'U.S. Troops Kill Pregnant Woman in Iraq'

[in_cog_ni_to]

U.S. Troops Kill Pregnant Woman in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women _ one of them about to give birth _ when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday.

Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.

Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.

The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.<snip>

http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat=INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2006/05/31/403741.html&cvqh=itn_pregnantwoman

Winning hearts and minds.....freedom's on the march.....we're bringing Democracy to Iraq...they'll throw flowers at us and open their arms to welcome us??????? I'm having a hard time believing ANY stories about these shootings. The excuses. There have been so many lies, so many murders, so many tortures....

[AndyTiedye]

1. Clearly Marked In What Language?

[geardaddy]

26. Spanish?

That's where all the Spanish government signs are going, right? ;)

[O.M.B.inOhio]

27. Yes. And...

Have you ever been confused by traffic cops? Sometimes they wave their little baton one way or angle it sideways. Then they get pissed off if you pause to make sure you're doing what they're "communicating" to you? Hey, I never went to traffic cop school. I have a photo of a crying 3 year-old whose parents didn't understand the signals at an occupation force checkpoint. She was covered with her dead parents' blood.
Ever driven your wife to the hospital? It doesn't put you in the frame of mind to read every road sign, interview every official, or interpret some cryptic gesture. And yes, what language was the signage in? Were there so many signs that they're rendered meaningless? The soldiers have been put in a place where expressing empathy or courtesy may put their lives at risk (one might argue that accepting the risk and never, ever shooting a family on the way to the maternity room is part of their job). They probably feel like shit. And the pricks who engineered the situation where this kind of tragedy is inevitable -- no tears are shed on their golf courses, the fuckers.

[Eric J in MN]

44. Why not put a STOP SIGN and a barricade on the road,

and move the barricade after a car has been checked?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

48. kick

[ixion]

2. every time a US soldier kills a woman or child or any other civillian

we slid a little bit deeper into the quagmire.

Every single time. Think about that. How can we be going forward if we're sinking deeper every day into the quagmire of our own creation?

:-(

[no_to_war_economy]

13. we are sooooo fucked

how can anyone be surprised when they finally bomb a pizzeria in NYC or expode bombs on the subway

[Love Bug]

3. So, where are all the fetus fanatics now? Why aren't they upset by this?

Oh, yeah, I forgot. Doesn't count when it's non-American brown people.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. That's right. The womb warriors protect only WHITE, BLOND HAIRED,

BLUE EYED zygotes.

[PassingFair]

29. The headline here would have read:

Troops kill two women and a baby.....

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. "Let freedom reign!"

[MemphisTiger]

6. Did the troops fire a warning shot?

If so, they have to protect themselves. I'm not saying the loss of life is not tragic, but if they did everything they could to stop them, you have to assume they are bad people. This is bad for everybody.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Jesus H Christ! We need to get out now! I see no logic in what you

wrote. The bad people were the troops who shot a pregnant woman about to give birth who was being rushed to the hospital.

[MemphisTiger]

11. No logic? Read it again and react

Are you arguing that the troops premeditated this incident? If so, why?

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. Because they're IRAQI'S? Just a guess. Why did Haditha happen? n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Well, since TRUTH doesn't seem to be part of the agenda, we'll never know

what REALLY happened, will we? I don't believe a damn thing the Pentagon tells us. In fact, I'm apt to believe just the opposite.

[theHandpuppet]

15. YOU are assuming they fired a warning shot

Nothing in the article would indicate that they did. What does the description of "visual and auditory" signals mean? It could mean anything from stop signs to yelling "Halt!" It does NOT necessarily mean a warning shot was fired. God help these poor folks who came to the city, rushing to help their sister and cousin who was in labor (with a husband waiting at the hospital) only to stumble into a checkpoint area. The article stated, "Khalid Nisaif Jassim, the pregnant woman's brother, said American forces had blocked off the side road only two weeks ago and news about the observation post had been slow to filter out to rural areas." Well damn them for not knowing, huh? After all, these country-bumpkin ragheads should speak English, should know where all the checkpoints are and just in case they trip across any American uniform they should immediately screech to a halt, get out of the car and lay themselves face down on the ground. Just a gesture of good faith, doncha know.

