or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
March 28, 2008
What Would Reverend Wright Say?
By: Bernard Chazelle
Hicks's unit opened a furious fusillade, firing wildly into cars, at people scurrying for cover, at anything that moved. Sent in to survey the damage, Hicks found the area littered with human and animal corpses, including women and children, but he saw no military gear or weapons of any kind near the bodies. In the aftermath of the massacre, Hicks was told that his unit had killed 700-800 "enemy combatants." But he knew the dead were not terrorists or insurgents; they were innocent Iraqis. "I will agree to swear to that till the day I die," he said. "I didn't see one enemy on that operation."Posted at March 28, 2008 03:55 PMSeveral veterans said it was common to carry a stash of extra automatic weapons and shovels to plant near the bodies of unarmed civilians they had killed to make it look as if they were combatants.
Others described the surreal sensation of committing cold-blooded murder without facing any consequences.
What? Is this true? Who is Hicks? Are these mercenaries or what? This seems impossible--how could they kill children? Please explain.
Posted by: Rosemary Molloy at March 28, 2008 05:43 PMRosemary,
PFC Clifton Hicks testified about his experiences in Iraq at the Winter Soldier summit earlier this month.
Click on the link (in this case, the first word) to learn more.
Posted by: FearItself at March 28, 2008 05:51 PMprobably something along the lines of the whole 'God Damn America' thing.
Posted by: almostinfamous at March 29, 2008 01:06 AMThis seems all too familiar to anyone who knows anything about Vietnam, unfortunately.
Posted by: Save the Oocytes at March 29, 2008 02:28 AMANYBODY throughout history, ANY PLACE on planet earth, EVERYTIME there is a war---1st rule of thumb---kill the women and children first. (and if possible, kill all the men off next)
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 29, 2008 07:59 AMRosemarie, it's just soldiers doing what soldiers ALWAYS do when they are occupying and suppressing an armed, hostile insurgent population. Fear is your friend, and violent instillation of it is your first duty.
We did it in Nam and previously in Korea.
We'll do it at home, too, should it come to that.
Rosemary - you seem very uninformed.
Posted by: Susan - NC at March 29, 2008 02:22 PMYou sure she isn't just being sarcastic?
Posted by: En Ming Hee at March 31, 2008 02:54 AM
