US warplanes bomb Baghdad's Sadr City

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US warplanes bombed the east Baghdad district of Sadr City overnight, where Shiite militiamen are battling security forces, residents said on Monday, as the American military reported another five people killed in the embattled township.

Residents said low flying jets dropped bombs in sectors 22 and 24 of Sadr City, stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, around midnight (2100 GMT Sunday).

About two hours later, according to witnesses, helicopters fired missiles at four targets in Sadr City, where hundreds of people have died since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias across Iraq in late March.

The US military has not immediately confirmed overnight air strikes but said four people were killed Sunday afternoon in Sadr City by Hellfire missiles fired from drones when they were readying to fire off rockets.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080421/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbaghdadsadr_080421101245

[tekisui]

1. And the war begins...

[blogslut]

2. Dammit

Just dammit. I hate this BS war

[frogcycle]

3. this is a chilling aspect of our warmaking capability

"four people were killed Sunday afternoon in Sadr City by Hellfire missiles fired from drones when they were readying to fire off rockets."


While it is better, *assuming it is necessary for our national security that those hellfires be fired, that they be fired by some guy in Las Vegas who will go home to the wife and kids afterward than by some guy in an F/A-18 who might get shot down, it is still a creepy concept. It really does seem to turn the war into a video game.

* I am not making that assumption, but that is not the point of the comment

[glowing]

4. You are right about that..

[annabanana]

5. Planes dropping bombs into a crowded slum, great.. . . . . n/t

[bemildred]

6. More tactical brilliance from the defense bidness. nt

[Warren Stupidity]

7. It wouldn't be Monday without another war crime. nt.

[Botany]

8. And what does the Madhi Army and al Sadr want?

They want us out of Iraq. 5 + years after we got started in this nightmare
the Saudi troops and police we have been paying for and training can not
or will not fight effectively for the Maliki government that only has control
in limited areas of the country. So now we have to bomb parts of Baghdad
to "make progress" in a war and occupation that can not be won because
we have made so many mistakes including starting this disaster.

[KillCapitalism]

12. We should just give them what they want.

If the majority of Iraqis want a shiite state with Al-Sadr in charge, we should just leave and let them sort it out amongst themselves.

[maddezmom]

9. Civilians Suffer in Sadr City’s Daily Gun Battles

Civilians Suffer in Sadr City’s Daily Gun Battles

By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: April 21, 2008
BAGHDAD — Ayman, bleeding profusely from his arm, was rushed to Company B’s stronghold in Sadr City late Sunday afternoon.

Ayman, 11, was treated by American medics after he was struck by gunfire from militants in Sadr City on Sunday. Four children were killed, his father said.
A bullet had carved a bloody groove near his left elbow as he was going to fetch some bread from a market.

Seven children had been struck by a burst of gunfire from militia fighters who have been roaming through the streets near the American positions, his distraught father said.

But Ayman, 11, was one of the lucky ones. Four of the children, his father said, were dead.

With no functioning police force and the streets a battle zone, it could not be determined if the children had been caught in cross-fire or had been deliberately shot at by militia fighters, as Ayman’s father suggested.

The militias have concentrated their fire on Iraqi and American forces and generally avoided shooting at civilians, whom they have sought to use as their power base. But as the fighting has intensified, civilian casualties have increased.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/middleeast/21sadr.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast&oref=slogin

[ckramer]

10. The US dollar is backed by the USAF

And it's keep dropping.

When in doubt, call in the bombers!

Guarantee solving all the problems in this world.


Duh.

[gratuitous]

11. So very courageous

Dropping bombs and firing missiles into heavily populated civilian areas. Civilians who are unaware they're under attack until the explosions start happening, it's too late to get away, and defending themselves is out of the question.

Don't we just have the bravest, handsomest, smartest and bestest equipped fightin' force ever seen?

No wonder all those air jockeys are so gung-ho about being evangelical Christians; they're going to need some pretty special pleading before the Pearly Gates. But it's hard to say how effective their Advocate is going to be when he's too busy throwing up contemplating their sins.

[Javaman]

13. Fallusuh-izing Sadr City. nt

[donkeyotay]

14. This is the future. We had to kill humanity to save it.

"...in Sadr City, where hundreds of people have died..."

We round people up into ghettoes, and this is a proper use of the word, and then we observe and kill them using remote control. Who's humanity is being destroyed? We might kill the wrong owners of our oil, but we surely are killing the concept of a just war when war becomes a routine of population management - those who are on the wrong side, think the wrong thoughts are penned and slaughtered like cattle. I know many will say this is justified because it saves the lives of our soldiers, but traditionally the cost of war has been so high that it is only a last alternative. By making it remote controlled and therefore safe and routine, more and more of the world is going to resemble Sadr City and Gaza. Who will oversee the overseers?