Further in the article the woman's brother states, " 'I was driving my car at full speed because I did not see any sign or warning from the Americans. It was not until they shot the two bullets that killed my sister and cousin that I stopped," he said. "God take revenge on the Americans and those who brought them here. They have no regard for our lives.'

"He said doctors tried but failed to save the baby after his sister was brought to the hospital."

Can you imagine the poor husband who was waiting at the hospital for his wife and child? Well, congratulations, American liberators! You've just created another family of "terrorists"!

[MemphisTiger]

19. That is why I started with the question of weather or not

they fired warning shots. If not then we are facing a huge mess here. Like I said, it's not good for anybody.

[arcane1]

25. even if they did fire warning shots, it would change nothing

if I were an Iraqi, and I rode by a gang of American soldiers gesturing at me, etc, and then I heard a shot, I would haul ass out of there

after hearing all the reports of dead civilians, and the re-opening of Saddam's torture prisons, would YOU stop if American soldiers had their guns trained on you??????

[Warren DeMontague]

28. Whose country is it?

Why are we there?

What's the rationale for the "war" this week?

How is this different from Vietnam, where we had an occupation of a civilian population that clearly didn't want us there?

And, most perplexingly, why is anyone still apologizing for what is obviously a massive clusterfuck?

SUPPORT THE TROOPS- BRING 'EM THE FUCK HOME NOW.

[jpevahouse]

30. Duh

What if this happened in America by foreign troop? Would you have the same attitude toward trigger happy troops?

[Eric J in MN]

45. There was no barricade. There was no Stop Sign.

Why is firing a gun a reasonable gesture to you for stopping cars, but a barricade too much to ask?

[Eric J in MN]

46. How would you like it if the police in your city announced that

they were going to have officers stand on the side of the road and wave at drivers, and if the drivers don't stop, fire a warning shot and then a deadly shot?

Why don't you think that US soldiers should be required to barricade rodes where they want to check cars?

[Jara sang]

8. I'm sure they were just trying to liberate that fetus.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[benburch]

14. OK, Right Wing Right-to-lifers...

Is abortion by bullet OK???

[no_to_war_economy]

16. kicked

[NNN0LHI]

17. They may have got 60-year-old woman and a mentally handicapped man too?

Bush vows to punish Haditha crime, Iraqis angry

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC154894.htm

BAGHDAD, May 31 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday to punish any U.S. Marine guilty of shooting Iraqi civilians at Haditha but Iraqis, including the prime minister, complain that U.S. troops have killed elsewhere with impunity.

"There is a thorough investigation going on. If ... laws were broken there will be punishment," Bush said in Washington.

It was his first public comment on a scandal that some commentators are comparing to the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam that helped turn many Americans against that war.

In the latest instance where Iraqis say U.S. forces have shed innocent blood, relatives and Iraqi police and army officers in Samarra, north of Baghdad, told Reuters U.S. troops killed three unarmed civilians, including a 60-year-old woman and a mentally handicapped man, in their home three weeks ago.

A U.S. spokesman said only three guerrillas were killed.

[in_cog_ni_to]

18. OMG. This has GOT TO STOP!!!

Where's the outrage???:cry:

[Laurab]

20. 5th rec. I just want it to STOP

it's madness, it's gotten so out of control, someone get those people OUT of the WH and in jail where they belong.

This is a terrible, terrible tragedy, but maybe stories like this will wake people up. I'm sure this wasn't the first time, but now that the media is actually reporting, maybe, just maybe, it will help turn the tide. All these beautiful, innocent lives lost so those fuckers can get rich......there are no words.

[Beelzebud]

21. We are the new Nazis....

Every day I see more evidence of this.

We are a fascist monster.

[jpevahouse]

31. We?

"We" covers everyone. There's plenty of good people in the United States as well. Don't be so quick to condemn the entire country for the behavior of some of our citizens. You and I are just as much Americans as anyone.

