Actually, I did check out your link. I also did some Googling on my own, out of curiosity. I found references to some endangered species, such as the Dorcas gazelle and the sand gazelle. By the pictures, the gazelle in the article is not one of those.
It looks like it might be a mountain gazelle, which is not endangered, but it’s hard to tell. It seems there are lots of gazelle species. Some are endangered, but many others aren’t. For all we know, whatever kind of gazelle that is might be as common there as white-tail deer are in the northeast US (like giant rats, I tell you!).
I too would like to know exactly what species those are. But the thing is, if you make the assertion, it’s up to you to back it up.
All right, thanks for answering my question guys. That will teach me not to read it all…
I thought it was pretty cruel, must take a lot of hits to kill a gazelle with a stone.
MWSS-271, (Marine Wing Support Squadron-271) the unit in question, is based at MCAS Cherry Point and MCALF Bogue Field, NC. Their Table of Organization shows about 30 Marine officers and 666 Marine enlisted, 39 Navy. In reality they probably number around 550-600, and even fewer deployed to that site, based on my experience with deployments and strengths in the active Marine Corps. They provide airfield operations (other than ATC), messing, fuel, communication, engineering services, Crash Fire Rescue services, medical services, transportation, and airfield security.
“But what if the herd was only six gazelles, and what if they were endangered, and what if they killed all six in the first day, and what if these were the last six on the face of the earth, and what if they were a critical link in the fragile ecosystem of Iraq, and what if Iraq’s ecosystem directly affected ours here? What then, huh?”
There you may have a legitimate point. Since they were apparently the property of the former leader of that country, and that leadership is no longer, I would say they should fall to the property of the people, or the new government, whenever that is established. Since there seems to be no united voice of Iraq to give consent, in my opinion it would be best to leave them.
But having eaten MREs for 60 days myself (with some hot wets thrown in), I can understand their desire for alternative menu selections.
I’m reasonably sure humans, presumably including yourself and myself, could be killed in an ambush by marines with rocks and pistols. What does this have to do with anything?
FWIW I’m with UncleBill. Leave them and let the Iraqi people, through their representative government, decide what to do with them. Complain to your superiors if you can’t stand MREs. If you’ve never eaten one you really have no idea, I did about two weeks once and I was able to supplement with trail mix and such and I sympathize as well. Here’s hoping the care packages our office sent to some of the troops(with such exotic treats as trail mix and hickory smoke flavor SPAM!) arrive in time to save at least some of them from MRE hell.
Are you sure you’re in the right thread, since this one doesn’t actually have anything to do with “animal rights”, nor have any activists for such posted here, as far as I can tell?
I’d hate to think there’s an actual animal rights thread somewhere that’s having to struggle along without the benefit of your driveby eye-rolling.
Not to continue a pile on (but I will), this has nothing to do with animal rights. Except for their right to exist at all. The (as-yet unfounded) fear in the OP was about killing endangered species.
