The Iraq thread 4

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]on top of that he complains about 9mm not having stopping power. and from my experience, those people tend to be somewhat of misinformed type.

I think the Detriot pd wanted to replace their 9mm glocks after it was found that it lacked the stopping power and sometimes the bullet would bounce off a person head. I don't have a news link but the story is a couple months old. Anyway, it depends on the ammo.

[ralphwiggum 6]

in that case, I'll change my weapon of choice for your kill to my CZ 75B in 9mm just to prove you wrong.

http://img81.exs.cx/img81/1700/delllaptop.jpg

shot placement is more important than bullet.

[billybob2002 0]

in that case, I'll change my weapon of choice for your kill to my CZ 75B in 9mm just to prove you wrong.  

http://img81.exs.cx/img81/1700/delllaptop.jpg

shot placement is more important than bullet.

Totally forgot about the CZ aka "the forgotten cop killer"...the brady people will be after you!! Majority of people are not going for the head but the largest area of a person.

BTW, like my new sig...

[ralphwiggum 6]

Totally forgot about the CZ aka "the forgotten cop killer"...the brady people will be after you!! Majority of people are not going for the head but the largest area of a person.

BTW, like my new sig...

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!! That's CZ 52, not 75B.

Anyways, in regards to Iraqi parliament article, seems like details are already painting a possible dark scenario for Iraq's future. From what I heard, Sunnis wanted a vice president post, but got the speaker position. so they think that they are given small roles and Shiites and Kurds can take over the important ones.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Ever seen the guide that each US soldier is given when entering iraq?

find it here

Press on "weiter" for next page. One is always in english and the next is the german translation.

Actually I think it is not that bad. Each and every soldier is of course asked to visit courses and to do research himself.

[SpongeBob 0]

Quote[/b] ]Medal of Honor to Be Awarded to Soldier Killed in Iraq, a First

http://www.nytimes.com/auth....RI=http

WASHINGTON, March 29 - Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith, killed nearly two years ago defending his vastly outnumbered Army unit in a fierce battle with elite Iraqi troops for control of Baghdad's airport, will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, administration officials said Tuesday.

No soldier who served in Afghanistan or Iraq after the Sept. 11 attacks has yet received the medal. The last conflict to produce a Medal of Honor recipient was in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993; two soldiers were awarded the medal posthumously for actions there, later depicted in the movie "Black Hawk Down."

Sergeant Smith led a defense of a compound next to the airport against a much larger force of Special Republican Guard troops, manning a heavy machine gun, repeatedly firing and reloading three times before he was mortally wounded. Fellow soldiers said his actions killed 20 to 50 Iraqis, allowed wounded American soldiers to be evacuated, and saved an aid station and perhaps 100 lives.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!! That's CZ 52, not 75B.

At least it know it was CZ something or other. BTW, I hate you!

Anyway, it is good that they finally gave him the MoH for his action after his family (wife) raised some hell.

[theavonlady 2]

Maybe the US should outsource to Toyota:

Quote[/b] ]U.S. Army's Stryker Vehicle Faulty -Report

Thu Mar 31, 2005 01:24 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new U.S. Army troop transport vehicle in Iraq has many defects, putting soldiers at risk from rocket-propelled grenades and raising questions about its $11 billion cost, The Washington Post reported in its Thursday edition.

The vehicle is known as the Stryker, which is made by General Dynamics Corp., according to the newspaper, which said it reviewed a classified study by the Army in December.

The report, drawn from confidential interviews with operators of the vehicles in Iraq in the last quarter of 2004, lists complaints about the vehicle including design flaws and maintenance problems that are "getting worse not better," the paper said.

The Army report makes clear that the vehicle's military performance has fallen short although many soldiers in the field say they like the vehicle, the Post said.

For example, an armoring shield installed on Stryker vehicles to protect against unanticipated attacks by insurgents using low-tech weapons works against half the grenades used to assault it, the newspaper said.

The shield, installed at a base in Kuwait, is so heavy that tire pressure must be checked three times daily and nine tires a day are changed after failing, the paper said, referring to the Army document.

"The additional weight significantly impacts the handling and performance during the rainy season," the Post cited the Army report as saying.

