CNN reported yesterday that our soldiers were being "assassinated"...

[kentuck]

I caught a blip of this at work yesterday. Did anyone else catch this play on words? I wondered, "how do you get 'assassinated' when you are at war with a country"? Wouldn't "killed in action" be a more appropriate term? Lest we forget, we did bomb the hell out of them and invade their country. CNN could be a little more responsible with their wording, in my opinion.

[trof]

1. Nope. "Mission Accomplished".

Didn't you get the memo?
War's over.
These are "assassins", that whacko hashish-eating cult of Aye-rabs skulking around with those big ol' curved daggers.
Kris?
Death to the infidels!
"The Wily Pathan"
Shades of Kipling.

[gratuitous]

2. Yeah, "assassinated," that's the ticket!

See, it's really just some lone gunman picking off American soldiers; the vast majority of Iraqis just lo-o-o-o-o-ve their liberators! And the soldiers can't get at the assassin because of all the grateful Iraqis dancin' in the streets! Yeah, that's it . . .

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. If they would just seal off the Iraqi School Book Depository........

[jpgray]

3. Irresponsible at best, toadying at worst

And if they're toadying on something like this, just wait until the campaign. Good thing there's a war chest of Bushisms just waiting to see the light of day. The man lies or stretched the truth about every third speech he gave. Hell, maybe every speech.

[Braden]

4. assassins are loners

not an organized armed resistance. From your avatar I take it you remember a group called the VC.

Assasins are a minor threat to stability. Guerilla regimes=quagmire.

just more CNN whoring for Bush.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. I don't remember any formal surrender being signed

Maybe I am wrong but I don't think anyone in authority signed an unconditionasl surrender. As far as I can tell the only ones who said the war was over was us.

[trof]

9. Doesn't it work that way?

It takes at least two parties to have a war.
If one of them says the war's over, then I guess that's that.
Isn't it?
I dunno.
This makes my head hurt.
;-)

[madrchsod]

6. go to buzzflash

third col. third story about our troops being used as decoys..what the fuck? looks like we set up our own troops to be assassinated...

[Loonman]

7. So by that reasoning, NASCAR drivers are "speeders"

:)

Ha ha!

[southernfried]

8. some think Tupak Shakur was assissanitated too, so what ?

you're just as dead irrespective of the lingo

[Incognito]

11. I heard a Repuke

talking head......SORRY, can't remember HER name....refer to the soldiers deaths as "serial killings". Why can't they just admit the damn war isn't over yet?

[Algorem]

12. They mixed up two Bush-murder categories.

.

[Lexingtonian]

13. well, they do overstate what may be a valid point

Hussein's secret police is probably doing some of the killings, and likely in the style they're trained in.

That the killings are of individually unimportant military personnel and all about rule of the country makes "assassination" a bad semantic choice of words. The attempt is to talk about the method, but for soldiers they don't talk about "target exercises that were successful".

When they kill Bremer with an antitank rocket, _that's_ an assassination.

[primavera]

14. So what's the problem?

The shrub's gone on record approving the use of assassination by US forces against our evil enemies, so who should have a problem with everyone else following our lead? Turnaround's a bitch, ain't it?

[aquart]

17. The Republicans just don't get the concept of "precedent."

Or "consequences." That's another toughie for them.

[Greyskye]

15. Maybe it's because of this:

The Washinton Post had an article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28712-2003Jul8.html?nav=hptop_tb


This sentence from the article stuck out:

"He said the fatal, point-blank shooting of a soldier on Sunday at Baghdad University was the eighth incident that involved a shot to the neck area, above the soldier's flak jacket but below the helmet."

I can see how that could be construed as "assasination". After all, the war is over, right? </sarcasm>

[aquart]

16. It means that they're being murdered standing in line.

People with small, easily concealed guns are walking up to our off-duty soldiers and putting bullets in their brains, then walking away.

Without a boo from the Iraqi bystanders.

[tinanator]

18. whats the difference?

Didnt Bob Barr relegalize assassination? Must be better than murder, right?