http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4643481.stm

The Iraqi Ambassador to the UN claims that US troops killed is cousin in cold blood. Then smiled as they left.

Now I know the usual responses from the Republicans:
- America Hater, move elsewhere
- Their lying

So to address these pre-emtively.

Usually I hate President Bush, not our troops. But if any of our troops are murdering in cold blood, they they deserve the military court marshal that they should get. This is not calling all our troops baby killers, but these troops need to be identified and tried, because that is what America does to criminals

And just tell me why our friend, the UN ambassador to Iraq would be lying. Becauase he is a terrorist trained to do so? That is the usual response to all allegations against us. So is that what the UN Ambassador is now? Sounds like he usually is working with us, at least until we killed his family member.

If the USA is going to succeed in Iraq that we are going to truely stand for not just democracy, but truth and justice as well. And killing innocents without recourse is not going to help end the insurgency. It would only fuel it. So if this story is true, it is a terrible sign

It certainly does appear to be cold-blooded murder. I have a feeling that there is much more to the story, however. 10 US Marines, 10. That's a lot, don't you think? Supposedly they went in there, killed one unarmed young relative of the UN ambassador, beat up another, and left no doubt as to who the perpetrators were. They were smiling when they left - nice touch.

I do have questions. Foremost, what is the motivation behind the killing? The only motive I can imagine is that the killers were sadistic fiends. Why the ambassador's cousin? Why the smiles?

I'll tell you this. If it was our guys, I seriously doubt that 10 marines could be found at one spot who all agree to kill an unarmed civilian and keep quiet about it. Some of them will talk. Only one of them pulled the trigger. If it was an accident (unlikely, IMO), it would already be on report. This story is just fishy from the beginning to the end.

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

This is just the latest in that litany of 'isolated incidents' of brutal murder and slaughter. How many, who are not related to a senior government official, have the acts of their smiling executioners go unrecorded - forever.

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."