Fury as Kiwi soldier accused of 'killing innocents'

[kiwi_2005]

This woman is worried if its safe for her to come back to New Zealand after posting in FB putting down one of the five kiwi soldiers who died in Afganistan last week. Don't bother coming back!

Barbara Sumner-Burstyn's remarks on Facebook, accusing Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker of "killing innocent people", attracted a vitriolic attack from some army colleagues.

"Oh, so fallen soldier Jacinda Baker liked boxing and baking - did they forget she also liked invading countries we are not at war with, killing innocent people and had no moral compass" Burstyn wrote on her Facebook page.
"She 100 per cent does not deserve our respect for her flawed choices. We are not at war. We are helping America invade another country for their oil. No more than that.

"Go to war expect to be killed. You can't have it both ways - oh nice little career with the military and shock horror when you get blown up."

The post went viral around the internet and last night 19,000 people had joined a Facebook group called "Sumner Burstyn give back your NZ Passport!".

Other comments incited violence against Burstyn.

The soldier who created the page, Ted Grainger, was prompted to calm the fury last night after threats were repeatedly left on the page by people including defence force personnel.
"Right people. No one on this site will advocate rape or murder. Context people ... I will delete posts that are out of context and are what I believe is wrong. Rape is wrong ... don't post it."

Burstyn, a filmmaker, told the Herald on Sunday she was currently in Canada and did not know when it would be safe to return to New Zealand.
She feared for her safety and that of her family in New Zealand who had to flee their home after her address and contact details were published.
She said the New Zealand police and Interpol were investigating the threats.

"The level of threat is very scary. They are threatening my life and that of my family while in uniform. Our peacekeepers who threaten rape and murder to someone who posts an anti-war message," she said.
"And to post my details and that of my family and threaten us all in such vile ways I think it is shameful and disgusting behaviour," she said.
Sumner-Burstyn has shut down her Facebook page and changed her email address but, in an interview with the Herald on Sunday, she did not resile from her comments.

A Defence Force spokeswoman said: "People are entitled to their own individual opinions and we leave it up to the public to judge whether it is insensitive to choose this time to criticise our fallen Defence Force personnel," she said. "Our people are grieving, as are the families of the three killed who are yet to bury their loved ones."
An administrator of the Facebook group Kane Te Tai engaged in an exchange with Burstyn to explain the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team's role in Afghanistan.

"We may operate under the banner of Operation Enduring Freedom but we have our own mission, one that does not include US policies and the like. We are in provincial reconstruction and that's what we do. Period.
"My time spent in Afghanistan with the Provincial Reconstruction team did not involve me carrying out direct action missions against the Taleban or the Afghan people," he said.

"We do not hunt down people nor do we fire many rounds (unless we are training). I can count on one hand how many engagements our country has had with the Taleban. How many civilians have we killed in our military history? A big fat zero. We do not fight this war unless they fight us first. Only in defence.

"Not one NZ soldier has engaged first in any conflict in Afghanistan so don't paint us with the same brush as the US. We aren't them," he said.
He explained that New Zealand soldiers have helped the people of Bamiyan building schools and Baker was a medic who joined the army to heal people, friend or foe.



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10829552