US air strike in Baghdad kills 14 sleeping civilians

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/September/focusoniraq_September36.xml§ion=focusoniraq

6 September 2007



BAGHDAD - US air strikes on a Baghdad neighbourhood before dawn on Thursday killed 14 civilians while they were sleeping and destroyed several houses, angry residents and Iraqi officials said.

Defence and interior ministry officials said US helicopters fired on houses in the Al Washash neighbourhood of Mansour district in west Baghdad between 2.00 am and 3.00 am while in pursuit of insurgents.

“The attacks on the houses took place while people were sleeping. There were no clashes. The area had been quiet,” said an interior ministry official who did not want to be named.

At least 10 people were wounded and were admitted to the nearby Al Yarmuk hospital.

“Two to five houses were destroyed. Among the wounded are several women,” the official said. snip

An AFP photographer said three houses were completely destroyed while two were partly damaged.

Amid the rubble of one house was a mattress covered in blood with human body parts scattered around. Neighbours said a family of six had been killed in the house, including a 12-year-old girl.

[Jacobin]

1. Bush: "We're Kicking Ass in Iraq"

Cue the War Crimes Tribunals............soon, please

[leftchick]

2. Another Orphan from dubya another failure of congress

why the fuck is congress not questioning these raids at night that are killing Iraqis??? :grr:



A neighbor carries Montadar Ali, 4, second from left, who lost his entire family when his house was destroyed in an early-morning attack in the Washash area, western Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007. At least 14 people were killed early Thursday in a U.S. attack on a western Baghdad neighborhood, police and residents said. The U.S. command in Baghdad said it was aware of the report but had no immediate comment. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)




An Iraqi man walks through a house that was destroyed in an early-morning attack in the Washash area, western Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007. At least 14 people were killed early Thursday in a U.S. attack on a western Baghdad neighborhood, police and residents said. The U.S. command in Baghdad said it was aware of the report but had no immediate comment. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)



An Iraqi girl walks past a house destroyed overnight in a US air strike in the al-Washash neighbourhood of Mansour district in west Baghdad. US combat helicopters and tanks have bombarded a Baghdad neighbourhood in pre-dawn strikes, killing 14 sleeping civilians and destroying houses, angry residents and Iraqi officials said.(AFP/Ahamd Al-Rubaye)

[partylessinOhio]

5. This is the same fate the Palestinians suffer. Why are we hell bent

on destruction and killing?

How do we stop this when so many in this country thirst for blood?

:cry:

[superkia]

15. We vote in someone like Kucinich thats against the corruption

that continues to feed it. Money and control and I only see Kucinich standing up against it and actually looking presidential! This shit is unbelievable whats going on and if we put someone else in office that is going to continue running the government for the corporations and profit in mind first, we will be authorizing this type of shit.

[malaise]

3. At what point do leaders on this planet

arrest these war criminals.

[xchrom]

4. oh yeah -- this is going well.

i think you can rightfully call this a massacre.

[mogster]

6. K&R n/t

[leftchick]

7. holy shit! Look at this AP re-write!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq


BAGHDAD - American and Iraqi Special Forces clashed with suspected Shiite militiamen Thursday in western Baghdad before calling in airstrikes, the U.S. military said. Residents and police said at least 14 people were killed.

Acting on intelligence information, the U.S. and Iraqi troops launched the early-morning raid in the capital's Washash area against the suspected terrorist cell, which was believed to be responsible for attacks on police and sectarian killings, the U.S. command said.

As the troops entered the area, they came under fire from more than a dozen militiamen firing from the rooftops.

"Iraqi and U.S. forces then responded with well-aimed and suppressive fire," the military said. "Forces also directed proportional aerial fire onto targeted buildings against positively identified armed gunmen directing small arms fires onto the assault force."

The military reported that four buildings were damaged, "including two enemy strongholds that sustained major damage and two surrounding buildings that sustained moderate damage."

There was no mention of any civilian or suspected insurgent casualties in the statement, and the military did not respond to requests for clarification. Local police said 14 people died.


Now check out AFP: US strikes in Baghdad kill 14 sleeping civilians

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070906/wl_afp/iraqunrest_070906123659

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US combat helicopters and tanks bombarded a Baghdad neighbourhood in pre-dawn strikes on Thursday, killing 14 sleeping civilians and destroying houses, angry residents and Iraqi officials said.

The US military, which has deployed thousands of extra troops in the Iraqi capital to try to stem rampant violence, said the operation was aimed at Shiite extremists and the houses destroyed were "enemy strongholds."

Iraqi defence and interior ministry officials said US helicopters fired on houses in the Al-Washash neighbourhood of Mansour district in west Baghdad between 2:00 am and 3:00 am.

Abu Ali Saad, a resident of the mainly Shiite enclave, said US military vehicles had arrived in large numbers in Al-Washash during the night.

"There were tanks and armoured vehicles and many troops," 35-year-old Saad told AFP while surveying the rubble of his neighbour's house.

"The tanks started firing then the helicopters came. Missiles were fired from the air. Houses were destroyed. A family of five were killed in this house," he said, referring to his neighbours.

[Demintheusa]

8. Makes you wanna just..............

:puke: :argh: :freak: :grr: :banghead:

[Robbien]

9. Bombers were first on the scene and bad guys were on roofs at 2am firing at them?

Sure. I believe that.

Not.

Guys shooting at bombers and tankers in the middle of a residential neighborhood at 2am? And the AP reports this as if this fairy tale were something realistic.

[The Stranger]

10. How is murdering sleeping civilians not Terrorism?

Are we supposed to support the troops who did this?

[GliderGuider]

11. "You can't win a war crime."

The last DU post I saw before reading this one was in Political Videos.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x51912

A one-two punch.

:nuke:

[Nimrod2005]

12. They were all terrorists, because they slept on behalf of Al Qaeda to give them enough rest

to attack us later IN THE U-NITED STATES!!!

So there...

[gratuitous]

13. I hadn't thought of it that way

Tough to argue with logic like that! Thanks for enlightening me.

(You didn't use the sarcasm tag, so I figure I don't need to, either.)

[Supersedeas]

14. How will Katie Lipstick Couric put a smile on this story???

[ConsAreLiars]

16. The Haditha Massacre defense was that butchering civilians is US policy, thus not a crime.

It was a successful defense.

Corporations are mechanisms, not living beings. Those they select for positions of power are truly soulless psychopaths, and those they control get turned into monsters, all the way down the ranks.