U.S. strikes Fallujah, killing 13 and wounding 17, Groom among dead

US warplanes have struck a building in the Iraqi town of Falluja killing 13 people, including a groom on his wedding night, and wounded 17 others, a doctor said.









Aljazeera.net
Falluja groom among dead in US strike
The US military said the attack early on Friday was targeted at a meeting of the al-Qaida-linked network of Jordanian-born fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The attack came despite signs of progress in negotiations to bring Iraqi government forces back into Falluja for the first time in months.

Dr Ahmad Sayeed said his hospital received 13 dead, including the groom, and 17 wounded, including the bride. He said most of the injured were female relatives of the groom who were staying at the house after the wedding celebration.

Muhammad Jawad, who lives next door, said he had just moved into the central neighborhood to escape repeated shelling on Falluja's outskirts. His brother and six nephews were killed in the strike, which damaged their house.

Shrapnel wounds
"This attack shows that there is no safe place in Falluja, and the Americans are not differentiating between civilians and armed men," Jawad sobbed as he was treated for shrapnel wounds to his face and hand.

The US command, however, said "credible intelligence sources" reported that leaders of al-Zarqawi's group - Tawhid and Jihad - were meeting in the targeted house.

The attack was among a dozen "precision strikes" launched since September against al-Zarqawi's network, which has claimed responsibility for seizing and killing several foreign captives.

According to the US statement, those strikes have dealt a "significant blow" to al-Zarqawi's movement, killing several key figures including his chief lieutenant Muhammed al-Lubnani and spiritual adviser Abu Anas al-Shami.

For weeks, the Iraqi government has been in contact with community representatives in Falluja, seeking to strike a deal to reassert control of the city.

Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said the two sides were nearing agreement on a plan providing for a three-day halt to attacks, followed by the return of Iraqi troops into the city.

Condemnation
Condemning the US strikes, Muslim clerics in Iraq said it was part of Washington�s "scorched earth" policy.

"Falluja is being hit every day under the guise of striking al-Zarqawi, and residents take out a two-year-old child from under the rubble. Is this al-Zarqawi?" asked Shaikh Abd al-Ghafur al-Samarrai in a fiery sermon at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque on Friday.

"The Americans are using [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon's scorched earth and collective punishment policy."

Referring to the ongoing negotiations in Falluja, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan al-Samarrai at a sermon in Baghdad's Abu Hanifa mosque said: "Some members of the delegation say the talks are going well ... and then we have an operation that kills and wounds people."








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[edit on 9-10-2004 by fanoose]

Well, I guess the US-intelligence had concluded that the groom was part of a terrorist group and had to be killed. Or then, this is the way US is planning to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis and bring peace and democracy to Middle East. I just hope that they won't bring their democracy where I live...

y is it that whenever the US attacks a warehouse etc. according to the US its insergist meeting, and the insergists say its a wedding party or daycare center etc.

maybe they get married at the mettings?

One side will never ever admit they are wrong, so it will keep going on and on forever. If it really was an insurgent meeting, couldn't special ops go and spy on this "meeting" beforehand? is it already done before and the insurgents always lie?

Basically I don't believe anything that the US military intelligence says after the fiasco of the evidence of Saddam's WMD's, forgered reports, photos etc.
It showed clearly that it is not about the truth, it is about pushing their cause trough no matter what the real truth is.

Originally posted by fusion360
One side will never ever admit they are wrong, so it will keep going on and on forever. If it really was an insurgent meeting, couldn't special ops go and spy on this "meeting" beforehand? is it already done before and the insurgents always lie?



You know you got strong argument there. . .
Lets say they are 100% insurgents, which's better to capture them and use them to lead you to other groups or kill them and destroy other houses and the survivors will join the insurgents for revenge?

I heard that the occupation uses 'contractors' to get within civilians to try and 'leak' infos to them, Now some of those contractors used it to blackmail civilians, for example "give me money Or i'm gonna 'leak' that you're one of the insurgents!!

