US forces attack Baghdad district as violent opposition to occupation grow

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040405/ts_afp/iraq_worldwrap&cid=1503&ncid=1473

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US forces attacked armed Shiite Muslim groups in Baghdad and sealed off the town of Fallujah after dozens of people died in mounting opposition to their year-old military occupation of Iraq.

Apache helicopters sprayed fire on units of the Mehdi Army, the private militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, which attacked five truckloads of US soldiers and US-trained Iraqi paramilitaries trying to enter Al-Showla, a district of western Baghdad.


The fighting erupted after the US civilian administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, declared Sadr an outlaw and said the occupying force "will not tolerate" attempts to supplant its authority.


In the nearby squalid slum district of Sadr City, US troops opened fire on stone-hurling Shiites attending a funeral for some of the 22 Iraqis killed in fierce fighting there on Sunday.

more

[Ripley]

1. How can any Dumya supporters not see the I/P similarity?

Do they think it is a good thing that I/P is going on 50 years of this shit and we're starting an even bigger one?

Can you say money pit Mr. and Mrs. Repuke? who like to watch their pocketbook during elections?

[RedEarth]

2. As if no one predicted this would happen.....

The start of a civil war in Iraq, thousands dead, billions spent, the US despised by the entire world, our country with massive deficits, the environment at risk, etc, etc, etc........how in God's name could anyone vote to re-elect Bush.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Voting Bush out is not enough

We must pull all US troops and personnel out of Iraq ASAP, and we must also abandon any dreams of an American empire.

[Mika]

5. Also..

.. we and our children have to expect some payback for the decades of abuse our governments have set upon them in so many ways. :-(

---

... because our Bonesman is better than their Bonesman

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[NickB79]

21. Oh, I don't know

Maybe a few of the orphans we create will grow up hating the US with every fiber of their bodies and plan on getting revenge somehow? What did someone say, "we are creating 100 Bin Laden's in Iraq"?

[leftchick]

4. killing them as they bury their dead....

beyond appaling! I hate you bush*.

[IndianaGreen]

6. US troops opened fire on "stone-hurling Shiites"

In the nearby squalid slum district of Sadr City, US troops opened fire on stone-hurling Shiites attending a funeral for some of the 22 Iraqis killed in fierce fighting there on Sunday.

The US playing the role of the IDF will really galvanize Shia opposition to the occupation. Not even al-Sistani will be able to turn this off.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

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[bemildred]

20. I believe it's a quote from the story.

You should read it.

[Chicago Democrat]

22. It's the Boston Massacre all over again!

[teryang]

7. "Reassert law and order?"

What law and order? There isn't any and there hasn't been any since the invasion. Who is he trying to fool?

[jmcgowanjm]

8. This latest action is not over

Reuters, 04.05.04, 6:00 AM ET

BAGHDAD - U.S. helicopters fired on targets in a
mainly Shi'ite Baghdad district amid fresh fighting
with radical Shi'ite militiamen. Reuters journalists
saw two Apache helicopters open fire in the
Shuala neighbourhood in the northwest of the
capital. A U.S. vehicle was in flames.

[ewagner]

10. Didn't CNN report earlier

That the helicopter gunships fired on targets in the neighborhood that were "presumably the headquarters" of the now "outlaw" cleric?

Targeted assassination anybody?

[IndianaGreen]

13. The pictures the world is seeing

Baghdad in flames....



US Apache helicopters have sprayed fire on the private army of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr during fierce battles in a Baghdad district.

The fighting erupted when five vehicles carrying US soldiers and the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps tried to enter the district.

It is claimed that members of the ICDC, a paramilitary force trained by the Americans, turned on the US soldiers and started to shoot at them.

The soldiers fled their vehicles and headed for cover and then began to battle both the Mehdi Army and the ICDC members.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13047235,00.html

[jmcgowanjm]

9. 8 USsoldiers died in Sadr City/ Most infantry since 032903

And 99% of the US doesn't know it.

Anthony Cordesman was on TV somewhere
yesterday.

Like Andrea Mitchell, when Tony's on TV
things are hotting up.

[Beetwasher]

11. This Is It Isn't It? It's All-Out War Now

Fuck...

[IndianaGreen]

12. BBC is saying that the police joined the demonstrators in Basra

Police joined the militants' protest in Basra

American tanks were blocking approaches to the area and soldiers were carrying out vehicle searches as angry protesters gathered again.

In Basra, about 150 Mehdi Army members occupied the governor's office at dawn on Monday as part of the protests, but said they were staging a peaceful sit-in.

Brief exchanges of gunfire have been reported outside the office with soldiers from the city's UK garrison, but there is no indication of casualties.

Four Shia Iraqis were killed in clashes with UK forces in the south-eastern city of Amara on Sunday, while a protest which turned violent near the holy city of Najaf left a coalition soldier from El Salvador dead, along with about 20 Iraqis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3599771.stm

[leftchick]

14. Iraqis killed in US Apache air strike: al-Jazeera report

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3E23D7FF-3065-48E5-9810-BD63DDCB03EA.htm

<snip>
At least five people have been killed and several others injured after two US Apache helicopters launched an air strike targeting an al-Sadr bureau in al-Shula area of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

According to Aljazeera's correspondent, a number of adjacent houses were damaged in the strike.

A US vehicle was also seen burning in the area, he added.

Followers of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had previously taken control of al-Shula area, the correspondent said.

Falluja besieged

Meanwhile, at least six Iraqis have been killed and several others wounded in clashes with US occupation forces in Falluja, west of Baghdad.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Moderator]

23. leftchick

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the news
source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[David__77]

15. Sadr's status as a leader is being cemented in stone.

These actions will ensure his role as leader or inspirational martyr for a generation.

[opihimoimoi]

16. A Prez who does not read? Doesn't know history. We are paying

dearly for our collective foolishness in letting rank amateurs into our No. 1 spot. Bush is an amateur who is part Puppet and Part LOLO.

I don't know who is worse. (apologies to lolos)

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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