Say Anything Blog

I didn't know we did it this way, but after a battle has moved through a certain area soldiers visit the people who live in that area and compensate them for the damages.

From The L.A. Times:

In accordance with the brutal accounting of modern combat, cash payments were made Thursday to people in this small village who suffered during recent fighting between U.S. Marines and insurgents in nearby Fallouja.

The village leader received $15,000 on behalf of residents in compensation for dead livestock, uprooted trees, damaged fields and other losses. The Marines tried to bargain him down to $10,000, but he stood firm.

The son of a man killed by gunfire while driving in a battle zone received $2,500. And a man who said his 7-year-old daughter was killed as she tended the family's sheep also received $2,500.

Now that the fighting between Marines and insurgents has tapered off in the area, the U.S. military is attempting to make amends with noncombatants who suffered. The Americans hope cash will win friends and help bring peace in this part of the volatile Sunni Triangle.

I know we make reparations, but I didn't know they were done so quickly. For some reason I imagined that it would take a lot longer than this.

I think its a good policy. It shows that the Iraqis that we really do care about them. I wonder if Saddam every repaid villagers after one of his battles tore through their village?

Update:

Even more American "brutality". Seriously though, read the whole thing. Its a nice break from the Abu Ghraib/Nick Berg coverage.