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Iraq: Have Bodies of 3 U.S. Soldiers Been Found?
Eleven days after three American soldiers were abducted following an Al Qaeda-led ambush, three bodies believed to be those of U.S. soldiers have been found in and near the Triangle of Death.
Iraqi police found the body of a man wearing what appear to be U.S. military trousers and boots who has a tattoo on his left arm floating in the Euphrates River. An Iraqi official said he was one of the three soldiers. Meanwhile, there were unconfirmed reports that two other bodies showing signs of torture also have been found.
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7 Responses to “Iraq: Have Bodies of 3 U.S. Soldiers Been Found?”
There was never much hope of finding them alive. AQ and groups associated with it only hold prisoners long enough to inflict the maximal amount of pain and suffering before they are killed.
I know this is a big news story and all, and I don’t think this sort of thing should be kept secret, but I think reporting rumors of this nature is irresponsible, or at least very insensitive. They’re just anonymous soldiers to us, but all of them have families friends and neighbors who watch the news, and could do without reports of tortured bodies being found until it’s completely confirmed that it’s the soldiers.
Lynx:
While I understand your angst, I have been all over the story for two weeks now and my sources are impeccible. (As it is, the report on the two other bodies still had not been picked up by the MSM as of this writing but is roaring through the military blogosphere.)
Let me tell you a story:
My first out-of-the-office assignment as a young reporter was to interview the family of a Marine infantryman who had been killed in Vietnam. Through a screw-up all too typical of that era, I arrived at the doorstep of the family’s very modest home before they had been notified. I broke the news to them.
It was an exceedingly awkward moment, but the father and mother invited me inside and I spent a couple of hours with them going through scrapbooks and such.
Since that most humbling experience, I have been extremely sensitive to soldiers’ families.
To my knowledge, I was the first blogger to write bios of all seven of the killed and missing soldiers. I thought it was important to put real lives to the names.
To my knowledge, I was the first person period to put together a photo montage of all seven. I thought it was important to put faces to the names.
I have erred in the past and may have erred here, but I try not to report rumors. I do try to report information that can be verified.
Terrible and so sad for their families. AQ are a bunch of animals.
With a global 24/7 news cycle, it’s very difficult to ensure families receive word through official channels before they hear from the media. I’m glad Shaun is sensitive on this subject.
All I can say is that I hope the reports are false, but admit that my hope is probably in vain.
Shaun, my concern wasn’t particularly directed at you, who I have seen has treated the matter with great respect, but more at the press in general. As Entropy said, the news-media makes it so the family can find out about their child’s/spouses/friends death at the same time as the rest of the public, with all the (non-existent) sensitivity that accompanies the 24h networks (like Fox is above describing how the bodies looked, or what had been done to them). Even if you “know” it’s almost impossible that the soldier is alive, there’s always a sliver of hope, and it’s a very delicate moment for the task to be just given to the press to do. The screw-up you describe is childs-play. A young caring reporter is one thing, a 10 hour long Fox news special is quite another. I don’t know, but I think I would feel violated to have that terrible moment broadcast to the whole world.
Lynx:
I do not want to seem like I am demeaning your sensitivity. In fact, one of the tragic subtexts of the war has been how impersonalized it has been for most Americans — those who do not have family members in Iraq or Arghanistan or know people who do. One of my motivations for having jumped into this story with both feet is a modest effort to correct that imbalance.
As it is — and even with the Internet blackout that General Petraeus’s staff has ordered today — the families will find out pretty quickly and possibly through non-media sources. That is the nature of the beast.
That said, can you imagine turning on CNN this morning and hearing about the trooper found in the Euphrates who had a tatoo on his left arm and knowing that your missing loved one had a tatoo on his left arm?