U.S.: Iraq Wedding Attack Was Legitimate

[leftchick]

Those dead babies and moms did not look like "foreign fighters" to me....


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=10&u=/ap/20040630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_wedding_party

"Post-strike intelligence still leads us to conclude that that was a location that was a way station for a number of foreign fighters coming into the country," a senior U.S military official said on condition of anonymity. "We still believe that it was a significant intelligence target."


The attack on May 19 killed more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said the target was a suspected safehouse for foreign fighters from Syria. Police and survivors said the victims had been attending a wedding.


Family members provided Associated Press Television News with video showing a bride in a Western-style wedding dress and people celebrating in a tent. The video did not show the actual attack.


However, a musician seen playing a keyboard was shown dead in another video made when the survivors brought bodies back to Ramadi for burial. The musician's family said he was killed in the air strike

[Beetwasher]

1. Steady As She Goes! Stay The Course! Never Apologize!

Never admit a mistake! Bomb MORE weddings!

[cthrumatrix]

2. they are soo deep in lies...they can't look back...

[Cocoa]

3. well that settles it

if you can't believe an anonymous spokesman for the military, who can you believe?

[donco6]

5. Snort!

good one.

[Tight_rope]

22. That's what I was thinking too...Why anonymous...what are they afraid of?

[saigon68]

4. Tell it to the Ophans

There are War Criminals here who need a little cell at the Hague.

[gratuitous]

6. Ya know, we usually conduct investigations a little differently

I mean, it makes it kind of tough to tell the innocent from the guilty and the guilty from the guilty as hell when the accused conduct the investigations. Seems everyone gets exonerated every time. But the graves continue to fill up.

[louis-t]

7. Damn keyboard player must been a commie!

I know he had a Uzi in that gig bag. He was jes' waitin' for that weddin' to be over soze he could go out an' shoot some more of our troops.

[Tight_rope]

23. ROFLMBAO....good one!

[RC]

8. Bombing wedding parties in Afghanistan

Was so much fun, why not Iraq too?

When are we going to bring the criminals in the bu$h administration to Justice?

[Malva Zebrina]

9. I am so tired of these lies

so weary of it all. This is a total lie as far as I am concerned.

[pinniped]

10. Absolutely no accountability in the chimp regime.

I'm surprised they even brought this up. Many people may have forgot about it by now.

[mike1963]

11. Well, shit, it's not as if they could admit otherwise........

:eyes: :grr:

[daleo]

12. Careful phrasing, another non-denial denial.

"Post-strike intelligence still leads us to conclude that that was a location that was a way station for a number of foreign fighters coming into the country," a senior U.S military official said on condition of anonymity. "We still believe that it was a significant intelligence target."

- so, if an area has seen some transit of "foreign fighters" at some time in the past (it was a location) it is legitimate to bomb it any time later (it was a significant intelligence target).

[Judi Lynn]

13. If you think this was a pathetic imitation of a news story, please rate it

Last line:

U.S. officials said they could not rule out that a party may have taken place but said that did not detract from their view that the area was used for subversive activities.

Avg Rating: 3.50, 90 votes - Your Rating: 1

[quagmire_iraq]

14. He is correct....

"Post-strike intelligence still leads us to conclude that that was a location that was a way station for a number of foreign fighters coming into the country," a senior U.S military official said on condition of anonymity. "We still believe that it was a significant intelligence target."


US Troops Massacre American Soldiers Seeking To Flee Iraq : At Least 13 Americans Shot By US Army Near al-Qa'im

It has since been revealed that the massacre of civilians, including village elders, the husband and his bride, was conducted in revenge for a massie smuggling operation assisting deserting US troops escape from Iraq into Syria.

----

I dont know if 13 US soldiers were actually killed but the rest was confirmed by witnesses. It was a way station to smuggle foreign fighters out of the country.

