When we went into Iraq the neo-cons told us that we would be greeted as liberators with flowers thrown at our feet. Instead we found I.E.D.s hidden in anything from cars to carcasses. Well now that we are four and a half years into this disastrous mess, it seems the Army has come up with its own improvised devices.
From The Washington Post:
A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.
The classified program was described in investigative documents related to recently filed murder charges against three snipers who are accused of planting evidence on Iraqis they killed.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy," Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. "Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces."
So basically, if an old man or young child picks up the bait, they could be shot on sight. Just imagine being an innocent Iraqi civilian and seeing something in the road that could be made to kill your friends or family in a market weeks or months from now. You want these awful things off the street and might even be inclined to turn it into the authorities. Instead, as you are walking away with the part in hand, a crack sounds out in the distance and before you even connect what the noise is, your body is lying in the ground, killed by an unseen enemy that was trying to prevent the same event that you were as well.
This tactic has already killed an unknown number of civilians. This is one way we are supposedly helping to stem violence in the streets of Baghdad. Winning hearts and minds, one dead heart and mind at a time.
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