WaPo: Did U.S. troops shoot at Iraqi bus? Milblogger who was there: Er, no
posted at 7:45 pm on April 1, 2008 by Allahpundit
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A few weeks old but rescued from oblivion by Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette. Here’s the WaPo account of the attack, which killed 16 people, and here’s the rejoinder a few days later from Toby Nunn, whose unit responded at the scene in support of the IA. In fairness, they’ve got two different eyewitnesses blaming the U.S. for the explosion; in unfairness, neither one of those “eyewitnesses” actually saw Americans shooting at the bus, which makes the claim that they’re “one hundred percent” sure rather highly nuanced. What to do when you’re potentially sitting on the next Haditha blockbuster? Well, what you don’t do is ask any of the guys in the unit itself what happened; get a pro forma denial from a spokesman instead. Take it away, Toby.
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Speaking of Toby Nunn, be sure to catch BAD VOODOO’S WAR tonight at 9 EDT on PBS’ Frontline.
Michael in MI on April 1, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Funny how the story was apparently written by reporters in Baghdad and Najaf, when this event actually happened in Nasiriyah. Gotta wonder if the reporters actually went out to the scene and did some investigative reporting.
ViperPilot on April 1, 2008 at 7:56 PM
Who are you going to believe, me or your own lyin’ eyes.
rbj on April 1, 2008 at 8:00 PM
“… I did not see a single news reporter …”
Hmmmm, are we bak to using ’stringers’?
The punishment for phoney media attacks on our Troops oughta be 1 minute in the cage with Brian Stann.
Tony737 on April 1, 2008 at 8:17 PM
Yet another reason why people don’t trust the media.
SoulGlo on April 1, 2008 at 8:17 PM
I refuse to read the version by Joshua Partlou and Saad
Sarhan.I remember when Geraldo Rivera was embedded in 2003
Iragy Freedom and during one of reports he gave away their
position,by accident I assume,Geraldo was sent packing to
the US.
I don’t know if Partlou and Sarhan are in Irag,their
credentials should be pulled and sent packing if they are!
Toby’s account sounds more plausable of the US Military
in action.Rockets,I could be wrong but doesn’t the US
arsenal have rockets for the hardpoints on helicopters
and fighter jets and the new system to react to incomeing
mortar fire.
I think the so-called rockets that American soldiers don’t use,is as stupid as saying their using RPG’s,if I’m correct!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 8:23 PM
America America America
This America:
Hollywood
Media
Internet Videos
Blogs
Newspapers
Radio
Web Cams
Phone Cams
Video Phones
Haven’t we figured it out yet???
Without publicity, without the Media and the “new Media,” many, many things wouldn’t have happened in America or to America elsewhere by rogue U.S. soldiers, for example, who are looking for fame.
Heck, Hussein wouldn’t have existed.
Yes, I guess we sometimes forget what influences and brainwashes people.
Indy Conservative on April 1, 2008 at 8:35 PM
Speaking of Toby Nunn,BAD VOODOO’S War tonight on 9 EDT
on PBS Frontline.
Michael in MI on April 1,2008 at 7:54PM.
Michael in MI:I thank you for the HUDS up,I will be watching
it.
I’ve been looking for documenty’s on Irag
Freedom,not the journalist versions!
And some really good war porn,you-tube has
Dog Fights,Desert Storm,excellent F-15
Strike Eagle action!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 8:38 PM
CanOp, U.S. troops use the AT-4 rocket but you’re probably right about it being an RPG.
By the way, congrats to Canadian Army Corpral Rob Furlong, a sniper who killed a Talib in Afghanistan from over 2,300 meters, beating the long held record set by U.S. Marine Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam war.
Tony737 on April 1, 2008 at 8:39 PM
This is from the WaPo article, six paragraphs down from where they relayed to us the “witnesses” absolute guarantees that they were “100%” certain that US troops tried to murder them.
And bear in mind that this utterly incompetant hearsay was in turn related to WaPo’s staff writer by WaPo’s Baghdad reporter Saad Sarhan, who called it in from Najaf - after receiving an account from a “special correspondent” named Naseer Nouri in Baghdad.
…Or vice versa. There’s really no way to sort out this gossip collumn disguised as a news article; and there’s no reason to try.
I suppose liberal journalists would say they mindlessly and randomly reported something someone said. But if they were doing that without bias, wouldn’t they be just as likely to report a homeless bystander’s comment that he’s “100 percent certain” he saw Saddam Hussein personally fire the rocket?
logis on April 1, 2008 at 8:43 PM
By way way,
Tony737 on April 1,2008 at 8:39PM.
Tony737:I forgot about the AT-4,I better stop being lazy and
should of linked to Global Secruity for better info
Thats a H!ll of a shot,was that by the .50 cal.
sniper Rifle?
And 2,300 meters,at 3 feet,3 inches per meter
thats about 7,590 feet,so thats about 1 mile
and a smidge over 1/2 mile,thats nasty at the
other end at 1 1/2 miles!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 8:52 PM
We deserve death! Bring the troops home, disarm and die!
dmann on April 1, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Correction,VOODOOS on PBS,at 10:00PM tonight!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 8:59 PM
Still willing to grace Muslim words as truth?
BL@KBIRD on April 1, 2008 at 9:12 PM
Not buying it.
Your joking, right?
There ya go!
fogw on April 1, 2008 at 9:31 PM
I am so glad (and thankful) we have bloggers willing to go and risk their lives to give us the real stories. My husband always gives me a hard time about not reading any major newspapers, he says I’m living in a bubble. I’d rather be in this blogger bubble than the MSM bubble any day!
