At scene of Iraq air strikes, casualties unclear (children's clothes...)

[Barrett808]

At scene of Iraq air strikes, casualties unclear
Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:33 PM BST
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KARABILAH, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis inspecting the damage of U.S. air strikes in western Iraq on Sunday challenged American assertions that the raids had killed 40 insurgents, saying there were no guerrillas in the area.

"There were no mujahideen (fighters) or armed men in the area. The planes attacked indiscriminately," said one man, who did not give his name, as he inspected the rubble of a house.

Quite how many may have died, or their identities, remained unclear. Residents would not let a Reuters cameraman film two of the houses that were hit by the strikes.

...

Hamdi al-Alusi, chief of nearby Qaim hospital, said three civilians from houses in the nearby district of Rumana were brought in wounded after the air strikes, including a 12-year-old boy who later died. The U.S. military spokesman said Rumana was not targeted during or after the strikes.

"These are children's clothes," said one man, picking up a shirt from the rubble left by the strikes.

(more)

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2005-06-12T163315Z_01_MOR259576_RTRUKOC_0_IRAQ-STRIKES.xml

[mike_c]

1. every Iraqi killed by the U.S. is automatically an "insurgent...."

I mean, Americans wouldn't have killed them otherwise, right? :puke:

[Racenut20]

3. I like this one. I am making a poster of it

[Supersedeas]

21. collateral damage and other vagaries qualifying WH spin

[bemildred]

2. Deja Vu all over again. "Smart Bombs" once again shown to be dumb. nt

[Zerex71]

4. I think we're just planning on killing every Iraqi.

That way no one will meddle with us drilling for their black gold. Label every last one of them an insurgent and pound them with napalm and Gator mines.

[oblivious]

5. I found the initial report strange.

It sounds like air surveillance maybe showed checkpoints so they assumed they were insurgents and bombed them. What if they were local security forces? What does heavily armed mean? They had guns? Who wouldn't if they were manning a checkpoint in Iraq? What about the cars at the checkpoints? It just sounds like indiscriminate killing to me.


US air strike kills 40 Iraq insurgents

US marines backed by jet fighters and helicopter gunships have launched the attack on several large groups of heavily-armed insurgents, who had set up checkpoints and were stopping civilian traffic near Karabilah.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1390122.htm

[rodeodance]

6. At scene of Iraq air strikes, casualties unclear (no bodies found)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO255291.htm

> At scene of Iraq air strikes, casualties unclear
> Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:33 PM BST
>
> KARABILAH, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis inspecting the damage of U.S. air strikes in western Iraq on Sunday challenged American assertions that the raids had killed 40 insurgents, saying there were no guerrillas in the area.
>
> "There were no mujahideen (fighters) or armed men in the area. The planes attacked indiscriminately," said one man, who did not give his name, as he inspected the rubble of a house.
>
> Quite how many may have died, or their identities, remained unclear. Residents would not let a Reuters cameraman film two of the houses that were hit by the strikes.
>
> The U.S. military said on Saturday that seven precision air strikes on the outskirts of the town of Karabilah killed insurgents who had been stopping vehicles at gunpoint and threatening Iraqi civilians.......

[Mika]

7. Leave no child behind

From the link,

Hamdi al-Alusi, chief of nearby Qaim hospital, said three civilians from houses in the nearby district of Rumana were brought in wounded after the air strikes, including a 12-year-old boy who later died. The U.S. military spokesman said Rumana was not targeted during or after the strikes.

"These are children's clothes," said one man, picking up a shirt from the rubble left by the strikes.

:puke:
:cry:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[rodeodance]

8. 3 people already buried. We prob. will never know the truth.

initial story:
.....Television footage did not reveal whether buildings damaged in the air strikes had been occupied by guerrillas or civilians during the attack. No bodies were visible in the footage. Residents said three people had already been buried.

Hamdi al-Alusi, chief of nearby Qaim hospital, said three civilians from houses in the nearby district of Rumana were brought in wounded after the air strikes, including a 12-year-old boy who later died. The U.S. military spokesman said Rumana was not targeted during or after the strikes.

[leftofcool]

9. Lucky for that 12 year old boy.............

that freedom is on the march <heavy sarcasm>

Left of Cool

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. He has certainly been "liberated".

[IndianaGreen]

10. This is another recruitment poster for the insurgents!

And more innocent blood shed by our glorious troops in the Name of Jesus and His Divine Commander-in-Chief.

[okieinpain]

11. man it didn't even take a week for the story to turn around. man

oh, man is this a quigmare or is this a quigmare. somebody give that airman a beer.

[daleo]

12. Original news report on this was titled "Insurgents go on Killing Spree"

When I saw that, I thought "oh, oh, the U.S. air force has killed a lot of civilians". It is like the old Soviet Union - whatever the newspapers say, assume the opposite actually happened.

[cal04]

13. Iraqis challenge US air strike claim

Iraqis inspecting the damage of US air strikes in western Iraq have accused the Americans attacking "indiscriminately", saying there were no guerrillas in the area
The US military said on Saturday (local time) that seven precision air strikes on the outskirts of the town of Karabilah killed 40 insurgents who had been stopping vehicles at gunpoint and threatening Iraqi civilians.

"There were no mujahideen (fighters) or armed men in the area. The planes attacked indiscriminately," said one man, who did not give his name, as he inspected the rubble of a house. Quite how many may have died, or their identities, remained unclear.Residents would not let a Reuters cameraman film two of the houses that were hit by the strikes.

The military said there were no reports of civilian casualties after the US troops fired on large groups of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and AK-47 assault rifles. "The target was more of a compound with scores of armed men. No women or children were observed the entire day," said a US military spokesman on Sunday (local time). He said troops would not be going to the site to sift through the rubble.

Television footage did not reveal whether buildings damaged in the air strikes had been occupied by guerrillas or civilians during the attack. No bodies were visible in the footage. Residents said three people had already been buried. Hamdi al-Alusi, chief of the nearby Qaim hospital, said three civilians from houses in the nearby district of Rumana were brought in wounded after the air strikes, including a 12-year-old boy who later died.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1390413.htm

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Igel]

15. For all the support for the "insurgency",

precious few of them are ever killed. Or seen. Or admitted to.

Don't know about this case, but I remember during the actual invasion in '03, all the reports from the hospitals. Lots of women. Lots of children. No men. Or very nearly no men. Of any age--if they were no longer children, they apparently were immune to shrapnel.

No battlefield casualties. No casualties among old men in the city--only the women were hit.

And yet there were apparently heavy casualties among men.

Truth is sometimes different from facts.

[gratuitous]

16. This just sounds so much like Vietnam

"Yes sir, we bombed a whole bunch of insurgents today. We got, uhhh, say, how old are you, Mr. Reporter?"

"Forty, general."

"We got 40 insurgents!"

[kentuck]

17. It does sound like Vietnam...

in so many ways...especially that light at the end of the tunnel...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. Just missing the jungle.

[Barrett808]

19. "But it's a dry heat" n/t

[Halliburton]

22. There were no civilians killed...

Listen to the military and support our troops while driving that Ford Expedition of yours.