Marines locked in deadly combat with the Taliban!!

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hello!

whats wrong with you guys, dont you know that in the entire history of military combat not once has a soldier ever been in an engagment withought being 100% geared up and ready to go:confused:, geez if this is real I sure hope the pentagon does not see it , they ma:rolleyes:y get soem ideas for new cuts!
 
Have we reached the level where asking questions that naturally arise from a photograph is prohibited?

By the way, if you asked the sergeant, he'd tell you he was a Marine, not a soldier and would likely be more indignant about that error, than the questions being raised.
 
Ruthless4christ said:
in the entire history of military combat not once has a soldier ever been
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During the mid 1980's I worked with a guy who had been a sailor during the Vietnam war. They were attacked one night, and he told me he responded wearing only underwear, a clipboard and "borrowed" 1911.

The picture has been verified, and it's long overdue to stop bashing the soldier.
 
buzz_knox said:
Have we reached the level where asking questions that naturally arise from a photograph is prohibited?
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That's a decision for you to make. My opinion is that we're even beyond the point of beating a dead horse. And frankly, we should have been rallying around his safety, not his missing helmet.

I did something this morning as an act of conscience. I think the responses here have some of the most scurrilous and puerile I have ever read. The picture is of a Marine almost losing his life and the responses here are stunningly half baked.

I wanted to make statement clearly stating my position, and the seriousness in which I feel this man has been sullied. But how do you make a protest in a forum? And I have to be honest here, using old biker slang, there are folks here I wouldn't drop water with.

Obviously, I like to write. I enjoy a debate, and I have friends here.

So this morning I wrote a sincere PM to Pax and asked her to disconnect my TFL account for a month or so. A protest of silence. When old vets did an about face and turned their backs on Clinton, they were not belligerent or insulting. Their message was clear.

And so I turn my back on you few who threw mud on a Marine.
 
I see nothing wrong with people questioning the source(s) of information.

However, folks who assume that every combat engagement occurs under ideal conditions that allow our sailors, soldiers, Marines, and airmen to respond perfectly and with all of their gear may want to reconsider that assumption, especially before heaping criticisms on the sailors, soldiers, Marines, and airmen involved. Combat is not so neat, tidy, and organized.
 
By the way, if you asked the sergeant, he'd tell you he was a Marine, not a soldier and would likely be more indignant about that error, than the questions being raised.
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I agree. Why are we insulting Soldiers?
 
Way to go tourist! thats whatim talking about. i am for the record against the war (or at least the way this administration is carrying out the war,) but i sure as heck dont see why we cant accept this as as a fine example of what our boys are made of and make a hero out of the guy? imagine him reading this thread?!?!?!:o:(
 
Well considering George W kicked all those Talibaners out of the Afghanistan-land the picture has to be a fake. The place is safe as houses and mayor of Kabul...I mean president Hamid Karzai is in complete control.

/sarcasm
 
photos

From what I saw in the photos to me it looks like the soldier with gear on fired and the soldier with no gear got sprayed by the dirt from the muzzle blast, but as has been said to many variables and unknowns to be sure. Plus we all know that the media would never fib.:D

and for the record I do not bash soldiers I pray for them and thank them. Most of my family has been in the service one way or the other I have never been in the service, and I do not pretend to be.
 
Tourist

For the record I ride a Honda V45 Magna that I horse traded for from my neighbor:eek: It ain't no Harley but at todays gas prices ya got to do some thing.Keep the shiny side up and watch out for the cages as they don't look out for you and I think you know what I mean.:)
 
From what I saw in the photos to me it looks like the soldier with gear on fired and the soldier with no gear got sprayed by the dirt from the muzzle blast, but as has been said to many variables and unknowns to be sure. Plus we all know that the media would never fib.
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Up until this point I had not even commented on these pics. I had responded to the assertion that the current administration has a history of making up war stories then selling it to the people...and then to the assertion that one should personally challenge anyone that has the sense to point that fact out and disregard them if they do not pass a litmus test.

Now that I have looked at the pics I will have to say it seems fishy to me too. Doesn't look like a bullet impact to me at all. The blast is too dispersed. I would agree more with it being muzzle blast.

Also, there are others in the background that are also not dressed for combat and if incoming fire is landing directly on the berm in front of them why is the soldier next to him not reacting by ducking or even looking away?

Sounds to me like we are being fed another make believe, feel good story to try and nullify non-supporters of the war and give supporters something to stand behind.
 
mixed reactions

Playboypenguin I hate conspiracy theorist most of the time. However the number of times the great American Heroes have been sold to the public and proven to be false is just overwhelming. From the flag raising on Mt Suribachi where the PR department had to reenact the event through some of the staged 911 heroic action photos we have been victimised by the use of images and related stories that were completly BS.

I do not know if the cited photos are or are not a true representation of the incident. I would like to have more than a simple explanation where if you don't believe the pictures your anti-American thrown at me. Photo journalist and military photographers have had more than a few moments of being in the right place at the right time. It just seem that this story is not getting a lot of coverage. And I refuse to accept the BS line of: "the left wing media is not going to cover this story becasue its favorable to the war efforts, etc."

Before its forgotten in the minds of everyone the complete story will unfold. This kind of story does not simply go away when there is so many opportunities to examine all the facts surrounding the pics. So I hope the pics are true and factual while I would never be supprized to find out there is a little creative art work involved.
 
I am not going to jump on the "its staged bandwagon" yet but the whole story surrounding the photo is at best questionable. Considering That Fox News released the story makes me a bit suspicious. Fox News is a cheerleader for this administration, and the "War on Terrorism". On the other hand, we all know staged combat photos are the norm in wars. Some of the most iconic images of WWII were staged. This war is no exception. The DOD will create images to try and stir people to support a ever unpopular war. This may or may not be one of those images. Unless information comes along stating it one way or the other I guess we will really never know.
 
I do not think it is a staged pic. I think a photographer got lucky and got a shot of a soldier getting a face full of dirt and falling down. That is all real. What is fake, IMHO, is the whole life and death hero story crafted around the photo.
 
I do not think it is a staged pic. I think a photographer got lucky and got a shot of a soldier getting a face full of dirt and falling down. That is all real. What is fake, IMHO, is the whole life and death hero story crafted around the photo
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Staged combat photos are not always 100% staged, many times in combat, soldiers are told by a war photographer to act or look a certain way to create a dramatic look. Photojournalist are notorious for doing this to try and create the iconic image they can sell for big money. At times when they don't get the image they wanted they manipulate the photo to get the desired look. In recent years many photojournalists have been outed for Photoshoping their images before sending them to their publisher. Maybe this situation was not staged per say but the Marine might be reacting to the situation in dramatically to give the photographer the shot. For all we know It might very well be staged. It would not be that hard to fake the photo. I agree with you the whole life and death story is probably just a story created by either Fox News or the DOD.
 
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