Net connectivity has been a bit hinky the past week, but I've been able to pop in often enough to read what's been going on -- although my comments usually earn a "Gee, IE can't display that page, and it's really, really sorry about that. Try again next month" message.
So, I have a bit of time after work to yak with the Junior Birdmen. The following came out in a one-on-one that took place a couple of days ago, and I think it ties in nicely with what Kat's been saying, particularly in her Global Jihad All Star Team and FuzzyBee's
Disturbing. BTW, I *had* comments, but I see the Regulars did their usual sterling job of covering for me...
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Hussan (not his real name, for a very good reason) had just finished a couple of bumpy trips around the traffic pattern (okay, they call it a “circuit” -- ‘nother Brit legacy) and I was quizzing him about what the winds were doing at 2,000 feet. After about five minutes, the topic shifted to flying in general, then to combat flying in particular. Then it took a turn I hadn’t expected.
“There is a mosque in [town name redacted], the mosque is Wahabi. One day, there is a sniper in the minaret with a Dragunov -- you know this rifle?”
“Yeah -- Russian sniper rifle. The VC had Sov advisors and they used it on us in Vietnam.”
“Yes, the Russian rifle. The sniper in the minaret, he is a good shot, a very good shot with the Dragunov. He begins shooting at people in the street, not hitting, just shooting. A police car drives up in front of the mosque and the two policemen get out. The sniper shoots the driver *bip* in the head, and the driver falls down. The other policeman goes to his friend to pull him behind the car and the sniper shoots him *bip* in the head also. So two policemen are dead in the street.
“The people run to the policemen and the sniper shoots *bip*--*bip* and the people run to the doorways. He does not shoot the people, just shoots so more policemen come so he can shoot them when they get there. Soon some more cars with policemen come and the sniper shoots one *bip* and the other policemen shoot back and take cover, they do not run away like they do in the time of Saddam. The sniper hides and the policemen stop shooting. The sniper looks up over the balcony and all the policemen shoot. They stop shooting when the sniper hides, then all shoot when he looks up over the balcony, then they stop when he hides again. All at once, all the policemen come out from cover and shoot. They move into the street and keep shooting up at where the sniper is, they keep him from looking up.
“Suddenly, there are some American soldiers running around the corner toward the mosque. They run to the door with a shotgun, they shoot the hinges and kick the door in, then they run inside, then some of the policemen stop shooting and run inside with them. The other policemen stop shooting at where the sniper hides in the minaret, but they keep aiming up there. Then one gets a call on his cell phone, and he tells the others to stop aiming, and some go over to the dead policemen and some go into the mosque.
“I saw this, it was in my town. My little brother -- not *smaller-than-I-am* little, *younger-than-I-am* little -- he was with me and saw this, too. I am already in the Army, on leave from Army cadet school. My little brother now joins the police.
“When the soldiers and the police go into the mosque, there is a fight. When it is over, they search the mosque and find IEDs, mortars, RPGs. The Wahabis are two Afghans, one Syrian, three Saudis. No Iraqis.
“So, why do the CNN reporters say this is *Iraqi* insurgency?”
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