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Could it be possible, the area being in a Baghdad fraught with religious division, that the armed men were simply a local escort to protect the journalists? Enemy or not, there were too few militants present in that group to justify the kill.
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OK this is facepalm material here.....
Think about what you said Krashkart...
First - "could it be possible" - well sure it could. And the hijackers that flew into the twin towers COULD have just POSSIBLY been on a downtown sightseeing tour and F'ed it up by accident.... I mean - if you want to stretch possibilities.....
So what do you do in a conflict zone there Krashkart, walk up to the guys with guns and ask "Uhm, excuse me - but are you here for bad $hit or are you just here to escort that guy with a camera that looks like an RPG? Cuz I need to know so I can let the guys in the attack bird up there know whether to clean your clocks or not."? How long do ya think your gonna survive in a shooting gallery doing that? (A shooting gallery is exactly what Sadr City was during this time frame).
So what we have here is an armed group of unknown intent - along with a "reporter" with a device that is easily mistaken at distance through the equipment used - as an RPG. You have no clue what that group is up to, but given the operational area situation, its doubtful to be any good. Regardless of which militia they are part of - not a single one of em is doing anything positive - just killing each other and innocents trying to grab power. So what do you do? Oh wait - it gets better - a friendly unit is entering the area - and is close by - you going to wait till they start wasting your buddies before you do something?
If your answer is yes - hopefully you don't mind swapping roles with that other guy next time - willing to die just so your buddy can fire..... (With the shoe on the other foot its a different picture ain't it...)
Btw - even though its admitted that you couldn't identify the device as a camera or an RPG - how is the guy in the bird supposed to know the fella "setting up" what looks to be a weapon is a reporter? Is military training supposed to make him like one of the guys in "The Men who Stare at Goats" or a Jedi where he can read the man's mind and know he isn't up to no good? C'mon - you have the luxury of hindsight - knowing now what was unknowable then - yet you judge them as if they should have known - when that was impossible.
Also - how do you figure out who in a group is militant and who isn't? Again, are you saying someone should just go ask em??? If you see a group of people helping someone that you have determined - to the best of your ability - to be a militant - thats called giving aid to the enemy.
The friend of my enemy is my enemy...
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Enemy or not, there were too few militants present in that group to justify the kill.
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God I hope you never run a war. In war - its kill or be killed. When you see an opening - you take it - because if you don't - that target may take you or your buddies out 10 minutes later. Using your logic - there are "too few" to justify the kill - is the same as saying a shot to old Adolph's head in 42 when he decided to go take a leak on a tree out back of wolf's lair shouldn't have been taken - because one guy isn't enough of a target for a kill.....
We may be able to figure a body count from the attack - but what you can never figure out is what the body count would have been if you had not taken the shot.