys, we kill young boys. End of story. Anyone who has ever been in combat knows it's either them or us, so it might as well be them.

[IcedTee63]

It's tragic that a 12 year child died after throwing a genade, but I personally would prefer to have our soldiers come back in one piece! Those that put the child up to the act of throwing it are the true monsters!