The paper listed other complaints such as slow and overheating computers and a $157,000 grenade launcher that fails to hit targets when the vehicle is moving.

The Army report said its laser designator, zoom, sensors, stabilizer and rotating speed all need redesign; it does not work at night; and its console display is in black and white although "a typical warning is to watch for a certain color automobile," the Post reported.

Army figures show 17 soldiers in the Stryker combat brigade have died in Iraq in 157 bomb explosions. But whether the deaths occurred outside or inside the vehicle has not been specified, the Post said.

Pins, ya big lurker you, any comments?

[Ironsight 1]

The Washington Post Article

Quote[/b] ]Study Faults Army Vehicle

Use of Transport in Iraq Puts Troops at Risk, Internal Report Says

By R. Jeffrey Smith

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 31, 2005; Page A01

The Army has deployed a new troop transport vehicle in Iraq with many defects, putting troops there at unexpected risk from rocket-propelled grenades and raising questions about the vehicle's development and $11 billion cost, according to a detailed critique in a classified Army study obtained by The Washington Post.

The vehicle is known as the Stryker, and 311 of the lightly armored, wheeled vehicles have been ferrying U.S. soldiers around northern Iraq since October 2003. The Army has been ebullient about the vehicle's success there, with Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, telling the House Armed Services Committee last month that "we're absolutely enthusiastic about what the Stryker has done."

But the Army's Dec. 21 report, drawn from confidential interviews with operators of the vehicle in Iraq in the last quarter of 2004, lists a catalogue of complaints about the vehicle, including design flaws, inoperable gear and maintenance problems that are "getting worse not better." Although many soldiers in the field say they like the vehicle, the Army document, titled "Initial Impressions Report -- Operations in Mosul, Iraq," makes clear that the vehicle's military performance has fallen short.

The internal criticism of the vehicle appears likely to fuel new controversy over the Pentagon's decision in 2003 to deploy the Stryker brigade in Iraq just a few months after the end of major combat operations, before the vehicle had been rigorously tested for use across a full spectrum of combat.

The report states, for example, that an armoring shield installed on Stryker vehicles to protect against unanticipated attacks by Iraqi insurgents using low-tech weapons works against half the grenades used to assault it. The shield, installed at a base in Kuwait, is so heavy that tire pressure must be checked three times daily. Nine tires a day are changed after failing, the report says; the Army told The Post the current figure is "11 tire and wheel assemblies daily."

"The additional weight significantly impacts the handling and performance during the rainy season," says the report, which was prepared for the Center for Army Lessons Learned in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "Mud appeared to cause strain on the engine, the drive shaft and the differentials," none of which was designed to carry the added armor.

Commanders' displays aboard the vehicles are poorly designed and do not work; none of the 100 display units in Iraq are being used because of "design and functionality shortfalls," the report states. The vehicle's computers are too slow and overheat in desert temperatures or freeze up at critical moments, such as "when large units are moving at high speeds simultaneously" and overwhelm its sensors.

The main weapon system, a $157,000 grenade launcher, fails to hit targets when the vehicle is moving, contrary to its design, the report states. Its laser designator, zoom, sensors, stabilizer and rotating speed all need redesign; it does not work at night; and its console display is in black and white although "a typical warning is to watch for a certain color automobile," the report says. Some crews removed part of the launchers because they can swivel dangerously toward the squad leader's position.

The vehicle's seat belts cannot be readily latched when troops are in their armored gear, a circumstance that contributed to the deaths of three soldiers in rollover accidents, according to the report. On the vehicle's outside, some crews have put sand-filled tin cans around a gunner's hatch that the report says is ill-protected.

Eric Miller, senior defense investigator at the independent Project on Government Oversight, which obtained a copy of the internal Army report several weeks ago, said the critique shows that "the Pentagon hasn't yet learned that using the battlefield as a testing ground costs lives, not just spiraling dollars."

Asked about the report, Army officials who direct the Stryker program said they are working to fix some flaws; they also said they were unaware of some of the defects identified in the critique. "We're very proud of the Stryker team," said Lt. Col. Frederick J. Gellert, chief of the Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Team Integration Branch in Washington, but "it hasn't been something that's problem-divorced."

