General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat would be the response here if 60 Americans soldiers were 'accidentally' killed
by Russians or anyone else????
The silence re those dead Syrian soldiers (in their own homeland) is deafening.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)What did Reagan do after 241 Marines were killed in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983?
Nothing
whathehell
(29,067 posts)He seemed to pay no political price at all.
Loki
(3,825 posts)about the Marine barracks bombing. It's as if it never happened, especially with a Republican in power. I believe I looked that one up as a reference, and the perpetrators have never been caught. The only thing that happened was Reagan pulled the troops from Lebanon. Republican's are cowards, bullies and pimps. Not an honorable man among them.
malaise
(269,054 posts)Don't forget that part
malaise
(269,054 posts)They still don't acknowledge that it happened under St, ROnnie's watch.
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)went and attacked a small island named Grenada to look tough after the marines were killed in LEBANON
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)that he had done before the Marines were killed. Reagan put the Marines in Lebanon while supporting Israel's destruction of much of Lebanon and while supporting one side of a civil war.
After the Marines were killed, the battleship USS New Jersey shelled Lebanese targets. I remember that well. I hated Reagan for those terrorist attacks. At least one member of US Congress blasted Reagan for his indiscriminate shelling of Lebanon, calling it immoral. I think it was US Senator John Glenn, but I can't find a link.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings
http://www.thehypertexts.com/American%20Fascism.htm
Here is a quick two-week chronology of the events that preceded the car-bombing attack that resulted in the deaths of 241 American marines:...
9/11/1983: The battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) was alerted for rapid deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean.
9/12/1983: The USS New Jersey refueled in Colon, Panama, then began a high-speed run east, averaging 25 knots per hour.
9/12/1983: A Marine Amphibious Unit arrived off Lebanon and assumed a standby role.
9/16/1983: The destroyer USS John Rodgers (DD-983) and frigate USS Bowen fired five-inch shells into Syrian-controlled parts of Lebanon.
9/19/1983: The USS John Rodgers and USS Virginia (CGN-38) fired 338 five-inch shells at the Shouf Mountain village of Suq al Gharb.
9/20/1983: The USS John Rodgers and USS Virginia fired more shells.
9/21/1983: The USS John Rodgers and USS Arthur Radford (DD-968) fired more shells.
9/23/1983: The USS Virginia employed 155mm artillery fire and five-inch gunfire; French planes struck the Bekaa Valley.
9/25/1983: USS New Jersey arrived off the Lebanese coast.
9/26/1983: There was an immediate cease-fire, but the outgunned insurgents would soon resort to unconventional methods...
Someone else also strongly opposed American entry into the war, and its killing of civilians. Osama Bin Laden would later state that when he saw the results of the US shelling of Lebanon: "God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers. But after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the injustice and tyranny of the American-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it. And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followedwhen America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the US Sixth Fleet. In those difficult moments, many emotions came over me that are hard to describe, but that produced an overwhelming desire to reject injustice and a strong determination to punish the unjust. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way and to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and stop killing our children and women."
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)Friendly fire has been around as long as projectiles have been part of fighting.
As a recipient of aircraft friendly fire in 1968 I can attest that it happens, happens often and is and always been a part of war. The death toll from a single incident like this indicates the size of munition in use, but nonetheless an accident either mechanical, electrical, targeting or a hundred other things. Not a calculated purposeful act to kill friendly forces. No different than a private or sgt putting fire coordinates in the gunnery computer that came thru his radio headset that hit the hospital months back.
If you've never been in ground combat, aircraft all over, forces in close proximity all over then you will not be able to see that thousands of sharp metal objects flying around can and do hit what they were not intended to.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)A friend of mine from high school was killed by 'friendly fire' after being in Vietnam one month.
After a few years the report of his death was changed from 'friendly fire' to a 'misadventure'.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Doc_Technical
(3,526 posts)When the USS Stark was attacked by Iraq in 1987?
karynnj
(59,504 posts)First of all, of course the reaction to 60 Americans being accidentally killed would be far different here -- as would the reaction in Russia and Syria.
My reaction was that that this was a tragedy, not as much because of the loss of life of Assad's soldiers, but because it may well be the death knoll to the very slim chances of ending the violence and moving to a political solution. That will lead to far more than 60 deaths ... and many will be of the most innocent possible, children. As to Assad's soldiers, it is troubling, that as they were in a tough place fighting ISIS they were killed by people trying to do the same thing. Has there ever been a war with no "friendly fire"?
My reaction was that this took the spotlight away from the failures of the SYRIANS to do what the US and Russia each wanted their side to do. It doesn't help when Assad, the first day of the cessation of hostilities, speaks of gaining back all of Syria and does not allow the promised aid in. On the other side, the comments of the rebels and some Sunni area media that it was not reasonable to expect them to abandon ties with the rebels formerly known as Al Nusra ... and to NOT make that separation.
Neither side has a monopoly on virtue .. or villainy. One way to see that this deal was really a serious attempt at a way out .. is the comments of the critics, especially on our side.
lame54
(35,293 posts)It's sad that we are growing numb to this shit
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)and every time I've posted a thread about it I've only gotten 2-3 responses?
You mean like that?
I'll just leave this here: https://twitter.com/borzou/status/777284617145581568
Igel
(35,320 posts)Really.
How's this for a parallel: "What would the response be here if 60 Kurds were accidentally killed by Russians?"
After all, we didn't kill Russians.
Moreover, a lot of the things we try to pretend are accidental killings aren't. It's like the siege of Dara'a: No accident, but we have a hard time saying much about it because that's all we could have done. (It's also a bit of hypocrisy--even liberals that liked to complain about how bad siege are had little to say about when Tripoli was under siege and hospitals were out of fuel, food, and supplies. That was a good siege, I guess. So hard to tell the players. No we defend dictators, now attack them; now we condemn Islamists, now we defend them.)
Now if Syrians accidentally killed Americans we'd probably think it not an accident. After all, Turks, Russians, Syrians are killing those that the US supports, and in general the US is accused of supporting terrorists. Even by many here. (Accused not so much because Assad is good, but because the very idea of America not being heinously evil is unthinkable, unless it's doing exactly what we want and will only suffer as a consequence.)
JI7
(89,252 posts)So sad
sarisataka
(18,663 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 18, 2016, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)
We sell weapons to the country that sponsors the terrorists who attack our Marines.
Regan's reponse was to tuck his tail and sell arms to Iran.