[MrMonk]

16. Do you have a link for that "smuggling" story?

[tranche]

29. link

this might be where the thought was coming from:

http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/04/06/wedding_020604.html

[mike1963]

19. Sorry, I don't grasp what you are claiming here...

:eyes:

[DrWeird]

20. look out!

Your pants are on fire!

[MrMonk]

15. These guys keep digging themselves into deeper holes.

Putting the best face on the matter (for Bush), the Bush team:

1) thought that the location was a safe house/way station for foreign fighters;

2) therefore, they bombed the location;

3) but they also massacred a wedding party held there on the day of the bombing.

Why can't they just admit it?

Just because they are who they are?

[quagmire_iraq]

26. Why can't they just admit it?

Because they are cowards... Just like bombing Falluja for reprisals because they think some guy called Zarqawi or someone who lost a leg sends out suicide bombers. Bombing parking lots??

Here kids are going through zargawai's bombed out house filled with ammo... Makes you wonder where all the blown up ammo is..

rest of the pics of the blown up ammo dump http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=10967
Although there are indications that a large group of falluja fighters were gathering near that house and the house was just collateral damage with the 20 people inside there. Or it could just have been a soccer team getting ready for a match.



rest of the pics of the parking lot http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=11399

Except at least in the last bombing where they said they got 20 actually hit an abandoned house because the family got scared and moved that day to a safer place.. But they got the bunny... :(


?phMD04ABnoq94YFX

?phMD04ABnoq94YFX

[Thor_MN]

36. They believe they are on a mission from god.

If something bad happens (i.e. they screw the pooch) then it was god's will. To admit that they Chenneyed up, means that god is not perfect and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.

They will never admit it, because they CAN'T.

[Jacobin]

17. "A Way Station?" What the Cheney is a "Way Station"?

Here's the definition I found:

way station
NOUN: A station between principal stations on a route, as of a railroad.

So, what in the ever lovin' Cheney does that mean? That once a terrorist stopped there going somewhere else?

That means we have to bomb our country.

Fucking baby killing bastards.

WAR CRIMINALS

[nagbacalan]

37. way station

Kinda liked a staging area, the last resort pretext for indiscriminate bombing in Vietnam. I guess any place where people could gather. I hope this clarifies the matter.

[Kurt Remarque]

18. no wonder my terrorist safe houses never work out...

i keep forgetting to book a band!

[Realityhack]

21. Missing the point...

Thats a dodge of the point. It doesn't matter if it WAS a terrorist stop over point. If there were that many civilians there it is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention to bomb it. You are required to weigh the military gain against the risk to civilians. Obviously that was not done.

RH

[Disturbed]

24. Military investigates itself.

Hey that is such a great idea. I believe that the US should start allowing corupt Police Dept.s to conduct their own. Next- The Mafia should do so, as well.

[demoman123]

25. Right during the wedding?

From the rest of the article: "U.S. officials said they could not rule out that a party may have taken place but said that did not detract from their view that the area was used for subversive activities."

So they couldn't wait until the wedding was over?

[quagmire_iraq]

27. So they couldn't wait until the wedding was over?

The wedding was over the previous day, they were preparing to leave in the morning, which is what one of the survivors from the band said, that they were finished packing and getting ready to move at first light.

Since a recon was done the previous evening, they did not think they could go through with smuggling the officers out. I would think they were also planning to take them with them back to Syria since part of the family were Syrians.

What the Iraqi's said makes more sense than what the americans say about the same event. Destroying an incomming way station for local terrorists would make no difference. They would just find another one. But it would be much harder for an outgoing one where both sides could trust each other.

ps too much time has passed and 'we' meaning me and others here dont have the interaction/discussion from time to accept things easily and I dont have the time to go through this entire thing from the beginning. So take it as you will. I spend 10 minutes a day in this forum. Obviously not enough time for much..

asta..

[demoman123]

28. Your reply makes no sense.

Too bad you only spend "10 minutes a day" on this forum. Otherwise, perhaps, you could explain it--i.e., explain the military "necessity" of killing 40 men, women and children attending a wedding party. But then, you also say you agree with the Iraqi side.