According to the latest Army figures, 17 soldiers in the Stryker combat brigade have died in Iraq in 157 bomb explosions, but no delineation is made for those who perished inside the vehicle and those who were standing outside it; an additional five soldiers have died in two rollovers. No current figure was provided for those who perished in grenade attacks, although one officer said he thought it was fewer than a handful.

Neither the lessons-learned report nor more recent Army data state how many soldiers have been wounded while inside the vehicle. The report states that in one case, a soldier was struck by shrapnel that penetrated both the vehicle's armor and his own body armor; in another case, an entire crew escaped with minor injuries after a vehicle sustained nine grenade hits.

The criticisms of the Stryker's first performance in combat seem likely to give new arguments to critics of the Army's decision in 1999 to move away from more heavily armored vehicles that move on metal tracks and embrace a generation of lighter, more comfortable vehicles operated at higher speed on rubber tires.

Senior Army officers in Iraq, like those at the Pentagon, have been surprised by the intensity of hostilities there since mid-2003, and lately some officers have said they depend on heavy armor to protect their soldiers in urban warfare, even though tanks in Iraq have also suffered unexpected damage.

But Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, the Army's director of force development, said that when he rode in the Stryker for the first time, he "marveled at how much nicer it was" than riding in a Bradley vehicle or an older troop transport, the M113, which he likened to being inside an aluminum trash can being beaten by a hammer. He said the Stryker was "amazingly smooth" and quiet by comparison.

In a report completed at the time of deployment, the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation office rated the Stryker vehicles sent to Iraq "effective and survivable only with limitations for use in small-scale contingencies." Congressional auditors at the General Accounting Office in December 2003 said the first brigade "did not consistently demonstrate its capabilities, indicating both strengths and weaknesses."

Independent groups and a loose-knit group of retired Army officers who dislike the Stryker vehicle have alleged that the Stryker's 2003 deployment was motivated partly by the desire of the Army and the manufacturer, General Dynamics, to build congressional support for buying additional brigades. But Speakes said that was nonsense and that the brigade was deployed in Iraq simply because the Army needed it.

Researchers Bob Lyford and Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

[quicksand 0]

Romania: Video Shows Abducted Journalists

Quote[/b] ]Romanian media officials confirmed Thursday that a televised video showed three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq and a fourth unidentified person, apparently an American

The State Department confirmed that an American was taken hostage with the three Romanians, but the department gave no further information and it was unclear if the American was the fourth person in the video aired by Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

Private Romanian television station Realitatea TV reported that an Iraqi-American who worked as the journalists' translator was the fourth person kidnapped.

The video showed three men and a woman seated on a floor, with blankets hung behind them. Two armed men — their faces covered with scarves — pointed guns at them.

Media officials in Romania said three of the victims were Marie Jeanne Ion, 32; cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, 30, from Bucharest-based television station Prima TV; and Romania Libera reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37.

The Romanian government has said the three journalists were abducted Monday near their Baghdad hotel after interviewing Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. One victim used a cell phone to report the kidnapping.

In the past, kidnappers have demanded that foreign troops leave Iraq in return for freeing their victims. Romania has 800 troops in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition forces.

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said there has not been such a request.

"At least for now, the disappearance of the Romanian citizens is not related to any concrete demand," he said.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq and more than 30 have been killed.

It might sound crude but I've been expecting this to happen. Our presence in Iraq has for two years gone without any major incidents and no casualties what so ever.

The kidnappers appear ill experienced but they will probably pass them on to a more radical group that will ask us to withdraw our troops.

I will support the decission as the majority of Romania's population does,the former government did a therific job playing puppy with TBA denying the population's will,but the government changed and has no obligations to stay bind to the occupation of Iraq.

Our 500 strong contignent stayed there long enough and all though the area is dangerous our troops kept to peace keeping duties and have not angered the locals,in short they did their job well there is no need for their deployment to end in bloodshed.

[IsthatyouJohnWayne 0]

The problem with that is, doesnt it seem to encourage the kidnappers to seize more people, possibly aid workers and at least journalists. It seems a little irresponsible frankly (speaking as someone who was narrowly against the initial invasion).

