$500, that is what the US Army paid the boys Uncle for "accidentially" killing this young man. According to figures release to the ACLU by the Army because of a Freedom of Information Request, We have paid out over 32 Million dollars to the familys of those who have fallen victim, yes victim, to the US Army. Reading this made me wonder how the hell they came up with the number $500. Is life really that cheap ? I doubt that little boy thought so, but we will never be able to ask him. If someone offered me that for one of my kids, I would probably do something I might come to regret.

So just what is a human life worth?? A couple hundred thousand ? A Million, or maybe only 10 grand ? Wrong.

The Foreign Claims Act, which governs such compensation, does not deal with combat-related cases. For those cases, including the boy’s, the Army may offer a condolence payment as a gesture of regret with no admission of fault, of usually no higher than $2,500 per person killed.

Yes, I guess life is cheap in Iraq. We should of know that the way Bush just shuttles our own children over there to die. Seeing life reduced to such a small number in black and white shocks the mind, or it should.

The papers released are said to only be a fraction of the same kind of info yet to be given to the public. Out of all the ways we insulted the people of Iraq over the last 4 years, this has to be close to the top in offensive

In another incident while the Army admited to killing a Fisherman they refused to pay for his death, yet the did pay for the Boat, cell phone and and net that had drifted away and was stolen. Those items were worth more than the little boy. The Army paid out 3500 dollars. Yes, life is cheap to the US Gov. Still in it's efficiency the Army is prepared for things like this.

"Soldiers hand out instruction cards after mistakes are made, so Iraqis know where to file claims."

How big of us.Anyone remember Haditha ? That is the town where our Soldier attacked and killed 24 men, women and children, then tried to cover it up. You would think we might just step up to the plate and try a little hard to do the right thing right ? Not hardly, unless you think appox $1600 a person is fair.

In Haditha, one of the most notorious incidents involving American troops in Iraq, the Marines paid residents $38,000 after troops killed two dozen people, including women and children, in November 2005.

It seems that those in charge of deciding how much money to pay out have been reading the Republican Playbook, You know the one that teaches them how to not take responsibility and to blame someone else?

“The Army does not target civilians,” said Maj. Anne D. Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman. “Sadly, however, the enemy’s tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan unnecessarily endanger innocent civilians.”

I don't want to get into blaming the the troops, though they have their share of the blame to live with, this is a problem of Leadership. When you send troops to a strange land, where they don't speak the language, where both the civilians and the enemy dress alike, and give them orders like " shoot first, and ask questions latter", something is going to blowup.

Ok, so some accidents are going to happen. This has to be just a few isolated cases. The officers would rein in the troops after just a few of these thing right ? I wish.

In one incident, in Feb. 18, 2006, a taxi approached a checkpoint east of Baquba that was not properly marked with signs to slow down, one Army claim evaluation said. Soldiers fired on the taxi, killing a woman and severely wounding her daughter and son. The Army approved an unusually large condolence payment of $7,500, the documents show.

In September 2005, soldiers killed a man and his sister by firing 200 rounds into their car as it approached a checkpoint, apparently too quickly, near Mussayib. The Army lieutenant colonel who handled the claim awarded relatives a $10,000 compensation payment, finding that the soldiers had overstepped the rules of engagement.

Yeah well no shit. Before I turn you loose to go get as mad as I am, let me warn you that out of the 500 cases we know about, 40% received not a dime. Yeah , life is really cheap. Oh the little boys crime that got him killed ? He carried a bookbag to school, someone thought it looked like a bomb.

Life is cheap