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| Iraq | ||
| Attack toll repels small town in Iraq | ||
| 2003-06-14 | ||
| Sweet mother of God, now we have to feel guilty for killing Iraqis trying to ambush our troops and set up terrorist training camps? I don't think so.... RAWAH, Iraq - Hassan Ibrahim walked the narrow space between the fresh graves and shook his head. There were 78, some of them packed with more than one body, with rocks as markers. The air stank of death. The names of the dead were written on paper and folded into soda bottles stuck in the ground. ``This town was safe before the Americans came here and made a lot of blood,'' said Ibrahim. ``Is this the democracy they were talking about?''
Bring it on, Marwan. Asshat The backlash highlights the increasingly difficult task of crushing Baath Party loyalists and what U.S. officials say are a growing number of foreign fighters while also winning the sympathies of ordinary Iraqis. The raid was part of some of the heaviest fighting in Iraq since President Bush declared the war largely over May 1. Most of it has taken place in the ``Triangle,'' an area that extends from Baghdad, in the east to Tikrit in the north, and then west almost to Syria. The area, made up predominantly of conservative Sunni Muslims, has been a recent flash point of attacks on American troops.
In Mosul, five U.S. soldiers were wounded Friday night as U.S. troops battled Iraqi fighters for a second day in the streets of the northern provincial capital. Two Iraqi citizens were killed, and three more were wounded in the fighting. Six U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have been wounded in grenade attacks over the past two days as demonstrations by ex-Iraqi soldiers demanding to be paid have turned violent. Thursday, Iraqi police killed two Iraqis and wounded two others after hundreds of demonstrators stormed a government building and shot at police in the city center. U.S. commanders said fighting broke out again Friday after a crowd of about 100 angry Iraqis hurled stones and makeshift explosives while gunmen fired from rooftops. Mosul has enjoyed relative calm for the past six weeks, and the fighting suggested that while many Iraqis welcomed Saddam's fall, they are increasingly frustrated by the chaos that has succeeded the dictator. Central Command officials said the U.S. military offensives in recent days are part of ``a continued effort to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements.'' Speaking to Pentagon reporters in a teleconference Friday, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the top allied commander in Iraq, declined to say much about the Rawah raid. He did not say who the suspected terrorists were. ``I will simply tell you that it was a camp area that was confirmed with bad guys, and specifically who the bad guys are will be determined as we exploit the site,'' he said. While many in Rawah, about four hours west of Baghdad, said the people killed were fighters from Syria and Iraq, the death toll outraged them. Villagers said nearly 80 fighters were killed in the raid. Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said the number of casualties could not be confirmed. ``The command has always stayed away from specific body counts,'' Lowell said. ``The bottom line is if we're in that area, and we've put this type of combat power there, then it's obvious there's some significant concentration of enemy there.'' A Pentagon official said information remained sketchy about the nationalities of those killed in the raid. ``Some Syrians were among them,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``But there were other nationalities as well.'' Kill em all - let Allah sort em out | ||
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #6 Outraged at the deathtoll? Yeah...me too. Should have been higher - but it's a good start. Problem is that the war ended too quickly. Too many of these asshats don't know they've been defeated 'cause they haven't been made to feel like it. We need to get the 4th ID and the 101st going on an ass-kicking tour of Iraq (I'll sell the t-shirts) to get the message across that they are to STFD and STFU and if that is just too difficult for them then we are going to treat their torsos to hot-lead ventilation. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-06-14 12:13:05 |
| #5 The key phrase: "growing number of foreign fighters" |
| Posted by: RW 2003-06-14 09:53:55 |
| #4 Why do journalists take down a quote like: `Before this, one of 10,000 Rawah citizens would fight the Americans. Now, more than half would.'' without comment. This guy is obvioulsy trying to play the press. Haven't journalists learned by now to take these al-Sahaf-like statements with a barrel of salt. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2003-06-14 08:57:56 |
| #3 Becky, propaganda and slanted news doesn't have to make sense, but stimulate the beholder. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2003-06-14 18:16:55 |
| #2 Seems a bit of an oxymoron to describe it as such a tiny littletown, where everyone knows everyone and then talk about the foreign fighters. It's also hard to envision the danger from the "massive uprising" that will occur from a tiny little farming town. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-06-14 16:16:02 |
| #1 ...Marwan Alrawi, a member of a family that owns farmland throughout the area. bingo. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-06-14 15:09:45 |