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Four U.S. civilians killed in Iraq
Residents hang bodies from bridge
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Suspected insurgents killed four American civilian contractors in a grenade attack Wednesday in central Iraq, U.S. officials said.
Cheering residents in Fallujah pulled charred bodies from burning vehicles and hung them from a Euphrates River bridge.
Crowds gathered around the vehicles and dragged at least one of the bodies through the streets, witnesses said.
Residents pulled another body from one of the cars and beat it with sticks.
Also in the Fallujah region, five American soldiers died in a roadside bombing near Habbaniya, the U.S. military said.
The fatalities bring the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 600, 408 of them in hostile action.
In the attack on the civilians, witnesses said two Mitsubishi vehicles left a military base east of Fallujah to make their way into the city, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
The vehicles turned onto a Fallujah street as men -- whose faces were covered by headscarves -- split into two groups and threw hand grenades at the cars, witnesses said.
The assailants then sprayed the burning cars with small-arms fire.
Video showed crowds chanting and cheering at the scene, with charred corpses hanging from the bridge over the Euphrates.
The U.S. State Department said the U.S. citizens worked for a company contracted by the coalition to work in Iraq.
Fallujah is part of al Anbar province in the "Sunni Triangle," a region north and west of the capital that has been a hotbed of opposition to the U.S. presence.
The White House condemned the "horriffic attacks" by people "trying to prevent democracy from moving forward," spokesman Scott McClellan said.
A changeover of power from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Marines is under way in al Anbar.
"There's a small core element [in Fallujah] that doesn't seem to get it," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, an Army spokesman who confirmed the four killed in the two-vehicle convoy were not military personnel.
Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor said those who exulted over the attack "are not people we are here to help. They are people who have a much different vision for the future of Iraq and the overwhelming majority of Iraqis."
Also Wednesday, two bodyguards for the governor of Diala province and three civilians were wounded in Baqubah, north of Baghdad, when an attacker pulled a car up beside the governor's car and detonated a bomb, Kimmitt said.
The bomb damaged vehicles and a building, but the governor was unharmed, he said.
In other violence Wednesday, three British troops were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a British Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Spokesman Paul Sykes said the troops are receiving medical treatment. One of them was seriously injured, Sykes said, but he didn't know the exact nature of the wounds.
In northern Iraq, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police detained 20 people Tuesday suspected of anti-coalition activities:
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Goal for 2008: Half as many penalties.
I don't think they all hate us. I do think there are quite a few agitators that hate us however.
Sometimes I wonder if the only thing those people respect over there is violence and power. I wonder if they will ever be a democratic nation or if they are destined to be ruled by a despot or be mired in civil war.
As SWD found out with the homeless guy, sometimes despite your best intentions you aren't always able to help people. People have to help themselves, sometimes the best we can do is to assist them in that effort.
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“votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense.” ~H. L. Mencken
I don't think they all hate us. I do think there are quite a few agitators that hate us however.
How many agitators does it take before you can reasonably say that "they hate us"? I've read many articles, where even decent peaceful Iraqis said they wanted us to leave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SirChaz
Sometimes I wonder if the only thing those people respect over there is violence and power. I wonder if they will ever be a democratic nation or if they are destined to be ruled by a despot or be mired in civil war.
IMO, a Democracy won't work. The people over there are used to their brand of radical rightwing Islamic fundamentalism. It started during the age of imperialism and has festered ever since. IMO it is a direct reaction to people being pissed off that they can't control their own destinies.
Look at the Iranian Revolution. It started because we put our iron thumb down, and the people started supporting radical rightwing fundamentalists since they opposed us and our imperialist allies so strongly. Before the Iranian Revolution, they had a secular Socialist government, and the people resented the fact that we helped to overthrow it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SirChaz
As SWD found out with the homeless guy, sometimes despite your best intentions you aren't always able to help people. People have to help themselves, sometimes the best we can do is to assist them in that effort.
As the saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"
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26-year-old Saermengsi last season rated average 25.1 minutes, with 7.5 hours, 2.7 times and 2.7 backboard secondary attack, he Yifusen general as the replacement came in March Yifusen injuries ever period of time, three matches in a row, his secondary attack will reach 10. By Sun team, he could strengthen outer lane line, but also as the replacement fullback scored his general customary activities in the stadium two wings. On the season Saermengsi-ball hit rate reached 30%. He was in flames and Jones made a three-year teammate, Jones said that the organizers he pitches, but he can also shooting. His shooting is deceptive.
