The strongest man in Iraq

[Streetdoc270]

"We treat every person as if he was a guy just walking his kid to school who was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Patterson said. "If we get into that--well, he is the enemy--that is not our thing. They are all somebody's kid."

Patterson calls local contacts and provides a photo, a time and place of death, and a request for information. Sometimes he delivers the remains to a family, and other times they come to the base with a plain wooden coffin.

"I have an Iraqi tea set and I lay it out. I talk to the interpreter. We sit," Patterson said. "We say we're sorry for your loss. He says, `It's Allah's will.'"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0405260265may26,1,7884975.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Admid all the scandals and bloodshed this is one mans heartbreaking story of recovering the remains of the fallen in this war, a true hero with the emotional strenght of a Marine division.

[wtmusic]

1. Allah's will. Thatsalaugh.

Pawn it off on Allah. I guess it helps the guy feel better.

[Streetdoc270]

2. what do you mean?

It was the translator who told Patterson that the death of the Iraqi was Allah's will. It was the mans way of telling Patterson that the death was not his fault when he told the family of the loss of thier loved one...

[wtmusic]

3. Yeah, it's a real tearjerker

Wonder how much they're paying Iraqi families these days? What's the market value of a dead Iraqi? "We'll work something out...for now, I bet a little tea from my real Eye-raqi tea set will help you forget your loved one...we're sorry for your loss." Not sorry enough.

And then, "It's Allah's will," from an interpreter hired by the CPA. What a crock.

My avatar is a picture of Camilo Mejia. He went to jail instead of fighting in this murderous, illegal war. He's one of the true heroes.

[Streetdoc270]

4. Cynical are we?

I was presenting the story of the war that we don't hear often, the aftermath. These men in this unit have to sift sand to find parts after an attack, they are bringing home the bodies of the fallen to BOTH sides without judgement. This man will be an emotional wreck for years...

[wtmusic]

5. No actually very optimistic

that a Kerry presidency will initiate a major change in the nation's perspective, from that of morons like this who consider people from a country which never had threatened them 'the enemy'.

Unlike the Iraqi, that 'emotional wreck' is going home to a wife and family. Poor, poor guy.