Car Bomb Kills Several Iraqi Children, U.S. Soldier

[cal04]

A suicide car bomber drove up to a U.S. military Humvee swarming with Iraqi children and detonated his explosive on Wednesday, killing one American soldier and at least seven Iraqi children, the U.S. military said. Iraqi officials put the death toll as high as 24.

Three American soldiers and "multiple Iraqi civilians" were wounded in the late morning blast, a statement from Task Force Baghdad said. The explosion also set a nearby house on fire, the statement added.

"The Task Force Baghdad unit on the site reported that the vehicle, laden with explosives, drove up to a Humvee before detonating," the statement said. "Many Iraqi civilians, mostly children, were around the Humvee at the time of the blast." Police have reports that 24 were killed and 18 wounded, police Lt. Mohammed al-Heiali said. Another police officer, Lt. Ali Abbas, said that 19 bodies, including 11 children. were brought to al-Kindi Hospital.

The attack left the east Baghdad neighborhood stunned. An elderly woman dressed in traditional black beat her chest in front of her house in grief. Abbas Ali Jassim, who lives in the area, said a U.S. patrol entered the neighborhood and "children started running behind it when the explosion occurred."


http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBHX08F3BE.html




:cry:

[ALago1]

1. Terrible

Simply terrible. I really don't know what else to say.

What a mess we're in.

[leftchick]

2. When will the US learn???

This makes me sick. They are still attracting the children with candy and toys when they know damn well they are targets. I have seen photo after photo on yahoo of soldiers handing this stuff out to the children and knew it would happen again! This exact same thing happened last year. You would think they would have changed the policy.

:grr:

Edit: I can not post the photo from this tragedy it is too horrific. here is the caption...

An Iraqi puts his dead brother in a wooden coffin outside the morgue of a local hospital in Baghdad, 13 July 2005. Twenty-four Iraqi children were killed by a suicide car bomber targeting American soldiers handing out sweets after entering their Baghdad neighborhood precisely to warn of a possible attack.(AFP/Ali Al-Saadi)

[Karenina]

30. It was only "SEVERAL CHILDREN..."

:eyes:

[bluestateguy]

3. Mission Accomplished

We were right. They were wrong. And yes, I am saying "I told you so".

[leftchick]

4. AFP: Twenty-four Iraqi children killed by car bomb

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Twenty-four Iraqi children were killed by a suicide car bomber targeting American soldiers handing out sweets after entering their Baghdad neighborhood precisely to warn of a possible attack.


Some 20 more children were wounded in the blast, while a US soldier died and three were injured, hospital and US sources said.

"A driver approached one of the US Humvees and then detonated his car," said Sergeant David Abrams.

Witness Mohammed Ali Hamza said US forces came to the Al-Jedidah district to warn residents to stay indoors because of reports of a car bomb in the area.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050713/ts_afp/iraq_050713110028;_ylt=Aq0in_XKOs6rK2gDcndsBpoZO7gF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--

[maddezmom]

5. Baghdad suicide bomb kills 27, mostly children (wounds 67)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle near U.S. troops surrounded by a crowd of children in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 27 people and wounding at least 67 more, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

A duty policeman at the Kindi Hospital said 25 bodies and 25 wounded had arrived there. "Most of them are children," he said.

U.S. troops said one U.S. soldier was among those killed and three were injured.

"The vehicle, laden with explosives, drove up to a (U.S. military) Humvee before detonating. Many Iraqi civilians, mostly children, were around the Humvee at the time of the blast," U.S. military spokesman Sgt David Abrams said.

The U.S. military denied earlier police reports troops had been handing out sweets.



http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=789864§ion=news&src=rss/uk/worldNews

[DFWdem]

18. There they go again

Those wacky, "minuteman-esque patriots" of Iraq

[DS1]

6. This was both vile and stragetically stupid for these 'insurgents'

First, they've probably inspired a hell of a lot more Iraqis to turn them in.

Second, they've reinforced the American outlook that these insurgents are scum and need to be eradicated.

[confludemocrat]

8. A consistent strategy: make the invaders more & more pariahs

Agreed: who did this are scum and they are cruel on a level with our clusterbombing of neighborhoods in Iraq.

That the U.S. would risk a repeat of an identical tragedy as last year even when they control nothing securitywise seems even more stupid.

[Mari333]

7. For every child killed, a thousand "terrorists" are created

Bush is Bin Ladens wet dream.

[DS1]

9. So you're saying that when a muslim car bombs 24 kids into the

next plane of existence, a thousand other muslims point their fingers and say "That's what I want to be when I grow up!"

Get real.

edit: or in this case, 24,000 other muslims said that

[Mari333]

10. figure of speech

every time a child is killed in Iraq as a direct result of us being there, no matter how the child was killed, directly creates more anger and animosity and furor at us for even being there...as I said, Bush is Bin Ladens wet dream...we created this monster.

[ECH1969]

13. The Iraqis know who is doing this

They know it is jihadists. What they blame the US for is not for providing enough security not for killing their kids, they know who killed their kids.

[Mari333]

14. as long as we are in Iraq

this will continue..we created this occupation, we are as a country the ones who went in there and created the strife and civil war thats now occuring..there wouldnt be jihadists there if we werent there...we created it, and the Iraqi people know its an occupation.

[ECH1969]

16. The jihadists have their own goals

As long as the Sunni community shelters the jihaists they will be there. The Sunnis are using them as a pressure tool to force the Shia and Kurds to meet their political demands. However, the jihadists have their own goals and that is to turn Iraq into a Talaban like Islamic state that they can use as a base. The only way that can happen is if a civil war breaks out.

[Mari333]

26. we went in, we created the civil war

like entering a hornets nest.

