I thought I heard on the news (KNBC-4, L.A.) this morning that a female soldier’s bloody uniform had been found in Iraq, but I’ve heard nothing about it on the radio.
Did I mis-hear? Did I imagine it? Does anyone have any information?
By finding just a uniform, there is no way to tell if it is a female’s or a male’s uniform. They are identical.
I realize that. I assumed that they read the nametag and told the media that they found a female’s uniform.
Got called away. Don’t my employers realize I’m asking a question here? 
Anyway, I know the uniforms are identical; but if the nametag is still on it, it would tell them who it belongs to. At this stage, though, I don’t even know if I heard it. Five in the ayem, no coffee, getting onto the computer… I thought I heard the phrase “female soldier’s bloody uniform”; but as I said, I’ve heard nothing further.
Even a name wouldn’t necessarily give away a gender.
If you have one person named “Smith” who is missing and you find a uniform that says “Smith” on the nametag and it’s Smith’s size, then you would have a pretty good idea who it belonged to. If your only soldier named Smith who is missing is female, then it’s a safe bet that the uniform belonged to a female.
Have you considered that this story might be propaganda? Whatever lurid imaginings you have about the finding of a female soldier’s uniform, minus female soldier, is exactly what you’re supposed to think. Next stop: bayonetting nuns, using priests as bell-clappers, and eating babies.
Kerry Sanders of NBC News interviewed an officer this morning confirming shredded US military uniforms were found, including those of female US military personnel.
The uniforms were found in a plastic bag in a hospital formerly held by the Iraqi military.
If the story is propaganda, then the US military officer interviewed by NBC News is lying.
Of course! Sorry, I was stupid to forget that everything you hear from military personnel on news broadcasts during a war is true.
I never said I believed what the US military officer said was true or not. The fact remains the interview took place, the questions were asked directly (and answered directly), and the officer’s face was clearly seen. He wasn’t attributed as an anonymous source, or a “high ranking military source,” as so often the case.
After all, both Nixon and Clinton lied, too. It doesn’t change the fact we know the source directly.
Thanks, Duckster.
Re the OP’s question: here is the MSNBC item. But read it and ask yourself, what is the subtext of this news story? Given the war situation, is it possible that NBC is reporting observations in a way slanted to make you think the worst? Many of the details are very shaky anyway: “a Marine who identified the uniforms as those worn by servicewomen. It was not clear what distinguished them from those worn by men”. Or “Marines found a large battery next to a bed — leading them to suspect it was used as a torture device”.
Maybe it was a small uniform? They are essentially the same but the smaller sizes are typically worn by women.
The fact that it was found in a hospital suggests that it was cut off a wounded soldier by the Iraqi ER staff.