Anyone else up watching things unfold?

says...

Explain why they should when all precautions have been taken and a
checkpoint is a well known armed vehice stopping point. Should the
soldiers just let them pass and take the vehicle number down, or should
there be some other way of making the vehicle stop?

With all due respect Des, you've never been in a situation where you've
been the one holding the weapon and every person you encounter can be
either your best friend, or your deadliest enemy, with no outward way of
identifying which. I really don't think you're qualified to comment on
this subject, apart from a humanitarian viewpoint. Bear this in mind
though. The teenagers who were running checkpoints in stolen cars during
the early 90s in NI were brought up with the troubles all around them,
they knew no different, they had no excuse for not knowing the score.
They knew there would be checkpoints and they knew that the soldiers
manning the checkpoints were armed and had orders to shoot if rules were
broken. They also knew where the checkpoints would be and could, if they
had wanted to, have avoided them by taking a different route. Imo, if
one of them decided to run a checkpoint for fun, whch it would appear
they did, then he/she deserved what they got.

It's not murder, it's acting in accordance with orders to secure a
peaceful existence for the population of the area. If someone died in
the name of fun, then tough.

 

says...

Not the same thing, and you know it.

 

No you're ok, I wouldn't want to embarrass you.

I'm far too much of a gentleman to ask such a thing.

 

How do you figure that? If I were a sorry loser, I would've carried on
trying to argue my point, using increasingly spurious points, until I
finally just stopped posting hoping nobody would notice. As it is, I
conceded as soon as somebody provided some reasonable evidence to prove
me wrong. You should try it sometime - it's good for you.

 

Which reminds me of "The Control Room" that I mentioned a while back.
The septics were raiding buildings and manning checkpoints while
shouting instructions at the locals in English. Seems a sure way to
cause death through misunderstanding.

 

I don't see what the problem is. *Everyone* understands English if you
shout loud enough.

 

You haven't heard mine.

 

Lozzo wrote

AOL.

 

I found myself nodding with every point you make here.

The difference is that in most case, the British knew exactly how to
build and run an empire (whether by accident or design, who knows?) and
if the US is intent on building its own, it could study exactly there
the Brits went right - and wrong.

 

You're talking about a nation that was built on the countless corpses
of the indigenous population.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..73063../..16589.../..3180./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^'

 

Or "Ivory Coast Air Force".

It's not about democracy, it's simply about cocoa.

--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..73063../..16589.../..3180./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^'

 

OK, Des, can you think of a sensible reason to fail to stop at an armed
checkpoint?

--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
Golf GTi 16v
ANORAK#17b BOMB#19 BOTAFOT#138 BREast#5 COFF#24
COSOC#8 DFV#11 STG#1

 

" "

Hmmm! It's people like you who go around saying that if teenagers play
on the railway and get run over or electrocuted, it's their own fault.

--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
Golf GTi 16v
ANORAK#17b BOMB#19 BOTAFOT#138 BREast#5 COFF#24
COSOC#8 DFV#11 STG#1

 

Hey, y'all suggesting that GIs should be expected to learn to speak
Islamic?

--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
Golf GTi 16v
ANORAK#17b BOMB#19 BOTAFOT#138 BREast#5 COFF#24
COSOC#8 DFV#11 STG#1

 

TFFT - or are you filling in for Andy Wegg?

 

says...

American troops are badly trained, that's why these type of things
happen.

 

says...

Could you answer Wizard's question regarding why anyone would have a
legitimate reason for running an armed checkpoint?

 

Not really, it's just that I've never chatted with Des before, and I
like to make my own judgements about people. I couldn't really do that
based on his replies to other people as I didn't know how much those
replies were tainted by history. The superpower thread was quite
enlightening though.

 

says...

I don't disagree with you regarding the occupation, I'm dead against it
and the fact that our troops are there too. I think you're fudging the
issue though. These people know that the troops are armed yet persist in
doing things that will get them shot by trigger happy Yanks. It doesn't
take many of these incidents to realise it's not a good idea to piss
them off.

 

Wizard secured a place in history by writing:

The driver is pissed. Or having a schizophrenic episode. Or is a teenager
with a poorly developed understanding of the risk. Or is a 12 year old
joyrider with no adult perspective on what he is doing at all, but his
mates are impressed.

All of which involve some level of criminal offence and none of which, if
convicted, would carry the death penalty.