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Yahoo/AP News
U.S. forces have shot dead at least 8 Iraqi policemen who were pursuing suspected bandits. The car chase seemingly blundered into an American checkpoint. Whilst this could be excused given the tense situation and the lack of recognisability of the Iraqi police (one of their three vehicles was an unmarked pickup with a rear mounted machine gun), the fact that the U.S. soldiers kept firing for 45 minutes seems almost surreal.
This reinforces the image of the American troops as trigger-happy, and will also make recruiting new Iraqi police much more difficult.
The Americans should get rid of the commander of the check-point. If I was a member of the new Iraqi police, and the soldiers who killed my colleagues got off with no punishment, I'd be pretty angry.
Yahoo/AP News
U.S. forces have shot dead at least 8 Iraqi policemen who were pursuing suspected bandits. The car chase seemingly blundered into an American checkpoint. Whilst this could be excused given the tense situation and the lack of recognisability of the Iraqi police (one of their three vehicles was an unmarked pickup with a rear mounted machine gun), the fact that the U.S. soldiers kept firing for 45 minutes seems almost surreal.
This reinforces the image of the American troops as trigger-happy, and will also make recruiting new Iraqi police much more difficult.
The Americans should get rid of the commander of the check-point. If I was a member of the new Iraqi police, and the soldiers who killed my colleagues got off with no punishment, I'd be pretty angry.
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