Four U.S. civilians killed in Iraq
Residents hang bodies from bridge
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Suspected insurgents killed four American civilian contractors in a grenade attack Wednesday in central Iraq, U.S. officials said.
Here is an overview of the company that the four contractors worked for:
Well you plan would work to make more of them hate us just as much.
Well it is an ugly situation over there that much is certain. I think it will probably get uglier leading up to June 30th.
Fajulla is one thing because for the Sunni support for Saddam but I expect the radicals and terrorists will step up attacks all over Iraq to try and derail the formation of Iraqi security forces and the power transfer.
They are probably hoping we will quit like Somalia if they can make it tough and ugly enough.
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“votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense.” ~H. L. Mencken
Images captured by Arab camera crews showed shrieking young men and boys kicking a charred corpse.
The blows made the corpse quiver as though alive.
As one corpse lay burning on the ground, an Iraqi doused it with petrol, sending flames soaring into the air.
At least two bodies, their skins burned away, were tied to cars and pulled through the streets.
"This is the fate of all Americans who come to Fallujah," said Mohammad Nafik, one of the crowd surrounding the bodies.
Some body parts were pulled off and left hanging from a telephone cable; two incinerated bodies were later strung from a bridge and left dangling.
After one of the incinerated bodies was pulled down, a young boy beat it with his shoe, in a traditional act of ultimate scorn, as a crowd cheered.
"I am happy to see this. The Americans are occupying us, so this is what will happen," said Mohammad, 12, looking on.
As the bodies burned, a crowd of around 150 men chanted "Long live Islam" and "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") while flashing victory signs for the television cameras.
No US soldiers or Iraqi police were seen in the area for several hours after the attack, but a US fighter plane roared overhead, prompting the crowd to scatter.
The White House pleaded with obliging US news agencies not to show the graphic images, which were similar to those from Somalia in 1993 that caused America to withdraw its troops from that country.
"These are horrific, despicable attacks," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "The stakes are high in Iraq and this is a testing time.
"The enemies of freedom and the enemies of the Iraqi people are trying to shake our will, but they cannot.
"We will not be intimidated. The Iraqi people want us to stay and finish the job, and we will."
Washington has said it expected violence to again spiral in Iraq before June 30, when the US plans to hand sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday that getting Iraq on its feet would "require commitment and sacrifice, and the US Government is certainly committed to sticking this through to the end".
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said the nature of the killings "says to me there are profound feelings obviously in Iraq" and that previously-stated hopes of a smooth transition to Iraqi self-rule were "not accurate".
Dr Kissinger said America could not cut and run from Iraq or "the consequences for us would be extremely severe". "This has now become a test case of the terrorist war. We must now prevail," he said.
They are probably hoping we will quit like Somalia if they can make it tough and ugly enough.
That's exactly what they are doing. Frankly, I'm surprised it took so long to do this.
The MINORITY (despite what Krang and the mainstream media say) of insurgents desperately want democracy to fail. They want to keep it from happening at all costs. If they can make Bush look bad internationally or here at home, so much the better. They want democracy to fail there and they want Bush to lose the election.
So, let's vote for Kerry and enable them!
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Fell deeds awake... Now for Wrath... Now for Ruin... and the Red Dawn...
Bush will stay strong and not cut and run on Iraq. I don't know that I believe the same thing about Kerry.
For all the people out there that are upset with Bush over these events I wonder what you plan would be from now forward.
If you were President or if you were in a position to advise President Bush what would you tell him to do now? Rather than just bashing people over what has already been done I would like to see the opposition propose some ideas on what we should do going forward or how you would do things differently in Iraq today.
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“votes are collared under democracy, not by talking sense but by talking nonsense.” ~H. L. Mencken
That's exactly what they are doing. Frankly, I'm surprised it took so long to do this.
Yep. That's the whole basis for terrorism to begin with. The result might not be that the US government will pull out over these attacks, but that civilian companies like the one targeted here will no longer subject their workers to jobs in this region. It's going get a lot worse before it gets better.
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