Replies

There are NO reports that women and children were killed. The verified dead count was 40 men all of able-bodied age. The wedding video did show women, but they were absent in the dead count, and all subsequent analysis of the ruins.

How did a video that was filmed right before the attack...as it is claimed, manage to walk away from our troops who were collecting evidence for analysis?

The fundamental claims have not been answered.

What kind of wedding party has no women or children present?

What kind of wedding party is held in the middle of the desert, miles away from social centers and religious shrines?

What kind of Iraqi wedding is held on a Wednesday night? (Iraqi weddings are typically held on tuesdays or thursdays, for reasons that I do not understand).

Why did the party have equipment designed for making fake passports and false legal documents?

Why was this "party" in the middle of a trail that our EWACS have identified as a "Rat Tail"?

OK, I can understand the use of having an AK-47 around...even an AK-72. But not fully automatic Medium machine guns. What were they doing there?

Why were there scrambling communications equipment and satellite communication is a "innocent brides hut"?

Why did the wedding party have lookout scouts ringed around the perimeter of the compound?

If it was a wedding party, then where are the musical instruments, the food, the wedding dresses, and other items that signify a celebration? They are all absent.

In fact the only proof that we have that this was a Wedding party is the mysterious video. Funny that it showed up days after there were doubts on the authenticity of the Arab Newsmedia reporting.

INFORMATION WARFARE: Bombing the Iraqi Wedding Party

June 15, 2004: The war in Iraq is a war of information, and spinning unfortunate events in one’s direction is how you cover your tracks. A case in point was the May 19th U.S. bombing of a remote compound in Iraq, near the Syrian border. The U.S. said the place was a smugglers way station being used to bring anti-government fighters, terrorists and weapons in from Syria. An American assessment team got to the scene shortly after the bomb strike. What they found was;

- The only permanent buildings at the site contained large stocks of food (the meat was still frozen solid), bedding, medical supplies, ammunition and weapons, as well a document forging operation.

- The site was not prepared for a wedding feast, and there were no stocks of dishes, plates, etc. and, most importantly, no "Nuptial Tent," which is a standard feature of an Arab wedding.

- There was no evidence of any means of support for the house. The most common livelihood in the area is sheep raising, and there was no evidence of that at the site. All evidence pointed to a smuggler way station, similar to others found along the Syrian border in the past.

- The deceased "wedding guests" were almost all men of military age, only a couple of women, no elders at all. There was only one child, who was wounded. All the deceased were dressed as city dwellers, not as the local Arabs who would hold a wedding at such a location. All of the deceased lacked any form of ID on them. The only ID's found were stacked up inside the house, and these were fewer in number than those bodies found at the site.

- Weapons and equipment found there included RPG's, military binoculars, and bomb making materials.

- There was lots of clothing found, prepackaged in pants and shirt sets.

- Weddings are traditionally held on Thursdays in Iraq to take advantage of Friday as a day of rest. The bombing raid took place on Tuesday night.

- There were also no gifts, no decorations, no food set out or left over, and the good bit of money recovered was all in the pockets of the bodies found at the site.

The assessment team left, and then those who had fled after the bombing returned, and had time to rearrange the site, for reporters who showed up later, with debris to make it look like a wedding had taken place. Most media fell for the deception.