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| Iraq |
| U.S. mistakenly kills Iraqi police |
| 2003-09-12 |
| U.S. mistakenly kills Iraqi police Witnesses say troops fired on police chasing a car Ooops sorry, the next time I’ll ask first before shooting ya. My god do they only send hillbillies to Iraq. FALLUJAH, Iraq, Sept. 12 — U.S. soldiers mistakenly killed 12 Iraqi police officers Friday as they chased a car full of highway bandits toward an American checkpoint in a small town west of Fallujah, witnesses said. THE U.S. MILITARY in Baghdad said it had no information on the incident. Begins to sound familiar. There were other unconfirmed reports of violence in the region Friday after a message carrying the name of Saddam Hussein appeared on at least one building in Fallujah. The message praised the people of the city for their resistance to the American occupation and named it capital of al-Anbar province. The nearby city of Ramadi, west of Fallujah, is the capital of the Sunni dominated al-Anbar province. Fallujah police were chasing a white BMW without license plates that they identified as one used by highway bandits on the road connecting Baghdad with the Jordanian border. The officers chasing the four men in the BMW were in pickup trucks. U.S. Army troops manning a checkpoint on a road leading to the resort village of Saddamiyat al-fallujah, formerly used by senior officials of the Saddam regime, opened fire on the BMW and the trucks when they did not stop. Sir they are heading this way what are your orders. Shoot’m Johnny. Euhhh which one sir. Shoot first ask later private. 


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OK sir they’r stuffed. Good work private go identify them. Ueeuh sir. Yes Jhonn. I think they where police officers sir. God damn Arabs they look all the same call the headquarters to train a dozen new officers . Witnesses said 12 police officers and all four men in the car were killed in the hail of fire. The chase began when the BMW drove by a bakery owned by Ibrahim Alawi, the Fallujah police chief who recognized the BMW as one being used by the bandits to rob travelers along the Amman highway. If Bush had spent only a fraction on the myopia problem

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| Posted by:Murat |
| #14 Mike >> Nail on the head. LH>> Valid points. Bremer isn't mush better than the last one if you ask me. Friendly fire never is, and it's another unfortunate incident. Looking at it objectively. Night OPS, the US were already on a mission engaged with bad guys, the white truck with the hvy MG was a valid target. (it wasn't a bread truck). There are however, too many variables. were the soldiers infantrymen or MP's/ ADA / Tankers/ etc. Training does make a difference. Also, everyone's running around waving guns. I don't know about you, but it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. I think a lot of soldiers feel that way. It's just sad that Iraqi's that were trying to make a difference for their country died doing their duties in an unfortunate manner. |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-9-12 11:02:14 PM |
| #13 Ten to one the "Fallujah" cops just jumped into the first vehicles they could get to, rather than try to get into real police cars, which may not have been readily available. What you appear to have is two rival gangs, shooting at each other, with some of the bullets coming in your direction. Yep, I'd slap it on 'auto' and cut loose, too. It's a shame, but it's an incident where a LOT of things were done wrong, by all the groups involved. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-12 9:58:26 PM |
| #12 "...the Americans taking fire, or firing at the police first." Doesn't say, but I suspect it was a running battle - so the cops would appear to be firing in the direction of the troops. But yes, why weren't the cops identifiable? Decals and bubble-gum-machines were available before, and are in use elsewhere. Pictures at the mosque bombing (admittedly a long way from Fallujah) show a destroyed cop car with both. |
| Posted by: John Anderson 2003-9-12 7:02:39 PM |
| #11 Hey, Murat. Maybe they thought they had cellphones. That "myopia" does that, you know? If they were Armenian cops, the only thing you'd be pissed off about is that we didn't kill enough of them. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-9-12 6:07:19 PM |