P & ~P.

[leftchick]

30. you need to try reading reports from say...

another source other than the US military... :eyes:

[demoman123]

31. Here is a report from Australian media the day after the event

US helicopter attacks Iraqi wedding
May 20, 2004 - 6:07AM

A US helicopter fired on a wedding party in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said.

(snip)

Lieutenant Colonel Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people were killed in the attack, which took place about 2:45am (0845 AEST) in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said the dead included 15 children and 10 women.

Salah al-Ani, a doctor working at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.

Associated Press Television News obtained videotape showing a truck containing bodies of people who were allegedly killed in the incident. Most of the bodies were wrapped in blankets and other cloths, but the footage showed at least eight uncovered, bloody bodies, several of them children. One of the children was headless.

Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers were firing in the air in traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/20/1084917680665.html?oneclick=true

[jdj]

40. Counterpoint. Watch PBS's Globetrekker, in Syria.

This wedding (where the Iraqis were massacred) was held 5 miles from the Syrian border.

When Ian Wright went to Syria and attended a wedding there, the males were shooting into the air with every kind of gun imaginable, from hand guns to rifles that looked automatic or semi-automatic. It looked like about 30 men had guns and were firing straight up to celebrate the wedding. It was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen.

PBS re-broadcast this show several weeks after the wedding massacre, at which I was appalled and disgusted about. However, when I saw this episode I could not believe that ANYONE would be so stupid as to fire into the air like this during a WAR, and if it was done anything like on this episode of Globe Trekker, then that muddies the water a bit for me.

It is possible that the spinners know this is tradition and said it happened when maybe the wedding attendees did not do it this time; I mean common sense would dictate to forgo tradition in this case. It's also possible the timeline is wrong, on the PBS show all the shooting (and I'm sure this was filmed several years ago) occurred in broad daylight, not in the middle of the night. I hope someone else saw this Globetrekker and can weigh in on it.

[uhhuh]

32. Hold on

I think I understand what quagmire is saying. He is saying that there are reports of AMERICANS trying to get OUT of Iraq, and this place was a way station which helped them get out of the country.

This was the Iraqi underground railroad for disillusioned soldiers, and the U.S. targeted it to stop the defections.

That's what I got out of his story, although I don't know if it's true. It would make this slaughter ten times worse in my mind.

[demoman123]

33. I don't think so.

Quagmire seems to me to be saying the villagers were smuggling out Iraqi deserters.

For one thing, he mentions the smuggling of "officers":

"Since a recon was done the previous evening, they did not think they could go through with smuggling the officers out. I would think they were also planning to take them with them back to Syria since part of the family were Syrians."

He also suggests, by implication that the village was a way station for smuggling out "terrorists":

"What the Iraqi's said makes more sense than what the americans say about the same event. Destroying an incomming way station for local terrorists would make no difference. They would just find another one. But it would be much harder for an outgoing one where both sides could trust each other."

My own personal opinion is that the wedding celebrants were firing weapons in the air, and the US helicopter crew panicked and massacred everybody, thinking that they were under fire. Now the US is trying to make this event seem like it had a military justification.

[uhhuh]

34. Read post #14

Check out the end.

[demoman123]

39. The trouble is that post 14 doesn't cite a source.

Quagmire just says, "It has since been revealed..." Maybe Quagmire had a revelation from God. Or maybe his inner voices told him this.

The claim that US soldiers were deserting to Syria with the aide of these Iraqi villagers is very dramatic and important news, if it is true.

This is something needs to be proven--or anyway, corroborated--and not just said.

[minkyboodle]

35. How do they sleep?

This incident more than any other illustrates the arrogance and duplicity of our Iraqi operations. Multiple sources confirming the Iraqi side of the story, little or no evidence contradicting it. Yet Kimmit still brazenly puts forth his official story, almost with a sneer on his face. "bad people have parties to...."
Disgusting

[Media_Lies_Daily]

38. Did anyone here expect anything more than another lie?