The more kidnapping seems a like a viable strategy the more it will develop as an industry a la Colombia with its 'narco-guerillas'. Is it really wise to encourage such behaviour? It seems that it would be better to withdraw from a position of relative strength (even if that means waiting until all hostages have been recovered before withdrawing). If a burgeoning kidnap industry were to become a legacy of the occupation due partly to the manner of withdrawal, i dont think the Iraqis would thank the Romanians or anyone else.

[quicksand 0]

The problem with that is, doesnt it seem to encourage the kidnappers to seize more people, possibly aid workers and at least journalists. It seems a little irresponsible frankly (speaking as someone who was narrowly against the initial invasion).

The more kidnapping seems a like a viable strategy the more it will develop as an industry a la Colombia with its 'narco-guerillas'. Is it really wise to encourage such behaviour?

IsThatYouJohnWayne,your concern is understandable but you see,the kidnappers are way past the "encouraging" stage.They are kidnapping journalists from countries that had nothing to do with the war moreover they were opposed to it(France,Germany).

They are even killing truck drivers that share their religion and come from neighbouring countries,with no remourse whatsoever.

Right now the more radical cells are at a point when they will do absolutley anything it takes to win this war however apaulling to public opinion.

The only reason why the kidnapping industry does not number in the thousands as it did in Latin America,is primarly because of security measures the potential victims take and secondly because no other country had on duty 200,000 foreign soldiers trying to crack the cells.

Journalists travel with bodyguards,at many times embeded with US forces and stay in places surrounded by huge fences,checkpoints and barbed wire;truckdrivers take long alternative roads to avoid Al-Anbar province and the Death Triangle.

Quote[/b] ] It seems that it would be better to withdraw from a position of relative strength (even if that means waiting until all hostages have been recovered before withdrawing). If a burgeoning kidnap industry were to become a legacy of the occupation due partly to the manner of withdrawal, i dont think the Iraqis would thank the Romanians or anyone else.

I completly agree,if there is any other way to win their freedom by all means I am sure our government would clinch to it and negotiate a settlement.

If however all else fails,retreating our soldiers from that hell hole would be the viable option as opposed to a hardline approach that would sentence them to death.

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.cnn.com/2005....ex.html

Quote[/b] ]WIESBADEN, Germany (AP) -- A military court on Thursday found a U.S. Army tank company commander guilty of charges related to the shooting death of a wounded Iraqi last year.

Capt. Rogelio "Roger" Maynulet stood at attention as Lt. Col. Laurence Mixon, the head of the six-member panel, read the verdict.

The court was to reconvene later Thursday to consider Maynulet's sentence. The charge -- assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter -- carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors had sought a conviction on a more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder that carried a 20-year maximum.

Maynulet, 30, maintained that the man was gravely wounded and he shot him to end his suffering.

Maynulet's 1st Armored Division tank company had been on patrol near Kufa, south of Baghdad, when it was alerted to a car thought to be carrying a driver for radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and another militiaman loyal to the Shiite cleric, who led uprisings against American-led forces in Iraq last year.

They chased the vehicle and fired at it, wounding both the passenger, who fled and was later apprehended, and the driver. The killing was filmed by a U.S. drone surveillance aircraft.

[theavonlady 2]

Maynulet, 30, maintained that the man was gravely wounded and he shot him to end his suffering.

Some are saying he did a "Schiavo" on the Iraqi.

[simba 0]

About what inq wrote on his tanks.

Reactions are somehow very strange , i posted a message that had a real political meaning, i was criticising the way people see the this war and what do you answer

"this topic contains no political discussion" : I know that INQ but what i do know also is that the first person who made politics in this topic is you.

" you don't like it you don't use it " : so if somebody writes on a tank for ex " die stupid american" you will probably appreciate and say nothing , just not downloading the addon.

But nobody really complaint about the content of my post, so is it true , are you agree with what i've said , or does it just not deserve a reply ?

are you for war on irak and for what reason , please explain me I still don't understand.

for what reason do I support war on Irak.

*WMD no

*democratie no , you kidding me

*petrol maybee , but why do you support that , do you work in a petroleum company , or does the american economy worth more than anything ??

*military budget

*sunny holydays, tourism

*want to learn arab

*psoreasis

*looking for a child to adopt , shoud be plenty now

p.s1 sorry for in a way hijacking this thread but it is ontopic.

p.s2 red oct , thank for your reply , that was the only interesting answer ,but doesn't change anything.

simba.

