***update: HuffPo has closed its comments section after receiving 437 mostly unhinged messages…a reader saved a PDF file of the entire comment thread for posterity…posted here…***

***update ii: exclusive photos from the operating room at Bagram added below***

***update iii: i’ve been notified by military officials that DVIDS should not have released the photos. i’ve taken them down***

The Vice President of the United States was reportedly targeted by Taliban jihadists in Afghanistan. Jonathan Karl of ABC News reported from the scene:

A suicide bomber struck at the main entrance to Bagram air base in Afghanistan today, as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting.

Immediately after the attack, a red alert traveled throughout the base — a red alert that we heard saying that the base was under direct attack.

At least nine people were killed, officials tell ABC News. Associated Press reporters at the scene said that they had seen the bodies of at least 12 people, and that they had been carried in black body bags and wooden coffins from near the base into a market area where hundreds of Afghans had gathered to mourn.

A Taliban spokesperson has claimed responsibility, saying the intended target was in fact Cheney. The bomber never got near Cheney.

Maj. William Mitchell said it did not appear the explosion was intended as a threat to the vice president. “He wasn’t near the site of the explosion,” Mitchell said. “He was safely within the base at the time of the explosion.”

However, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said Cheney was the target of the attack.

“We knew that Dick Cheney would be staying inside the base,” Ahmadi told AP telephone from an undisclosed location. “The attacker was trying to reach Cheney.”

Whatever your partisan leanings, an attack planned on the Vice President of the United States is an attack on America.

Some of our fellow Americans, however, can’t put their sneering hatred of the White House aside.

The Huffington Post headlines the story this way–with sneer quotes:

The very first comment at HuffPo that set tone:

Plenty more where that came from:

AJ Strata finds more left-wing patriotism and compassion at the Daily Kos:

Well gosh (18+ / 0-)
As long as Dick is “safely inside” we can all heave a huge sigh of relief. Big Time’s safety is of utmost importance, of course. To hell with anyone else who died in order to save his pasty hide.

My local news just lead with his safety…as if we were all waiting for that particular news. No, I thought of the young man I know is over there as a medic. I sure hope HE is safe. This time.

…

should have called [the post] (2+ / 0-)
damn, they missed!

…

So unnecessary (0 / 0)

Cheney must know that he is a magnet for attack. Unfortunately, other people (U.S. troops and Afghanis) are the collateral damage.

He should go to a permanent undisclosed location, preferably one with iron bars that allows one hour per day of exercise or interaction with others. The other 23 hours should be in solitary confinement so he will have time to think about the death and destruction he’s created.

…

Good point (13+ / 0-)
I want him to rot in jail not die in a way that could in any way be construed as bravery, honor or decency.

More from the Democratic Underground. And more.

Which side are they on? Don’t ask.

***

Update: Ken Noland of the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System, Supporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom with U.S. Army Central, sends photos of Task Force Med at Bagram. Keep them and the victims of the terrorist attack in your prayers.

[PHOTOS REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF US MILITARY]

Dean Barnett commends the Kossacks for being less unhinged than the Huffpostians.

Charles Johnson: “This kind of sick, twisted thinking is everywhere in the “progressive” blogosphere…And it’s even sicker than it appears at first glance, because many of these freaks want to see Cheney dead so that he can’t become president if someone assassinates President Bush.”

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Previous episodes of Cheney Derangement Syndrome:

Moonbat watch: Wishing Cheney ill
On the hunt: media feeding frenzy

Related: Assassination chic