Reply #41: Pictures of the incident were posted in DU [View All]

[IndianaGreen]

They may still be in the archives.

The Incident at Fallujah

by Maria Tomchick

On Monday, April 28, the US media focused on Donald Rumsfeld's trip to Baghdad, while a shocking event played out in a town just 30 miles to the west. US troops opened fire on Iraqi civilians, killing 15 people and wounding dozens of demonstrators protesting the US occupation of their town.

Piecing together what really happened in Fallujah is difficult; the main US news sources are contradictory and rely heavily on official military sources. But some truth can be found from careful sifting.

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Another dubious claim is that the protesters were celebrating Saddam's birthday; Knickmeyer attributes this quote to the operations director at US Central Command. She goes further with her own assumptions of demonstrators' goals that night: "...it appeared a clash of cultures, at least, was involved...Residents repeatedly denounced battalion members' use of binoculars and night-vision goggles. They accuse soldiers of spying on women from the school's upper floors and rooftop." She also earnestly describes Fallujah as, "a city long considered a stronghold of Saddam support and site of factories suspected of involvement in banned weapons programs" (never mind that no evidence has been found) and as a "Baath Party stronghold," lest we forget that the protesters are to blame for their own deaths.

http://eatthestate.org/07-18/IncidentatFallujah.htm