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| Iraq |
| British chopper crashes in Iraq |
| 2006-05-06 |
| BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A British military helicopter crashed and caught fire in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Saturday, police said. Firefighters said they had seen four charred bodies inside the wreckage. The helicopter crashed into a building near the provincial governor's office, but there were no casualties on the ground, police said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, but one policeman at the scene in central Basra told Reuters the aircraft had been fired on. A British military spokesman in Basra said : "We can't confirm anything at this point, but we all agree that an incident has happened." A large crowd gathered at the scene of the crash and began throwing stones and yelling at British troops who cordoned off the area, witnesses said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #15 Steve White: If we are ever fortunate enough to one day meet face to face, please sinch up your package and tell me to "put a sock on it" if you would. Thanks my friend. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-06 17:31 |
| #14 Been thinking a lot about what Besoerker and Dr. White had to say. I agree with both of them. Before this is all over, a lot more people are going to agree with Bersoerker than Dr. White. War is Hell. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-06 21:49 |
| #13 AP nailed it. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2006-05-06 19:28 |
| #12 Gracious lookee here, I've found an extra grip. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-06 18:23 |
#11
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-06 17:31 |
| #10 It tragically shows what happens when you do not deal with the likes of al Sadr directly and with overwhelming force. Tater fills a vacuum of power that occupying forces left. He is a symptom of a bigger problem of the culture and Islam. Take a look at the mob of 250 screaming a$$holes, as Frank so aptly described, and you will see an orchestrated action. We will not win the WoT by being nice people and reasoning with a$$holes like these and Tater the puppet master. Nice people do not win wars. This is very disturbing. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-05-06 17:10 |
| #9 SW - if it took out some of this crowd of screaming assholes - I'm all for it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-06 16:06 |
| #8 "Criminy, where in the world is your humanity?" Probably in the same place the cheering Muslims keep their humanity. I don't believe there are any innocents there. You can believe what you want. It's past time for some good old fashioned collective punishment for the Arab/Muslim world. THAT! Would be Super Fantastic! -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-05-06 15:49 |
| #7 Iran 'is training Basra killers'....bbc said in 2005 ... |
| Posted by: Snose Ulomock9259 2006-05-06 15:27 |
| #6 link broken try this: The Humanity |
| Posted by: RD 2006-05-06 14:44 |
| #5 BAGHDAD, Iraq May 6, 2006 (AP)— A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to three armored vehicles that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said. Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were “casualties. ” British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site. The crowd set three British armored vehicles on fire, apparently with gasoline bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, but the soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said. British troops shot into the air trying to disperse the crowd, then shooting broke out between the British and Iraqi militiamen, Khazim said. At least four people, including a child, were killed, he said. Two of the victims were adults shot by British troops while driving a car in the area, Khazim said. The crowd chanted “we are all soldiers of al-Sayed,” a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq The Humanity ************************************** salt? she sounds fairly straight up. you decide. Source: http://fayrouz.blogspot.com/ a Basrah resident wrote Fay an E-mail recently.. Dear Fay, Here I am writing to you about my dear city. My Basrah. First of all, you should know that currently there isn’t real police in Basrah. We only have the militia. The British troops have become very weak lately and I don’t know why. But, it’s been a while since the situation has gotten bad. On 4th of April, the British troops received a very bad blow to them. Maybe more to their ego to be more precise. On that day, the British Embassy (consulate) was celebrating the Queen’s birthday and it seems that they were hit by a mortar attack during the celebration. Since then, they seem to be going around themselves in endless circles. In general, I had GREAT EXPECTATIONS in them. I had it in the coalition forces too. But, these were illusions. You have to know that now in Basrah there is killing between Sunni and Shia like in Baghdad. Last week, 11 construction workers were killed. They all worked at the same company which is an Iraqi company named Al Fayhaa. It’s a very respectable Iraqi company. Those 11 were all Shia and they weren’t just ordinary workers. Among them were the best engineers in the city. The week after, three doctors were killed. One of them was one of the best doctors in Basrah. During the same week, they killed a university teacher and the list is going on. One of my co-workers is Sunni. He was very upset the other day because his Shia neighbor of 14 years stopped talking to him just because he is Sunni. In Basrah we have a lot of Sunni-Shia mixed families. They never felt the impact of the religious intolerance until now. And Fay, they will turn to us [The Christians] in the near future. I heard rumors that it has already started in Baghdad. What makes the situation more badly is that most companies and projects stopped functioning here. Companies are closing and projects are starting to stop because everyone is afraid of going to work sites. Even doctors, who are the most dedicated people to their work, are starting to stay home for their own safety. I went to Baghdad a few weeks ago. I was astonished of the bravery of Baghdadis. We used to be like that in Basra during the Iraq-Iran war; but not any more. In Baghdad, people go out on the streets and shop normally like nothing is happening around. If that isn’t bravery, then I don’t know what it is. In Basrah, we can hardly go out to buy simple things without being afraid. In Baghdad, girls wear pants and a large number of them don’t wear a headscarf without anyone saying anything to them. In Basrah, I can hardly walk the street without hearing some nasty remarks. [She doesn’t wear a headscarf] And please I don’t like to hear some remarks like , “Well, you should change the entire situation yourselves.” My answer will be very nasty. Yours Queen Amidala [Basrah resident] |
| Posted by: RD 2006-05-06 14:41 |
| #4 Put a sock on it, Besoeker. I don't want innocent people on the ground killed due to a helo crash. Throwing stones at the rescuers, setting rescue vehicles on fire -- that takes them out of the "innocent" category, IMHO. Maybe even out of the "people" category. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-05-06 13:11 |
| #3 ABC News A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to three armored vehicles that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-06 12:22 |
| #2 Put a sock on it, Besoeker. I don't want innocent people on the ground killed due to a helo crash. Criminy, where in the world is your humanity? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-05-06 12:07 |
| #1 but there were no casualties on the ground Too damn bad. My condolences to the UK units and families. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-06 10:05 |