| #10 "The chase began when the BMW drove by a bakery owned by Ibrahim Alawi, the Fallujah police chief who recognized the BMW as one being used by the bandits to rob travelers along the Amman highway." I understood that to mean "the Fallujah police chief recognized the BMW (owned by the bakery owner) as one being used by the bandits" This may yet turn out to be an American fuck-up, depending on what came first, the Americans taking fire, or firing at the police first. I'm starting to think the situation is slowly careening out of control. Stricter measures have to be taken. None of this white gloves crap. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-12 5:55:27 PM |
| #9 If Bush had spent only a fraction on the myopia problem……. If they're dumb enough to let the Turks patrol the north, stuff like this won't be an accident... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-9-12 4:36:36 PM |
| #8 This is truly a regrettable incident. It seems there was a lack of communication between the Iraqi police and American patrols. They need to work more closely together than this to avoid foul-ups like this in the future, or, at the very least, clearly define their jurisdictions down to the inch so they have no more deadly overlaps. Of course, more details will come out of this in time, but this is not a way to get more Iraqi police volunteers out of a hotbed like Fallujah. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-9-12 10:45:35 AM |
| #7 What a load, Murat - you really are a bitch. It's so easy to sit on your fat ass and find fault. Geez, I wish I'd a thought of it. Get 'em some purty uniforms and cars with party lights, fishin' pole antennas, and whoopededoo sirens, for crying out loud. If anyone here, including Murat, can say that they would not have fired on these vehicles, one sporting a .50 cal no less, in fucking Fallujah as MarkIV points out - then they are lying sacks of shit. You have obviously never ever been under fire or felt anything like what these troops have experienced for these long months. No excuses accepted --- you're liars and gutless second-guessers. Shit. Total fucking shit. What cowardly pussyboy crap. On another topic... "The chase began when the BMW drove by a bakery owned by Ibrahim Alawi, the Fallujah police chief who recognized the BMW as one being used by the bandits to rob travelers along the Amman highway." Apparently overlooked, thus far, is this amazing tidbit: these Police officers, and we're talking about the Chief no less, make their own donuts. |
| Posted by: .com (Abu This RoP™ Asshats) 2003-9-12 10:20:11 AM |
| #6 I say... Uncle Sam spend a coupla grand and get these yahoos some snazzy uniforms... preferably with cowboy hats. (PS- Try not to sound so happy Murat) |
| Posted by: ----------<<<<- 2003-9-12 9:45:17 AM |
| #5 but thats the problem mike, aint it. The military seems to be doing their jobs well, but what are Bremer et al doing? Why dont the Iraqi Police have red and blue lights, etc? Didnt anybody think to get stuff like that stockpiled? havent we been there months now? not to belittle the challenges and accomplishments, or to go with the quagmire crowd, but it does seem like this occupation could have been handled better. I bet McArthur didnt send Japanese police out without police lights. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-9-12 9:30:35 AM |
| #4 "Blue on blue" incidents are always sad. Believe it or not, Murat, our hearts go out to the Iraqi cops and their families. Somebody needs to scare up some blue and red "party lights" and "police" decals so this doesn't happen again. |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-9-12 9:22:56 AM |
| #3 Keep up with your breaking story. First, several of the dead have recovered from their wounds... the toll is now 8. Then, some details: " Another wounded policeman said the sudden appearance of one of the police vehicles, an unmarked pickup truck with a machine gun mounted on top, may have prompted the Americans to begin firing." In Fallujah. Well, this would be a little like wearing your favorite novelty antler hat in the woods on opening day of deer season. Sorry for the mixup, and we do hope more of the dead recover soon. |
| Posted by: Mark IV 2003-9-12 9:20:29 AM |
| #2 The police were driving in a mob of non-marked trucks, and had a pickup with a .50 cal mounted in the back. Gee, we didn't realize they were police? Our guys should get an "Attaboy!" but they'll get criticized instead. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-9-12 9:05:39 AM |
| #1 Good one Murat! Finally a post where you actually have a point that I can (slightly) agree with. Of course, not being in a terrorist-infested country, I don't know what I would do if a dozen unshaven 'cops' with AK47s hanging out the windows came towards me at break-neck speed...Actually I'd whack them... |
| Posted by: steve d. 2003-9-12 8:57:06 AM |