[Beelzebud]

42. There were lots of good folks living in Nazi Germany too.....

[Xenotime]

22. The terrorists have just cause to come after us now...

The next tragedy that happens here will be payback for all the horror we have caused over there.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. So sad. :^( And the troops that have to live with this may be crushed by

it almost as much as the families. :cry: Horrible, horrible war.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

24. Kicked and Recommended

[Bouncy Ball]

32. As my bush voting neighbor said:

"I don't care if they had nothing to do with 9/11. It's revenge. It makes me feel better about it."

This was after I told her that innocent Iraqis have been killed in this war. And this was TWO YEARS AGO.

I wonder if she still feels the same way today.

[in_cog_ni_to]

33. It's revenge on Iraqis because Saudis attacked us? That makes her feel

better? Wow. Just wow. That's so evil. I suppose she's a church goin' Christian too?

[Bouncy Ball]

34. Why yes, she is.

A member of the United Methodist church.

And for the record, I am a Christian as well. But I am absolutely sickened beyond belief at the attitudes of some "Christians." Christians are not supposed to be pro-war. PERIOD.

[Critters2]

37. Well, Bush and Cheney are United Methodists, too

Yet, Methodists tell me they're liberals.

I spend most of my time just being confused.

:crazy:

[in_cog_ni_to]

39. I was married by a United Methodist minister once and he went by

the name, Preacher Bob, and was one of the most Liberal people I knew. He was a hippie preacher...so cool and everyone loved him.:hippie:

I'm shocked that Bouncy's neighbor is a Methodist. I guess times have changed.:(

[in_cog_ni_to]

38. IMCPO, the psycho pseudo Christian has made other Christians believe it's

OK to support war. If the psycho-in-chief, being the Christian he is, supports war, why can't they? He made war acceptable, bigotry acceptable, racism acceptable, raping the poor acceptable, starving our Seniors acceptable and starving the homeless acceptable social behavior....those people follow him.

Your neighbor's a Methodist? *sigh* I thought you'd tell me she is a Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell Christian.:( ~~~~~shaking head~~~~~

[Critters2]

40. Again, Bush and Cheney are UMC

I'd really like someone to explain to me how the UMC aren't Robertson/Falwell Christians. I don't get the difference.

[in_cog_ni_to]

41. Well, apparently, they ARE Falwell/Robertson Christians, but didn't use to

be. They use to be VERY Liberal.

[kpete]

35. So much sadness

K&R for hoping we get out sooner rather than later...

[Critters2]

36. This stuff about "they didn't stop at a checkpoint" pisses me off!

Since when do people need the permission of invading troops to drive the streets of their own country?!

:mad:

[PATRICK]

43. Daily Haditha,

The great river of Unknowing that is American culture officiated over by the priestly media makes a single war crime, tortuously on its bureaucratic pilgrimage through some murky accountability procedure, the ONLY issue. This has been going on since day one. In search of the worst type of unjustified murder everything else is OK? In fact, many of the usual media crime perps are trying to justify the massacre. Small wonder from small souls who stand to go down with the whole sorry show.

But the great diversion is like a massive twisted river bending ever away from a destination, looping, sometimes seeing things on the shore and pressing on crookedly and forever away from confronting the truth. This great diversion includes EVERY issue, every truth, every means of Justice and correction. Down that river our Dem leaders sail heroically. Washed down that river screaming victims, flailing activists.

Every day the innocent die, mostly, as in our own cities, from the desperate chaos of gun ridden despair by their own fellow citizens. But there we are, ineffective, cruel but not efficiently so, not ruthlessly enough, just clumsily and arrogantly botching up duty and objective because the great river of diversion is ploughed by madmen. Madmen we allowed to steal our freedom in their singleminded drive for personal gain.

And that is where the great river and all America is flowing. Down Cheney's course.

[Pachamama]

47. Great! Just effing great! 2 dead women, a never to be born child and 2

children orphaned!

:puke:

Yeah, this war is just f*cking great George W. Bush! You pro-life moral majority pieces of sh*t are really spreading the American values and morality and democracy all over aren't you? Freedom is on the march! :puke: