Ye Shall Not Pass!
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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| 40+ Darwin Awards Handed Out In Iraq | |
| 2004-05-19 | |
| Before someone gets on my case for being ’insensitive’, note that the US military has bent over backwards in ways never seen before when conducting combat operations. What I find deplorable is a steadfast refusal by Iraqis to change their customs in order to help prevent tragedies like this. LARGE grain of salt (noted in italics - Ed.) Link via The Corner, NRO U.S. Reportedly Kills 40 Iraqis at Party By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI A U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party early Wednesday in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it could not confirm the report and was investigating. Lt. Col Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of the city of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people died in the attack, which took place about 2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said those killed included 15 children and 10 women. I wonder how near the border this place is?
Is it me or do the people organizing Arab wedding parties have an obligation to notify someone (local cops / US military) if they’re going to do something like this, so they don’t draw a military response? Was there anything else fired, like RPG’s? "I cannot comment on this because we have not received any reports from our units that this has happened nor that any were involved in such a tragedy," Lt. Col. Dan Williams, a U.S. military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail in response to a question from The Associated Press. "We take all these requests seriously and we have forwarded this inquiry to the Joint Operations Center for further review and any other information that may be available," Williams said. The video footage showed mourners with shovels digging graves. A group of men crouched and wept around one coffin. Al-Ani said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters attacked the area at about 3 a.m. Two houses were destroyed, he said. U.S. troops took the bodies and the wounded in a truck to Rutba hospital, he said. "This was a wedding and the (U.S.) planes came and attacked the people at a house. Is this the democracy and freedom that (President) Bush has brought us?" said a man on the videotape, Dahham Harraj. "There was no reason." Other than the release of a few hundred rounds of ammo, you mean. Another man shown on the tape, who refused to give his name, said the victims were at a wedding party "and the U.S. military planes came... and started killing everyone in the house." The first paragraph specifically mentions a helicopter; paragraph 10 mentions them in the plural; can you tell the diffo between a plane and a couple of choppers? Hence my skepticism. In July 2002, Afghan officials said 48 civilians at a wedding party were killed and 117 wounded by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province. An investigative report released by the U.S. Central Command said the airstrike was justified because American planes had come under fire. See what I mean? | |
| Posted by:Raj |
| #33 The Qu'ran says: "Those losers who fire at heaven should not complain when heaven fires back at them and kills them." If you can't find that in your edition of the Qu'ran, you have one of the heretic editions. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2004-05-20 1:03:37 AM |
| #32 Ye Shall Not Pass! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 7:36:06 PM |
| #31 Another Mahmoud Python moment: "This is suppposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who." |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-05-19 7:28:42 PM |
| #30 Shipman - Are you saying the "happy couple" must be "launched" properly? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 7:19:13 PM |
| #29 " Our Islamic friends might want to rethink some of their wedding traditions. alleh requires a certain amount of cordite for the marriage to take, it an old tradition. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-19 7:15:52 PM |
| #28 LOL! Shooting guns, rifles and camels into the air is shit prime entertainment. Only things better is a good stonning, decapitation or human torch. It's a cultural thing. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-19 7:12:45 PM |
| #27 "Just say no to GUN SEX!!!" ___________________________borgboy |
| Posted by: borgboy 2004-05-19 6:33:30 PM |
| #26 As a friend of mine once said, "When rounds go out, they usually come in." Our Islamic friends might want to rethink some of their wedding traditions. Especially in a war zone. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-05-19 6:21:06 PM |
| #25 al-Petor al-Jenangsi sez USA bad. Wedding revelers dead. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 6:06:23 PM |
| #24 R.C. You are probably right. Al-Jitzz probably supplied the 'Wedding Party' outfits. Unfortunately the U.S. doesn't appear to be interested in fighting the war in the media (where are the pics of the human shields?). Any bets the 'We Hate America' Morning new shows here in the US will fail to mention the Dinars, Weapons, and passports? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-05-19 6:01:32 PM |
| #23 Aris -- firing guns into the air in a war zone is a quick way to commit suicide. I don't care how long they've been doing it; they should have the freaking brains to knock it off for a while. Or, hey, maybe come up with a way to celebrate that doesn't involve deadly weapons. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-19 5:55:29 PM |
| #22 Even here in Southern California there are always some Darwinites firing into the air on July 4th, and New Years. The Sherrif's Deputies and Local PDs are always making arrests. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 5:47:33 PM |
| #21 I still think this might be a wedding party, but if this is just a ploy for anti-US press coverage after a legitimate attack on insurgents, the US needs to find out and demonstrate it effectively to the media. Odds are the US struck a jihadi nest and the jihadis -- with the aid and assistance of the press -- decided to turn it into a propaganda victory. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-19 5:44:42 PM |
| #20 So, was it 2 Mil Iraqi or 2 Mil Syrian or a mix. Cause there's a pretty big exchange rate difference here. 2 Mil Iraqi is about $1,300 US 2 Mil Syrian is about $43,000 US |
| Posted by: spiffo 2004-05-19 5:44:22 PM |
| #19 The BBC 'journalist' in said in his report it was 'an ancient tradition' ,ancient??? WTF how many years ago was the AK-47 invented Guns existed centuries before the AK-47 was invented. There are places in Greece, (e.g. Crete I believe) where guns are fired in weddings also. An accident or two happens every year with them. In particularly unfornate cases, it's the bride or groom that gets whacked by those shots in the air. And yeah, it's a very old tradition. Ancient? Well, not in Greece, not by Greek standards, since it'd have to almost be Before Christ for us to call something ancient, but could very well be centuries old, yeah. And what's so weird about holding a wedding party till the early hours of the next day? I'd be surprised if such a party *didn't* last until next morning. --- All that doesn't mean ofcourse that it was *actually* a wedding, I just don't see what has you all so amazed over the details. It might be, it might not be, but I see nothing weird over those things you mentioned, regarding either the tradition or the hour of the party. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-05-19 5:43:33 PM |
| #18 Who do you bring in as wedding photographer for this kind of bash? Al Jazeera? |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2004-05-19 5:35:32 PM |
| #17 Money, satellite communications, and Syrian Passports, at an Iraqi wedding party, where guns are fired "randomly" in the air. Those mean Marines leveled the place from a helicopter gunship. Ok - Sounds fine to me. Rantburgers this case looks to be closed. What does everyone say? N-O-T! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 5:19:28 PM |
| #16 They just said on MSNBC that 2 million Syrian/Iraqi dinars were found, weapons, a satellite phone, and foreign ids were found on the scene. I still think this might be a wedding party, but if this is just a ploy for anti-US press coverage after a legitimate attack on insurgents, the US needs to find out and demonstrate it effectively to the media. |
| Posted by: Cog 2004-05-19 5:18:07 PM |
| #15 Several Observations: 1. If the victims all turn out to be males of military age, does that mean that Iraq recognizes gay marriage? 2. The bride's father must have been a rich man to afford enough ammo-laden party favors to keep the guests in clips until 2:30 am Local. 3. In the future equip the best man with night vision and have him wear hearing protection during the shooting so that he can alarm others when the helo approaches - they aren't supersonic. 4. For summer weddings the Hose recommends dinner dress Kevlar jackets for the men with matching camouflage ties. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-19 4:59:39 PM |
| #14 "2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan" Kinda of early in the morning to have a wedding and a really rotten location for a wedding. This is smell a lot like a fabricated story. |
| Posted by: TomAnon 2004-05-19 4:25:41 PM |
| #13 Shocking, Shep, just shocking! The western press falling for jihadi lies. I mean, I haven't seen that for, oh, 8 hours or so. Grrr... |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-19 4:24:24 PM |
| #12 Just got back from lunch. ABC radio saying that it wasn't a wedding and that it was an Islamist safehouse, which would explain the bints and kids. I've noticed that the Islamists are never far from their breeders and kids... interesting and exploitable weakness. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2004-05-19 4:22:43 PM |
| #11 get this, turned out 2 million dinnar (if thats how you spell it), Syrian passports and satalite gear have all been confiscated at the seen which turned out to be a raid on a 'safe house' 25km from the Syrian border, More egg on the face of the media.Bet they'll drop the story within 2 or 3 hours now,no good for them to report any success,just praying someone real soon wakes up to this Arab propaganda pouring from the media's sorry anus like mouth. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-05-19 4:19:54 PM |
| #10 American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire. Hard to see why they'd do that. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-19 4:18:49 PM |
| #9 longtime lurker: Oh, and run SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI through google, what a panoply of US military botches she's regularly able to document. SCHEHEREZADE? How appropriate for someone who makes up atrocity stories. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-05-19 4:14:15 PM |
| #8 "The U.S. planes dropped more than 100 bombs on us," an unidentified man who said he was from the village said on Al Arabiya. "They hit two homes where the wedding was being held and then they leveled the whole village. No bullets were fired by us, nothing was happening," he added. My God im stunned by the utter wank the media is spewing out,i've just complained to the BBC on thier pathietic website about thier reporting on this but this Rueters reporting really takes the piss,oh check thier headline 'Over 40 Killed In US Bombing OF Iraqi Village' , makes us sound like fucking barbarians the bastards |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-05-19 4:07:00 PM |
| #7 wow im stunned by the way the media jumped on this saying it was a wedding party,no alledged about it,it was a wedding at three in the morning in the middle of nowhere.The BBC 'journalist' in said in his report it was 'an ancient tradition' ,ancient??? WTF how many years ago was the AK-47 invented.Sick to death of the media whoring over these pathetic 'wedding' spoiling incidents Anyway must have been a lot of stupid Iraqis possibly Syrians too meddling about in the dead of night near the Jordanian border (i think).Looks like the US forces are clamping down on the borders and what with 500 mile long security barrier going up, according to DEBKA that is, we could be seeing alot more 'weddings from hell' real soon. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-05-19 3:52:20 PM |
| #6 Oh, and run SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI through google, what a panoply of US military botches she's regularly able to document. Amazing there are any innocent civilians left alive in Iraq... |
| Posted by: longtime lurker 2004-05-19 3:52:11 PM |
| #5 2:45 a.m., remote part of desert near border????? BALoney! |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-05-19 3:42:04 PM |
| #4 Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers had fired into the air in a traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire. Hmm - Fire in the air with US forces flying nearby? TRULY DARWINIAN! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-19 3:38:38 PM |
| #3 Mmm, Ramadi is nowhere near the border, so how does the deputy chief know who was killed? And al-Ani? Family name of the Iraqi operative who met Atta in Prague. A quick google will show you that the hospital in Ar Ramadi is 300 km away from the hospital in Ar Rutba, where the report says the bodies and wounded were taken--where were the morts being buried? So the guys on camera had nothing to do with the wedding, but were just gravediggers and professional mourners, repeating the line they were fed by someone else. Sorry, the story stinks. |
| Posted by: longtime lurker 2004-05-19 3:34:20 PM |
| #2 I'm still trying to figure out why they'd want to shoot guns at a wedding. Some kind of belief that the bullets will hit any unIslamic sluts concealing their lack of virtue? I've heard of shotgun weddings, but this is ridiculous . . . |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-05-19 3:33:24 PM |
| #1 Pure and unadulterated BS. Like so many of the "abuse" claims being bandied about right now. Why the f*** would you hold a wedding party in a remote desert area? Near the Syrian and Jordanian borders? I doubt this happened. But if it did, that sure as shoot wasn't no party. Probably fresh recruits. |
| Posted by: growler 2004-05-19 3:31:35 PM |