[Scrub 0]

Hi Simba,

Firstly, even in this offtopic thread that gets heated up quite often, most people recognize that we on these forums are not at war with each other.  We take things a bit lighter than our government representatives because, really this is about a game.  And also, about our perceptions of the world events in a worldwide forum.  We are not the law makers, war declarers, or baby killers (well, most of us, anyway   )  We are here because of OFP and the confrontations in which we shoot at each other (and AI).  And if I am in MP, on the US side, in a M1SEP with 'eat pork or die' on the hull - and fighting against the Iraqi Mod units, I'd expect something like 'Burn in Hell,  Infidel!' in Arabic on those T-72's & 80's.

Keeping the fact this is about 'mostly' imaginary conflicts, with none of us able to affect policy, you really need to keep this in the context of the game that it is.  I've been insulted by some of the generalizations about Americans, but I understand 'you don't have the right to never be insulted', and I take it in stride.  I believe you should not take this so seriously.  And not make more problems than there already are.

After all, how many times have you heard U.S. and Russian teams go back and forth with  "Better Dead than Red, you commie bastards", and the reply is usually like 'Then Die you Imperialist Pigs!'.  Most see the camaraderie and mutual respect they have for each other even though they are fiercely opposing..  Perspective, bud.. Perspective.

[theavonlady 2]

so if somebody writes on a tank  for ex " die stupid american" you will probably appreciate and say nothing ,  just not downloading the addon.

If this were on, say, an Iraqi tank addon, for example, I would have no problem downloading, using and promoting such an addon. It reflects the reality of countries at war with each other.

However, I see no reason why the example you gave in the M1A2 thread about "eating pig" should be accepted here by the player community. Whether or not such an inscription existed or not on a real tank, it goes past insulting an enemy country. In this case, it's an insult to 100s of millions of Muslims worldwide. Why should this be tolerated here?

[Colossus 2]

Quote[/b] ]BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- President Ghazi al-Yawer is saying that

he is reassigning from his presidency this June.

In 2004 he was appointed by the council to serve as interim President of

Iraq following the June 28 return of Iraqi sovereignty from the Coalition

Provisional Authority.

"The threat of being killed by islamic fundamentalists has made the

president worry for his safety and his family," said his personal

security cheif Abdul al-Fayez.

The Bush administration have no comment on this matter at this time but

sill be conducting a press conference the tomorrow.

(This page will be updated)

CNN News

Damn bad writen, it doesn't say much at all.

[theavonlady 2]

CNN News

Tut! Tut!

[Colossus 2]

CNN News

Tut! Tut!

??

Now I don't understand anything

I'll find the real link, wait a sec.

EDIT: Found it, must have punched wrong link in.

CNN News

EDIT: 00:09, 2. april

Well that was a terrible prank, worst april joke ever

[SpongeBob 0]

Quote[/b] ]U.S. Soldier Convicted of Killing Iraqi Walks Free

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....tial_dc

BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. army tank company commander convicted of shooting dead a wounded Iraqi walked free from court on Friday, although he was dismissed from the army for what he called a "mercy killing."

Army Captain Rogelio Maynulet had faced up to 10 years in jail after a court martial at a U.S. army base in Wiesbaden, Germany, found him guilty of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter.

"He was sentenced with dismissal from the United States Army ... there will be no confinement time," a military spokesman said.

Prosecutors had pressed for conviction on a more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence.

The shooting occurred last May when U.S. troops were pursuing suspected militiamen supporting Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr near the Iraqi city of Najaf, the court was told.

U.S. soldiers fired on a car, wounding the driver and a passenger. Maynulet said he then shot dead the driver to put him out of his misery.

"He was in a state I didn't think was dignified. I had to put him out of his misery," Maynulet said in his defense according to U.S. military's Stars and Stripes magazine.

The jury was shown footage of the shooting filmed by a U.S. surveillance drone.

The mercy killing argument was used by the defense in the cases of two U.S. soldiers who were convicted in December and January of murdering an Iraqi.

The man suffered severe abdominal wounds and burns when U.S. troops attacked a rubbish truck they suspected guerrillas were using.

