Mosque on Fire After U.S. Air Strikes in West Iraq

Reuters ^ | 10/11/04

[TexKat]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. marines engaged in heavy clashes with scores of insurgents near a mosque in western Iraq on Monday, leading to U.S. air strikes which damaged the mosque and left it ablaze, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. military spokesman said marines came under fire from around 100 insurgents near the town of Hit, about 107 miles west of Baghdad, and engaged in an hour-long firefight.

Air support was called in after the guerrillas took up positions around a mosque in the town. "The mosque is partially damaged and currently on fire," the spokesman said.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

I apologize for this being off subject. But can anyone tell me about the rumor I heard this morning that W. was wearing a hidden receiver during the debate Friday?

[F16Fighter]

The report should be about a crator that was once a mosque.

[Americanwolf]

Well in a sense yes. We are treating the mosques as what they are AS TERRORIST BASES . So yeah targeting them is a good step in the right directions for ending this insurrection once and for all.

[USF]

Btw, I like my Islamic terrorist crispy... like bacon.

[Joe 6-pack]

'bout time we "went reno," on 'em.

[sheik yerbouty]

ALLAHU FUBAR!

[Marysecretary]

Good! They should bomb all of them.

[AF68]

Mosque on fire? Standby for secondary explosions of stored ordnance.

[camle]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm peanut budda! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

[Tijeras_Slim]

Here's a funny take on what DU's saying.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1241119/posts

[finnman69]

Tough tootie. Once these scumbags learn hiding in a mosque will not protect you, they will stop hiding in mosques.

[showme_the_Glory]

Ooopsie. They all look like mosques to me.

[xJones]

At last! Mosques aren't guaranteed protection for terrorists. The marines took a hit on a mosque in Hit.

[michigander]

Look over here.

[TexKat]

Mosque on Fire After U.S. Air Strikes in West Iraq,/font>

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. marines engaged in heavy clashes with scores of insurgents near a mosque in western Iraq on Monday, leading to U.S. air strikes which damaged the shrine and left it ablaze, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. military spokesman said marines came under fire from around 100 insurgents near the town of Hit, about 107 miles west of Baghdad, and engaged in an hour-long firefight.

"Some of the anti-Iraqi forces took up fighting positions in a mosque," the spokesman in Baghdad said.

"Air strikes were called in on the mosque position. The mosque is partially damaged and is currently on fire," he said.

It was not immediately clear if it was a Sunni or Shi'ite Muslim mosque, but the vast majority of people in Anbar province, which includes the town of Hit, are Sunni Muslims.

The area has been a bastion of rebel activity over the past 18 months, particularly around the towns of Falluja and Ramadi, which lie just east of Hit.

Hit is on the main road that follows the Euphrates river toward Syria, a route that U.S. forces suspect is used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq and bring supplies to guerrillas.

U.S. forces have engaged in fighting near mosques previously in the Iraq conflict, most notably around the Imam Ali shrine in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf earlier this year, but relatively little damage has yet been done to shrines.

Insurgents often accuse U.S. forces of damaging mosques, while the U.S. military says guerrillas use the holy sites as shields from which to attack them.

[hiredhand]

Our CINC said that he would hunt them down and kill them no MATTER where they tried to hide! I don't remember him making exceptions to any places of worship, for any religions.

Try this out....go to your local Baptist church...take a weapon with you, and when you get there find a good vantage point inside for shooting at things outside, and kill some people outside on the street.

Eventually, law enforcement officials, or maybe even a good citizen will blow enough of the building to smithereens in order to put an end to your destructive behavior.

Just for giggles, while you're in the church killing people outside, dare them to damage the "holy" building! See what happens. :-)

Our past unwillingness to blow mosques into little bitty peices is akin to giving in to a threat of terror. I think that from now on, if Islamic extremists hide in a mosque, it should immediately become the target of an airstrike. NO questions....NO deviation from this rule!

I'll bet their babbling about their "holy" places would subside after the first few that we reduced to rubble, to fall on the vile murderers that were inside using it to their advantage!

[No Blue States]

Something sure can sweep me off my feet.

Burning down the mosque.

Our bombs are holy.

[Heavyrunner]

If the U.S. does something to piss off Islam, and Reuters isn't there to report it, did it really happen?

[TexKat]

How would you like you mosqueaballs?