WAR: 40 Dead in Disputed US Attack in Iraq, page 1

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 12:58 PM

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More than 40 people are dead after a US helicopter fired on a wedding, Iraqi officials say. US officials indicate the strike was not on a wedding party, but on a suspected guerilla safehouse. The strike occurred at about 2:45 a.m. local time Wednesday in Makr al-Deeb, a village in a remote desert area near Iraq's border with Syria and Jordan.
Coalition forces are said to have recovered large amounts of Iraqi and Syrian currency, numerous weapons, and foreign passports from the location.

Source

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.

Dr. Salah al-Ani, who works at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.

Associated Press Television News obtained videotape showing a truck containing bodies of those allegedly killed.

About a dozen bodies, one without a head, could be clearly seen. but it appeared that bodies were piled on top of each other and a clear count was not possible.

The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television reported that more than 20 people were killed and 10 injured in the attack.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

[Edited on 19-5-2004 by Banshee]

[Edited on 20-5-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

[Edited on 5-25-2004 by Valhall]

Illmatic67

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:00 PM

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Son of a bitch rat US Military bastards.

ShiftTrio

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:01 PM

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Dont we have enough sensationalism with the US media, Its Says Planes MAY have!!

Lets not be as bad them

Variable

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:07 PM

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They are showing video on fox news about it now.

LadyCool21

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:10 PM

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Sky News:

More than 40 people have been killed in a US helicopter attack in Iraq, according to AP news agency.

Please note the according to AP news...
Although to be honest it wouldn't surprise me, because it goes on to say,

AP reported that Iraqi witnesses said partygoers were firing in the air in traditional wedding celebration.

American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.

Sky news

Funnily enough Blair's purple condom is top news on Sky, talk about sensationlism...

Darkblade71

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:10 PM

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This is part of what is so wrong with the way the current US administration is handling things. Every day, we seem to mess up more. You can't win the hearts and minds of people this way! Is a sad thing to say the least.

browha

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:11 PM

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Bear in mind that, if I am correct, Middle East weddings are celebrated with guns firing in the air.. The helicopter may have thought it was the insurgents.. A similar incident happened in Afghanistan when a plane got 'fired on' when flying over a wedding party

devilwasp

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:13 PM

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thats 1 hell of a 21 gun salute !
sorry i kow its kinda sad but u can c how they mad ethe mistake

mOjOm

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:14 PM

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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.

Unless they were celebrating by firing 'Surface to Air Rockets', it would seem that these guys over-reacted just a bit, don't ya think?

Come under fire is stretching it big time, if you're talking about some handguns or even a few rifles popping off a few rounds. I mean it's a Military Plane, in flight and is in more danger of being struck by lightning than being shot down by a few stray bullets.

dpglow

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:15 PM

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Perhaps if you know your country is being patrolled by a foreign military which has been subject to many attacks from people who look like ordinary civilians, firing a bunch of machine guns into the air is not a great idea at a wedding at 2:45 in the morning while your kids sleep in the house.

I'm not saying they deserved to be fired on by any means, but I would think if I were in a similar situation (occupying force, wartime, attacks), I might put up a "No Gunfire" sign at my wedding.

Also, I seem to often read about how they are an older culture, dating back 2000 years etc. If firing their guns is such an important part of their wedding celebration, how did they ever get married in the old days?

mrmulder

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:18 PM

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This is outrageous! I'm tired of the military's excuses! "We mistakingly thought they were firing at us. Ooops! We didn't realize it was a wedding and it was tradition to fire weapons in Iraq during a wedding. Forget the women and children who were there." The military should be smart enough to know it was a wedding. If not, then I call that bad intelligence once again.

Ocelot

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:22 PM

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Oh great. This is just great. I mean Jesus Christ!! How many times can these arseholes screw up before people open their eyes.

ab2tw

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:23 PM

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about a dozen bodies, one without a head, could be clearly seen.

Did it have an orange jumpsuit on?

This is sad.

mOjOm

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:24 PM

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Originally posted by dpglow
Perhaps if you know your country is being patrolled by a foreign military which has been subject to many attacks from people who look like ordinary civilians, firing a bunch of machine guns into the air is not a great idea at a wedding at 2:45 in the morning while your kids sleep in the house.

I'm not saying they deserved to be fired on by any means, but I would think if I were in a similar situation (occupying force, wartime, attacks), I might put up a "No Gunfire" sign at my wedding.

Also, I seem to often read about how they are an older culture, dating back 2000 years etc. If firing their guns is such an important part of their wedding celebration, how did they ever get married in the old days?

I agree it's not the most intelligent thing to be doing at 3am while a War is happening all around you. But that is one hell of a consequence and death toll.

Jaywalking in Vegas at night isn't that smart either, neither is setting of fireworks, eating while driving, or sticking your face in the fan. However, a wedding slaughter of civilian 'cowboy's' by Military Air Strike is a bit much!!!

Perhaps the Bride in a Gown or the layout of the Wedding party and guests should have been a slight clue that this may not exactly be a Terrorist Sneak Attack. This takes 'Shoot first, ask questions later' to an very extreme level. That is one hell of a body count.

intrepid

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:24 PM

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It's the "shoot first, answer later" mentality that gets them in this position. We had troops in Afganistan that experienced this type of thing, 4 dead and, I believe, 9 injured. If the first sight of activity gets the triger finger going, maybe your in the wrong line of work. Not saying all crews are like this but the ones that are should be pulled.

devilwasp

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:26 PM

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dont always blame the military
intelegence always screws up
its a fact
more than often its our soldiers that die from bad intel

dpglow

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:28 PM

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I for one hope that US Intelligence is NOT tracking wedding planners in Iraq.

Also, another possible scenario relating to this quote--

"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."

Maybe the investigating troops found that there was in fact a wedding, but maybe they also found there were also other operations or high value targets at the wedding.

outsider

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:34 PM

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If they're dumb enough to fire weapons in the air in a war zone then they and their offspring deserve their Darwin award. How many helicopters have been shot down in Iraq? So, you think everytime they see weapons fire they should go land and ask "hey were you shooting at us or are you just having a wedding"? Duh.

djs0ma

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:37 PM

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they were having a wedding party in the middle of the desert, near the syrian border and shooting guns at 2:45 am. hmmm was this really a wedding party???

JayKew

posted on May, 19 2004 @ 01:41 PM

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Its a pity these gunships werent about at my wedding.