Don't loot.

[theavonlady 2]

in my opinion they just should have been arrested if its not clear if he's just a taxi driver or not.

It's true that after a while, you can usually get into a routine where you can arrest the looters that you catch here and there.

But at the initial stages of Iraqi looting, there was no way you could attempt to bring some form of law and order by arresting people, without anywhere to lock them up and forcing patrols to leave looting scenes (or even just pass right through them) while on the way to drop off a looter at some prison or compound.

And I bet his car would have been stolen after he was taken away. There were tons of cars looted at the time.

In addition, who said that it was not clear that the driver was not assisting the looters?

[Longinius 1]

Quote[/b] ]Agreed but under the circumstances, they are obligated to maintain law and order. And they didn't do so by shooting looters on site. They did it by making it impossible or not worth their while to try doing it again.

And they also made the guys life much harder in the process. Most likely forcing him to loot even more to survive. I am quite sure many of the looters stole because they needed it to survive. While that doesnt make it right, it does mean that if you make their life even harder, the likelyhood of them stealing again doesnt really decrease.

[theavonlady 2]

Quote[/b] ]Agreed but under the circumstances, they are obligated to maintain law and order. And they didn't do so by shooting looters on site. They did it by making it impossible or not worth their while to try doing it again.

And they also made the guys life much harder in the process.

Other than in Sweden, with it's lavish jail policy, I've been made to understand that crime should not pay.

Quote[/b] ]Most likely forcing him to loot even more to survive.

That's true of all looters. So should they just let them party?

Quote[/b] ]I am quite sure many of the looters stole because they needed it to survive.

What if they're taking from others who themselves will now need to survive or already have this problem?

You're condoning selective looting. I like Robin Hood too but.........

Quote[/b] ]While that doesnt make it right, it does mean that if you make their life even harder, the likelyhood of them stealing again doesnt really decrease.

By destroying the car, they limited much more what he could possibly loot afterwards.

You're assuming that they just wanted to loot a little wood just this once. After that, they would give their scout's honor that they would never loot again. Sure!

[Konyak-2 0]

This whole video doesn't make any sense.. At worst, it's a tank crew without a brain. There´s a disturbing presence here, that of the media. Like most of the media today, they seem to be most gleeful if they can find faults with US operations, wherever they may be. There's a lot of fine people operating in the military, but we don't get to see them, since that doesn't further the media´s agenda today. So, we see this video, professionally narrated (sounded like that nut Dan Rather, not sure though) and elegantly set up so that the viewer is in fury against these soldiers.

I'd vager that bn880 is right.. this was a show, and these soldiers are probably as mad or madder at the media crew for presenting it as they did.

So that's what's most disturbing.. I'm having a really hard time finding videos showing US troops helping out, doing really honorable things, yet I know they are commonplace. We've heard from returning soldiers that there is great frustration with the media coverage, and this is a fine example of that.

Konyak

And to the one who said "American stupidity", I don't remember anyone saying "Norwegian stupidity" after watching the dog slayer video recently.

[Acecombat 0]

Well compared to american looting of Iraq this isnt a big deal i mean wood ......

[somebloke 0]

Thats a fair point, if it was petrol or food supplies then by all means stop it.

[Acecombat 0]

Well as they sometimes too much care is a bad thing

They cared too much for the wood being looted .... just like poor Bush who couldnt stand to see Saddam ruling his people , i mean a dictator ruling such fine people , he also couldnt bear to see the how the US was under threat from Iraqs WMDs...... noooooooooo its too much ...invade....... liberate .........

[Llauma 0]

A really smart move to destroy a car like that. I have no pity for those soldiers if it strikes back at them.

[Donnervogel 0]

The 'stupid american's' comment was uncalled for. A better description would be American Ingenuity.

I didn't say "stupid american's". I said it was american stupidity. That means It was a stupid behaviour I would expect from americans soldiers. Because they are speacially infamous for such actions that piss off the population

@Assault (can)

I didn't intend to start a "nationalistic pissing war". YOu asked for a comment. So that was mine.

[Assault (CAN) 1]

Quote[/b] ]I didn't intend to start a "nationalistic pissing war". You asked for a comment. So that was mine.

I know. But I think you've been here long enough to know that as soon as the 'America bashing' gets out of hand the thread gets shut down.

@ Konyak-2: Very well put man.

The media is a business, and stories of soldiers handing out food to little kids or building a hospital simply don't sell newspapers or get ratings on TV.

As the old saying goes: "If it bleeds, it leads."

Tyler

[ralphwiggum 6]

use Iraq thread