[NickB79]

34. The jihadists ARE Sunnis

Only a small percentage of the insurgency in Iraq is composed of foreign fighters. The vast majority of them are native-born Iraqis.

[Garfield Goose]

32. If they know who is doing the killing

Why don't they tell so that more security/arrests can therefore be provided? I never did understand that facet of this mess in Iraq.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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

[DS1]

12. Trees sure are ripe this summer

:-)

[Mari333]

15. If we were not in Iraq

this wouldnt be happening.

[tabasco]

31. Maybe we'll see this post somewhere else later on.

Stupid bastards don't realize that many here at DU are military and vets.

[dArKeR]

17. Yahoo - Two Stars rating - Who would rate this story One Star? Freepers?

Suicide Car Bomber Kills Iraqi Children
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050713/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_050713110034;_ylt=AkVdYcMlfygjPFGGpctrZP9X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

If a Freeper was online they take the extra one second to rate down a Delay, Frist, Jeb, Rove, aWol, torture, Meyers... corruption story. But any other 'bad' news coming from the Repukes has a really high rating from moral people on the web. So why then do only terrible stories from Iraq have such low ratings? I tell ya. It's the Blackboxes the NSA put on every ISP back during the Clinton Presidency. aWol/Cheney/Rove Administration has ordered our Spooks to control the Blackboxes to vote down the Iraq stories.

What kind of savage Satan human would rate this story One Star? It could only be a Bush/Cheney/Rove agent of Satan.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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

[mike923]

20. My best friend was over there ...

and he said these kids would nearly attack him. He'd be driving along in his convoy, doing 20 mph or whatever, and kids would run up and try and take his watch off while he was driving! It would scare the crap out of him, and he pulled his weapon on them in utter fear more than once.

He said he never saw poverity like he did rolling into Bagdad.

[Tempest]

21. "He said he never saw poverity like he did rolling into Bagdad."

He obviously has never been to the Appalachian Mountains area here in the U.S.

[mike923]

22. well

he did actually go there one spring break while in high school as part of a house building project. But that only was for a week.

Similarly, he said most folks he saw in Saddam City didn't own shoes or a change of clothes. That's pretty darn poor.

[Tempest]

25. Not that I doubt your friend, but...

Well, I do doubt your "friend".

[mike923]

27. No problem...

He did have quite a photo album, mostly pictures taken from behind the wheel. I told him he should look into getting it published.

[leftchick]

23. and here I thought they were ordered to do this.

I have seen photos over and over on Yahoo of soldiers giving away candy and toys to children. No wonder they chase after convoys daily! I thought they were doing this because they were ordered to do so. Good Lord that post is sickening. :(

[Theres-a]

24. Wow.

I am stunned.

[H5N1]

29. Damn, that is depressing

[daleo]

28. Here is a key detail from the story

"Last September, 35 Iraqi children were killed in a string of bombs that exploded as American troops were handing out candy at a government-sponsored celebration to inaugurate a sewage plant in west Baghdad. It was the largest death toll of children in any insurgent attack since the start of the Iraq conflict.

Many of the families of children killed in the September attack blamed the Americans for the tragedy because their presence attracted insurgents to the ceremony."

Any suicide bomber who detonates his vehicle when a bunch of children are present has done something inexcusable, I think. On the other hand, the U.S. occupation troops must know that they endanger children with their very presence. And it looks like most Iraqis blame the occupation in general - no occupation, no resistance, no killing.

It is a no-win situation that Bush put these troops into, with his illegal invasion.

[NNN0LHI]

33. Vietnamization is not going to work in Iraq either n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

35. "let freedom reign!"

[Carla in Ca]

36. I am sick about this

My God, this nightmare isn't going to end.
:(

[Robbien]

37. NYT: Baghdad Bomb Kills Up to 27, Most Children

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 13 - A suicide car bomber on Wednesday steered his sport utility vehicle toward a group of children who had crowded around a patrol of American troops and detonated his payload, killing as many as 27 people, nearly all of them children, government and hospital officials said. One American soldier was also killed.

The attack, in a poor, predominantly Shiite neighborhood of eastern Baghdad, left a wrenching scene of bloodshed, anger and despair. Children's colored slippers, pieces of flesh and shrapnel were strewn around the wide crater left in the street by the bomb. Women wailed and slapped themselves on the chest and face in a ritual of grief as bodies were placed in crude coffins and carried away.

Several residents said the Americans had been handing out candy when the attack took place. "They were delivering some sweets and toys to the children and all of a sudden a car drove towards the U.S. military vehicles and exploded," said Basim al-Gaiedi, 45, an engineer who lives in the neighborhood.

But Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, the public affairs officer for the Third Infantry Division, which is responsible for overall security in Baghdad, denied that the soldiers had been distributing candy and toys. He would not disclose the nature of the unit's mission on Wednesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/international/middleeast/14iraq.html

[robcon]

38. Shit like this that hurts.

I can't accept Moore's description of the insurgents as "Minutemen." They're murderers, who use murder for political ends.

[acmavm]

39. They don't all target kids.

.

[Lars39]

40. Just had a horrible thought:

What if the unit's mission in this instance was to protect the evangelical missionaries that are in Baghdad?

[spartan61]

41. I blame bush and all of his supporters for the deaths of these

precious children. That blame also includes everyone who voted for bush.

[warsager]

42. I am sure

that most of the soldiers were not trying to do anything bad. This is a despicable war but when I read this article this morning I felt so overwhelmed with sadness and thought that these soldiers must ALSO feel overwhelmed with guilt and horror at this. I imagine these things will be nightmares for these soldiers for a lifetime.

What a horrible tragedy.

:cry:

We need to bring our troops home, NOW.

[classysassy]

43. The reporter

Bassem Mroue, does he exist, or is there someone in the basement of the WH sending out press releases to inflame the American people?(not a difficult task)