spin spin spin spin

Ollie is having his second childhood out there. He's still a Marine (once a Marine, always a Marine), and he won't have a "Geraldo" moment.

Yes, there will be some spin.

But I find it interesting that we're eliminating terrorists from so many countries in just one town. That's what I call efficiency.

Here's a stupid question, how exactly do you tell if a dead body is not an Iraqi, and is actually in fact a Syrian or a Saudi? Is there that much of a distinction in physical appearances between all these nationalities

Yes, and if we can get rid of Ollie North, the free world will free of one more terrorist. (Remember he was part of an unconstitutional junta!)

There are definitely differences/hints that can be recognized by experienced eyes and ears, but I suspect they're finding non-iraqi identity cards/passports on them, not to mention what's emerging from the interrogations of those who survive.

North has lied under oath to advance a strategic objective. He may well be telling the truth here---who knows? If this is accurate, I wonder on what basis they are determining the identies of the attackers. Are they carrying their passports?

If hundreds of foreign volunteers really are wading into this to get themselves killed, I wonder what impact all of this will have in the Arab world. That is, I wonder if it's going to be anything like Egypt's experience in the 1967 war, where afterwards there's a reassessment about what information sources can be trusted to tell the truth.

Heck, _I_ wonder what information sources can be relied on...

Trust No One.

Jerry, I wasn't wild about the money being diverted to the Contras, but North is not a terrorist. That word gets abused by domestic politicos and tends to discredit valid opinions.

Were I a Marine out there, if I could chose my embedded reporter, it would either be Ollie or Bob Arnot. Arnot is a medical doctor who speaks Arabic (2 big plusses). Ollie is a Marine who knows the code, could fight back, and can shut up when he needs to.

Again, don't abuse the word "terrorist", it makes you sound like someone from San Francisco.

Its very likely these guys carry ID cards and passports on their person. They are not soldiers and like anyone else they probably want to be identified when they die so their families can be notified and bodies repatriated.

Phred, in many ways you're right, and yet I believe Ollie was terribly damaging to our constitutional way of life. So he may not be a terrorist, but I do think of his as a traitor, and one that did commit treason.

As a member of the armed forces he swore to uphold the constitution and he purposefully did not. And he did this for political reasons.

He willfully perjured himself to congress and bragged about that.

I think he should be held in contempt.

CNN Chilcote had a report from Hilla(sp?)

Marines got attacked by 2 men from the bushes, resulting in 3 injured Marines (doesn't seem serious) and the attackers were killed.

A local said these were mercenaries that are not local. Said Syrian and Egyptian.

Hey, maybe he's spinning too, perhaps this impovrished Iraqi local was involved in Iran-Contra?

Hey from Fark we have the McMinister of Information!

"Mercenaries" is another of those misused words. I doubt there are any mercenaries for either side in this war. There are professional soldiers invading, professional soldiers and conscripts defending, and foreign volunteers making suicide attacks.

None of those people are freelancers. But "mercenary" is a word that's useful in trying to discredit an enemy force. "Oh, they aren't fighting for any deeply held values or beliefs. They've just been bribed by the other side. They're greedy."

Mercenary was the word used by the Iraqi local, make of it what you will.

The "foreign volunteers" in this case were not making a suicide attack btw. One tried to pretend to give up while the other lobbed a granade. Suicidal? Maybe. Stupid more like it.

You take a shot of NPR and a shot of Fox and a sprinkle of Al Jazeera and you got an "Iraqi Freedom cocktail"!

They could be considered mercenaries. Dead coalition soldiers have an $8K price on their heads.

Who gives a rat's arse about how many coalition soldiers are killed?