US Soldiers get routed - open up on random cars, civilians.

"JALALABAD, Pakistan -- U.S. Marines fleeing a militant ambush Sunday opened fire on civilian cars and pedestrians on a busy highway in eastern Afghanistan, wounded Afghans said. Up to 16 people were killed and 34 wounded in the violence, officials said.

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"'They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway,' said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and was shot twice in his right hand. 'They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot.' ...


U.S. forces near Sunday's bombing later deleted photos taken by a freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and video taken by a freelancer working for AP Television News. Neither the photographer nor the cameraman witnessed the suicide attack or the subsequent gunfire. It was not immediately known why the soldiers deleted the photos and videos. The U.S. military didn't immediately comment on the matter.

The freelance photographer, Rahmat Gul, said he took photos of a four-wheel drive vehicle where three Afghans had been shot to death inside.

An American soldier then took Gul's camera and deleted the photos. Gul said he later received permission to take photos from another soldier, but that the first soldier came back and angrily told him to delete the photos again. Gul said the soldier then raised his fist as if he was going to strike Gul."


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"Lt. Col. David Accetta, a coalition spokesman, said the attack demonstrated the militants' "blatant disregard for human life" by attacking forces in a populated area." ... http://tinyurl.com/2qcvwy [Open in new window]
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That last quote is a stunner, like what you might hear from a twelve year old boy justifying why he hit his sister, "She made me hit her." Except it's DEAD PEOPLE. We have got to get our troops OUT of the middle east. No more blood for oil. Let people walk more. Where're they going anyway, to buy sweat shop clothes at the mall? Let 'em walk.
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16 Civilians Die as U.S. Troops Open Fire in Afghanistan

By CARLOTTA GALL

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 4 — American troops opened fire on a highway filled with civilian cars and bystanders on Sunday, American and Afghan officials said, in an incident that the Americans said left 16 civilians dead and 24 wounded after a suicide car bombing in eastern Afghanistan. One American was also wounded.

The shooting sparked demonstrations, with local people blocking the highway, the main road east from the town of Jalalabad to the border with Pakistan. And there were differences in some of the accounts of the incident, with the Americans saying that the civilians were caught in cross-fire between the troops and militants, and Afghan witnesses and some authorities blaming the Americans for indiscriminately shooting at civilian vehicles in anger after the explosion...

http://tinyurl.com/2y2v4x
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