Posted on 04/30/2003 1:11:30 PM PDT by Kay Soze
U.S. Troops Again Fire on Iraqis, 2 Reported Killed Shooting in town 30 miles west of Baghdad comes less than 48 hours after gunfire during a demonstration that hospital officials said killed 13 Iraqis.
By Laura King and Michael Slackman
Times Staff Writers
9:44 AM PDT, April 30, 2003
FALLUJAH, Iraq -- For the second time this week, U.S. troops opened fire today on anti-American demonstrators, leaving two people dead and 18 wounded.
Iraqi residents, protesting over a shooting Monday night when 14 people were killed and 75 were wounded, insisted that no weapons were fired.
"They just started shooting people," said Khazal Abdel Hadi, who had been shot in the leg.
But U.S. Central Command said troops reacted to Iraqis who fired weapons and threw rocks during the demonstration in front of the U.S. military headquarters on the edge of town.
Soldiers at the headquarters saw a protester aiming a weapon and opening fire on a passing convoy of U.S. troops, said Capt. Mike Riedmuller, of the 2nd Squadron of the 3rd Armored Calvary.
He said his soldiers fired several warning shots, followed by shots fired from the convoy.
The crowd was dispersed by U.S. Apache helicopters circling at rooftop level.
The Central Command did not confirm whether any Americans were injured or killed.
The violence came less than two days after U.S. troops and Iraqis clashed at another demonstration in this town about 60 miles west of Baghdad. Residents of this conservative, tradition-bound city charged that 14 Iraqis were killed and 75 others were wounded when U.S. soldiers opened fire on a crowd of protesters in a melee marked by misunderstandings, confusion and seething anger.
More than 24 hours later, the circumstances of the shootings involving members of the 82nd Airborne were still in dispute. The Americans said they were only defending themselves after Iraqis started shooting at them Monday night and that they could not confirm that U.S. forces had killed anyone. Participants insisted it was a peaceful, if heated, demonstration, and pointed to scores of dead and wounded.
Sorting through the various accounts of what occurred is difficult, not only because of the chaos of war, but because of the hatred filling the streets of this city, and because of the vast cultural gap that exists between the Iraqis and the Americans.
This was Saddam Hussein country, a Sunni Muslim enclave that was hostile to U.S. forces long before they arrived.
No matter what the truth turns out to be, the incident has fanned outrage against the Americans as they try to stabilize the country and win the trust of the Iraqi people.
When the Americans rolled into town three days ago, they angered the community when they set up camp in a school, making it impossible for the children to resume classes. Residents became even more upset when the soldiers took school desks and piled them in the street as roadblocks.
And when the soldiers stood on the roof of the school, gazing out across the city, neighbors were worried that they were spying on the women.
"We will talk to the mayor today and we will try to meet with religious leaders to make sure we understand cultural concerns," said Lt. Col. Eric Nantz, 39, of the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Battalion.
What they did understand is that they were not wanted. Publicly, the officers here say that the vast majority of the people in Fallujah are supportive. But privately, soldiers who won't give their names said they have constantly had rocks thrown at them, been shot at and berated. They said the Monday night attack was the last straw.
"We have been sitting here for three days taking fire," said a soldier who identified himself only as an E4 specialist. "When they marched down the road and started shooting at the compound, there was nothing left to do but defend ourselves."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Only Pacifica tells the unvarnished truth, as opposed to the right-wing propoganda we get from the corporate media.
Perhaps then he will realize firsthand what Israel is dealing with every day...all "intifdahs" are Jihads meant to undermine and weaken the enemy. We are hearing the same things we hear in Israel: "No one fired on the troops"..."they were unarmed"..."they only threw stones"..."they are an occupying army". Soon they will get children involved, and then suicide belts, mortars, etc.
Perhaps at the end of 6 months, we will realize that the only way towards peace in Israel is the Armey/DeLay plan: complete removal of the Arab populations to Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia--from whence they came.
If that's what happened. Which I suspect is the case. But where's the tape that shows it happening? I can't believe that after the first incident, taping crowd-control situations didn't become SOP.
That...thats what irritates me the most.
I'd like to get one or two jihadist infront of a wall. Then get 10-20 guys digging into a bucket of rocks, stones and bricks. Then "only" throw stones at their heads.
I wonder how they will like that.
I was stunned when they concluded by saying that yesterday the Americans had fired on the Iraqis after they said they were fired on. Huh? How does that chronology go? NPR is trying so hard to be "objective" that they would rather be inaccurate than report something the military claimed without qualification.
Nah. I listen to KPFA-Radio Taliban in Berkeley for comic relief. The more they despair over American successes, the weirder they get.
Just one thing I'm trying to figure out.
How many O's in propaganda?
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