BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A U.S. military plane fired missiles Saturday into a residential neighborhood in Fallujah, killing at least 16 people and leveling houses there, police and residents said. There was no way to confirm the claim. A U.S. official said the target was a known hideout of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network.
It was the first significant U.S. military action in the city since Marines ended a bloody three-week siege against insurgents. Since the U.S. forces left, residents have said that extremist influence in the Sunni Muslim city, west of Baghdad, has only grown.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy operations chief, said the attack struck a known hideout of al-Zarqawi and that the blast caused "multiple secondary explosions" of ammunition and roadside bomb materials stored there. There was no way to confirm the U.S. claim.
The Iraqi Health Ministry said 16 people were killed, though they expected the number to rise.There was no way to confirm the claim. Residents said 20 bodies — including at least three women and five children — were taken for immediate burial, in accordance with Islamic custom, while hospitals reported at least two more dead.There was no way to confirm the claim.
"At 9:30 a.m., a U.S. plane shot two missiles on this residential area," said the Fallujah police chief, Sabbar al-Janabi, as he surveyed the wreckage. "Scores were killed and injured. This picture speaks for itself." There was no way to confirm the claim.
In Fallujah, rescue workers combed the scene, searching the rubble for other victims. Slabs of concrete and steel reinforcing bars were upended and twisted, Associated Press Television News footage showed.
Water pooled from a 20-foot crater in front of one of the destroyed houses, apparently from where one of the missiles struck. One man displayed several Qurans burned in the strikes.
Outraged residents accused the Americans of trying to inflict maximum damaged by firing two strikes — one first to attack and another to kill the rescuers. There was no way to confirm the claim.
"The number of casualties is so high because after the first missile we jumped to rescue the victims," said Wissam Ali Hamad. "The second missile killed those trying to carry out the rescue." There was no way to confirm the claim.
I expect the AP and its ilk can write anything they want over in Iraq, because they're so afraid to leave their hotels and actually report from the ground with the troops anymore, so long as they include "there was no way to confirm the claim" their nonsense can go to print.
Example: US Military Plane Bombs Iraqi Orphanage for Disabled Children... no way to confirm the claim.
VERY VERY GOOD!
It sure looks different when you impose the same disclaimer on every statement, not just the one that the AP selected. Brilliant post. AP needs to see that.