G'Kar, milblogger serving in Iraq, posting at Obsidian Wings:
I had to get back to my FOB the other night. I was away from my unit, so I hitched a ride. The guys in the HMMWV I rode in seemed like normal soldiers: a bit irreverent, sometimes frustrated, but decent guys. Until we passed through a town and spotted three dogs in the middle of the road. Without hesitation, indeed with genuine glee, the driver accelerated and apparently ran down one of the dogs (in the dark, from my position, all I know for sure is that there was a bump). He then got into a vigorous argument with the gunner over whether or not he had hit the dog; the gunner was attempting to deny him 'credit' for the kill. There was no objection from the vehicle commander over any of this...killing a stray dog didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. Granted, this didn't affect the mission one way or the other, and it was a dog and not a person. Still...I felt a bit ill at the thought the vehicle I'd been riding in probably ran over a dog, and the fact this seemed to bring joy to otherwise normal appearing people remains appalling to me.
Does this mean Beauchamp was telling the truth? Nope...I still can't prove that one way or the other. My point in bringing this up is only to note that, whether or not his story was true, soldiers are people, and sometimes people do some pretty unpleasant things. And attacking people who point out that soldiers are people, however cathartic it may be for some, does nothing to change that fact.
Up is a direction - away from the local center of gravity.
Most of the rightosphere trashing of the running over dog story had to do with technical issues when doing it in a tracked vehicle. Doing it in a Hummer is different from doing it in a Bradley. Original allegation still nearly impossible.
Doing it in a Hummer is different from doing it in a Bradley.
As the point that Beauchamp was making was that he was seeing soldiers kill dogs, and as the point that the rightosphere was making was that if he was saying that he saw a soldier killing dogs then he must be a lying treasonous military-hating fifth columnist, I don't see how it would matter if they were running over dogs with a bicycle.
Oh, that and Europe rolled back yesterday. So, if anyone knows someone here in the EU remember we "fell back" the week before ya'll do.
Most of the rightosphere trashing of the running over dog story had to do with technical issues when doing it in a tracked vehicle. Doing it in a Hummer is different from doing it in a Bradley. Original allegation still nearly impossible.
I'm jellin' What's up with you Rose, anything new?
As the point that Beauchamp was making was that he was seeing soldiers kill dogs, and as the point that the rightosphere was making was that if he was saying that he saw a soldier killing dogs then he must be a lying treasonous military-hating fifth columnist, I don't see how it would matter if they were running over dogs with a bicycle.