Blizzhackers

Do you think soldiers should be allowed to open fire on persons that don't get out of the way when instructed in a convoy, patrol, or what have you?

Let's keep this civil...

If they simply get in the way? No. If they start throwing rocks or shooting at the soldiers, then of course yes.

No, we're civilized, unlike terrorists who hide behind civilians during combat.

throwing rocks, it's a big deal unless it turns in to a big deal. You really think soldiers should be shooting kids when they are throwing rocks at tanks? (refering to the video that was posted a while ago). But if the kids were shooting at the soliders then yes, or if the rocks were hitting soliders and hurting then, maybe.


You also have to know that not everyone in the world speaks english, so if a soldier is yelling at someone to get out of the way in english and they don't understang, I don't believe shooting and killing them will help.


But I think more power should be put in the soldiers hands, if the soldiers feel threatened they should fire warning shots, and maybe use deadly force. I would rather have soldiers kill an unarmed civilian that wouldn't listen, or looked like they could've had a weapon or bomb, then a dead soldier because he wasn't sure if was allowed to shoot the person pulling something out of a bag that was a bomb.

What makes a soldier more worthy of living than an Iraqi that doesn't understand English competently? Nothing? In fact, IMHO, the soldier has less of a right to be their, due to many factors outlined in the other Iraqi debate thread, which i wont go into, unless you feel it is necessary.

If translators aren't going to be provided, then i think no blame lies with the Iraqi's.

[My post only applies, if the Iraqi's are harmless, and don't get out of the way]

I think it depends on the situation, but if there is a civilian standing by the road, I don't think a soldier should shoot him/her. But if there is a civilian that is running towards a group of soldiers with something that looks like a bomb or a weapon, then by all means shoot em' down even if you aren't 100% sure they have a weapon/bomb.

And with the language barrier, yeah, that could cause problems, and it really depends on the situation whether or not to use force. Like I said, maybe firing warning shots, because if someone is shooting at you, you aren't just going to stand there, or continue to throw rocks at them.

Even with the language block, I think the soldiers can make themselves clear by pointing and firing a warning shot.

Yeah seriously, we should just get out of Iraq because we're accomplishing nothing there and our soldiers are being put into harms' way for no good reason. Instead, we should dedicate our resources towards technological development for personal gain, take over the world using money, not weapons.

whether or not the soldiers should be in Iraq is not the debate, but whethe soldiers should use force more than what they are now. Or using force in different situations.

the reason why we are in iraq is part of the american dream in a way... we want to make iraq a democracy... we want the women to roam the city freely without being covered from head to toe if they do not choose to be so, we want the children to have better education, we want the women to be able to vote.

and i really disagree when people say we are accomplishing nothing... we are establishing democracy, destroying terrorist groups. zarqawi for instance his death diminished terror groups. i think its worth it none the less even though terrorism isnt a direct enemy its still someting to highly look at especially to a country like us when middle eastern countries envy us due to the fact that our society has been around for much shorter time than there religion and it is flourishing, makes them feal threatened by having the mentality that we are discracing them...

also back to the real topic actually... to what extent is force justified? well... this kind of brings back memory of how vietnam was... if you think about it, your putting soldiers into a country and culture that they have never been in. so you can never know what to expect from that place so the best solution is to be always alert and take no second thoughts about your actions. hopefully the soldier will have some morale thinking and not just expect all little babies are terrorists and go crazy... but i think u get the idea... especially after the movie of those kids with fucking grenades... how messed up is that tho...? kids with grenades this is why america is helping to stop these crazy actions hapening... but anyways... after seeing that movie i think any soldier can see a civilian as a threat now.

i like this topic

If the kids start throwing rocks then I think they should throw the damn rocks back, if adults throw rocks, they should get a warning shot (in the air). They usually will yell to them to get out of the way, but they also use hand motions, if your not stupid you'd most likely understand what they want. If a civilian or civilians look suspicious, I think the commanding officer should give the orders to shoot or not, like you, I would rather see a dead civilian than a dead soldier. Translators isn't a bad idea either.

It would be worse to leave right now. It probably wasn't the best idea to invade but thats a different discusion. The US went in there and fucked up the little government and society they had. We have to stay in there now and help rebuild, they can't do it on there own.

The language barrier is NO excuse. Most tanks and convoys have large arabic signs on them that say something along these lines: "if you get within 200 yards (equivalent in meters?) of this convoy, then you will be shot" since they don't want to take any chances.

well 200 yds is 2 football fields... maybe if tht tank is taking tactical action... i.e. firing at a giving target etc... i doubt that goes with a patroling tank on the city roads...

i could be wrong but it seems logical... then again our government during war does seem a tad extreme.

I'm not 100% sure that's what it is, but I do know that there IS a warning on it.