Staff Sergeant Johnny Horne was sentenced to three years in jail and Staff Sergeant Cardenas Alban to one year over the Iraqi's death.

Local Iraqis said the men on the truck were innocent rubbish collectors.

[FerretFangs 0]

I guess the moral of the story is, when faced with an enemy who has had half his head blown away, and yet hasn't completely bled to death, leave him to roast in the sun, to be picked apart by ants, dogs and rats.

'cause to end his misery, would be murder.

If I'm ever in the position of the "victim", I hope someone decides to throw their career away, and do the right thing by ending my suffering. It's great to see our overly PC military leaders willing to throw away perfectly effective volunteers, for doing the right thing when faced with a difficult position.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

so if somebody writes on a tank for ex " die stupid american" you will probably appreciate and say nothing , just not downloading the addon.

If this were on, say, an Iraqi tank addon, for example, I would have no problem downloading, using and promoting such an addon. It reflects the reality of countries at war with each other.

However, I see no reason why the example you gave in the M1A2 thread about "eating pig" should be accepted here by the player community. Whether or not such an inscription existed or not on a real tank, it goes past insulting an enemy country. In this case, it's an insult to 100s of millions of Muslims worldwide. Why should this be tolerated here?

And we better not mention that the world is not flat either, in case we insult Christians!

People get offended at all sorts of things. That is THEIR problem.

[miles teg 1]

I guess the moral of the story is, when faced with an enemy who has had half his head blown away, and yet hasn't completely bled to death, leave him to roast in the sun, to be picked apart by ants, dogs and rats.

'cause to end his misery, would be murder.

If I'm ever in the position of the "victim", I hope someone decides to throw their career away, and do the right thing by ending my suffering. It's great to see our overly PC military leaders willing to throw away perfectly effective volunteers, for doing the right thing when faced with a difficult position.

Actually no, that is not the morale of the story.  The UCMJ requires a soldier to render aid to the enemy regardless of the severity of their injury.  It does not say to put them out of their misery if they look like they are going to die.  There is something called "morphine" for severe pain.

Tell me have you heard of any soldiers in Iraq doing "mercy killings" of fellow American soldiers?   No.  Why is that?  Do you think it might be because a few American soldiers tend to value the lives of fellow Americans a bit more then Iraqis???...nah...couldn't be that.   The soldiers were found guilty by their peers.   That should tell you something.  The fact that they were not given very severe punishments should also tell you something.  The US military covers its ass.  If it was an American police officer who had "put an American suspect out of his misery" rather then provide medical assistance, you could bet that he would have faced a very stiff jail sentence.

Chris G.

aka-Miles Teg<GD>

[FerretFangs 0]

Chris, I agree with some of your points, ( as usual ) but the report I've heard is that the Iraqi in question had a sizeable chunk ( approx. 15-25% ) of his head vaporized from a high caliber round, ( IIRC it was a .50 cal from the TC's own Abrams. ) and was barely alive. He was just going to bleed out, while baking in the sun, and animals were going to start feasting on him. This guy wasn't going to make it, even if taken to a medical station equipped with advanced life support, and neurosurgeons.

Are you telling me, you'd inject him with morphine, ( the dude is unconcious, so he can't feel any pain, and he's suffering severe head trauma, so morphine is likely just to kill him as fast as a pistol round. ) and send medics to evac? You know he'd die enroute. The medics might even get killed to or from the evac. For what? Attempting to save the life of an enemy soldier, who by all rights should already be dead?

No, this is PC BS, plain and simple. It shows a gross lack of attention to the mission at hand so as to give an appearance of being less heavy-handed to the populous, all at the expence of a highly triained career officer's years of service and sacrifice.

I suppose the REAL moral of the story is simply to blow the crap out cars and enemy personel with 120mm HEAT, or perhaps to call in an airstrike as opposed to simple MG fire. That way, mercy killigs can be avoided completely. There's no reason to go through the trouble of a double tap to the brain or heart, if those two organs are reduced to pie filling. Right? Is it still a mercy killing if you drop a JDAM on them, before checking to see if the HEAT round had thoroughly done the job? Maybe that's just being efficient, and cautious. I mean, overkill is certainly one way to be sure the enemy isn't going to shoot back, require invaluable medical support, or neccessatate a merciful finishing shot.