4shoes on April 1, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Has anyone previewed this thing? I mean, a positive portrayal of our troops on Frontline?!? I’m sorry but I find that hard to believe. The hard left scum that are PBS and Frontline are not to be trusted.
Django on April 1, 2008 at 9:45 PM
Hathcock did it old school, with out lasers and high tech gadjets. Pure instinct.
Alden Pyle on April 1, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Has anyone previewed this thing?
Django on April 1,2008 at 9:45PM.
Django:I haven’t seen it,but you should be able to tell
within minutes,no!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 9:57 PM
Hey, has anybody seen Jenjiss? Jenjiss Con? I could swear he was just around. Sorry, my mistake.
funky chicken on April 1, 2008 at 10:12 PM
I watched Voodoo,and its good,a soldiers perspective.
PBS will have another installment down the road!
Maybe I need to be enlightened,but wheres the armour
and air support,and yes I know its not a combat situation!
canopfor on April 1, 2008 at 11:03 PM
Thats a H!ll of a shot, was that by the .50 cal.sniper Rifle? - CanOp
Correct sir, no other size rifle could have made that shot. He hit a Taliban mortar spotter. 72 virgins comin’ right up!
Tony737 on April 1, 2008 at 11:38 PM
And of course, the lawyers that run the Canadian military somehow ended up running his whole crew out of the army. Someone accused them of “desecrating an enemy corpse”, and they got the runaround. Pathetic. Seems like you’d want to keep a guy that can take out the enemy from a mile and a half away.
What a shooter.
Jaibones on April 1, 2008 at 11:48 PM
One shot one kill.
Johan Klaus on April 2, 2008 at 12:38 AM
Hathcock did it old school, with out lasers and high tech gadjets. - Alden
I wasn’t taking anything away from Hathcock, the man’s a legend, but don’t fault Furlong for having newer stuff, that’d be like saying ‘Hathcock only beat Robin Hood cause the bow and arrow’s outdated.’
Tony737 on April 2, 2008 at 1:16 AM
And of course, the lawyers that run the Canadian military somehow ended up running his whole crew out of the army. Someone accused them of “desecrating an enemy corpse”, and they got the runaround. Pathetic. - Jaibones
Yeah, it’s sad, isn’t it? Mutilating a body? They were shooting a .50 cal for cryin’ out loud! You can’t mutilate a body any more than that!
But the good news is that the charges were dropped and the five men on the team were all awarded the Bronze Star by the U.S. Army.
Good shootin’, eh?
Tony737 on April 2, 2008 at 1:29 AM
4shoes on April 1, 2008 at 9:43 PM
I’ll second that.
Johan Klaus on April 2, 2008 at 1:34 AM
Is this the bus attack in question? Yes, troops shot at the bus. You can hear some of them holler “Cease fire!” “[...]They’re f*cking unarmed!” The attack was a horrible mistake.
FierceGuppy on April 2, 2008 at 3:43 AM
Is this the bus attack in question? Yes, troops shot at the bus. You can hear some of them holler “Cease fire!” “…They’re f*cking unarmed!” The attack was a horrible mistake.
FierceGuppy on April 2, 2008 at 3:45 AM
1. That video was posted in July 2006, and
2. You’re a retard.
Otherwise though, those were two very good questions.
logis on April 2, 2008 at 4:43 AM
The media buys into unvalidated sources so easily in Iraq as long as it suits there cheesy agenda that the troops are baby-killers. This type of journalism is disturbing, and frequently problematic.
LT Nixon on April 2, 2008 at 7:45 AM
I watched Bad Voodoo Warriors last night and the entire show was about Toby Nunn and the SPC, Shaw I think was his last name. While it started out even handed showing them getting ready to go once in theater it turned dark and morose. We were treated to Shaw who volunteered to go and then spends the entire time complaining. SFC Nunn is more of a realist and with this being his 3rd deployment you can tell the toll it is taking.
What is missing from the program is anything related to showing how the guy relax. There was one scene of a couple of them goofing off in the barracks but the rest of it was looking out the windshield of a HMMV. Convoy security Okay I get it. It is dull, monotonous and terribly stressful at the same time.
The producer could have scored some points by raising questions about maybe this type of duty of should be limited and soldiers rotated out every so often. I know the Army doesn’t like to change personnel who can do a job unless forced. The working principal being that the folks who are trained and experieced should always do the job. The problem with that is burnout.
Anyway I liked the first half hour hated the second half. Enjoyed the insight from the soldiers perpective, but I also thought the producer interjected her opinion of what she thought the soldiers were feeling and experiencing and was trying too hard to read between the lines, which then colored and shaped the narrative she wished to present.
Take it or leave it because after all I am……
Just A Grunt on April 2, 2008 at 10:22 AM
You have to see this from the liberal airhead’s perspective; it’s what Ayn Rand called “subjectivism.” In the journalist’s mind, the soldiers are the window dressing and her thoughts and feelings are what the world vitally needs to hear.
logis on April 2, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Not to mention tha just one rocket would virtually erase a bus, not cause 16 injries. Much less the supposed machine guns.
PJ Emeritus on April 2, 2008 at 1:45 PM
I’m not sure from the article:
Did Joshua Partlow say that Saad Sarhan said that Naseer Nouri said that Zeki Abdul Qader and Qasim Salih Jubur actually SAW the rocket that hit them?
…Or did Joshua Partlow say that Saad Sarhan said that Naseer Nouri said that Zeki Abdul Qader and Qasim Salih Jubur said that some unnamed Iraqi soldiers just TOLD them that they saw the rocket?
‘Cause that’s the kind of thing that journalists really need to clarify in their “responsibly authenticated” articles.
logis on April 2, 2008 at 7:14 PM