And an other attack....it seems to get in the headlines everytime

Originally posted by fanoose

Originally posted by fusion360
One side will never ever admit they are wrong, so it will keep going on and on forever. If it really was an insurgent meeting, couldn't special ops go and spy on this "meeting" beforehand? is it already done before and the insurgents always lie?



You know you got strong argument there. . .
Lets say they are 100% insurgents, which's better to capture them and use them to lead you to other groups or kill them and destroy other houses and the survivors will join the insurgents for revenge?

I heard that the occupation uses 'contractors' to get within civilians to try and 'leak' infos to them, Now some of those contractors used it to blackmail civilians, for example "give me money Or i'm gonna 'leak' that you're one of the insurgents!!

Yeah right, lets find a spot where there are several insurgent inside and take by ground troops and expect someone to walk out, pleeeeease, If they tried that the next day on the news you would hear "Tragic day in Iraq as the Army was attempting to take some insurgent alive there was a fire fight and all insurgent's died and 3 soldiers killed and 2 wounded".

We have air superiority, so its much less risky and easier to just drop a bomb on the location and not get any soldiers killed.

Which one would you rather see on the news?

Please excused me,"we do not kill innocent civilians" we targeted terrorist militant and Insurgents.

Occurs after the mistakes calling the death all of the above will make it justified.

I think that when you cannot distinguish between who is who in that country is time to stop and withdraw.

Originally posted by Murcielago
We have air superiority, so its much less risky and easier to just drop a bomb on the location and not get any soldiers killed.



Uh.. then it would be easier to just read this news above!




Originally posted by Murcielago
Which one would you rather see on the news?



I would rather see terrorists/soldiers die than children or innocent people.

[edit on 10-10-2004 by fanoose]

fanoose
I would rather see terrorists/soldiers die than children or innocent people.

I agree with you on children, but if you see them pulling a dead guy out of the rubble that was once a house and them saying why did this innocent man have to die, there assuming that he was innocent, the only difference between a innocent man and a terrorist is his brain and how he perceives the world.

Yeah, they sure do like to get them at the weddings. If I were a terrorist I'd quit going to weddings for sure.

Come to think of it I think I saw a COPS show where they went after a guy at a wedding. Must be a US law enfocement thing.

If you think about it how many occasions can you know in advance when & where the target is going to be and for how long. I bet they even have a copy of the invitation at the bomb run briefing.

A word to the wise don't go to weddings if your a terrorist and don't invite any terrorist to your wedding.

[edit on 11-10-2004 by outsider]

it's really strange - whenever US bomb suspected places they hit wedding party or birthday party etc ))according to "local hospitals" (in fallujah they are controlled by "insurgents) all people killed are the old,mothers with children,women etc )))

the most impressive thing is that it's impossible even in statistic )where are these all Iraqi men???Where are they???

According to these "sources" US always miss the target How could they shatter Iraqi army and how could they capture this country??

All these sources are as trustworthy as all these raports about hundeds GI killed and dozens US helicopters downed by so-called "resistance"

these are just ordinary civilians from fallujah - they are civilians especially when US jets are coming,after that they are not civilians )))

www.anbaar.net...

like in this "story" :

Muslim father to the son: here you have your AK-47,go and kill US soldiers,be careful and kill as many as you can!!!

son:but father,what if they will shot at me??they can kill me!!!

father:why would they shot at you????Why would they harm you???!!!!!Ohhhhhh!!!! How I hate these fu...ing US nazis!!!!!!They want to kill my son!!!!

Originally posted by Murcielago
I agree with you on children, but if you see them pulling a dead guy out of the rubble that was once a house and them saying why did this innocent man have to die, there assuming that he was innocent, the only difference between a innocent man and a terrorist is his brain and how he perceives the world.



No they are not, cause there's no one shred evidence they are "guilty". We didn't see them pulling the guy out of the rubble and saying this's one of the insurgents. And we all know the famous saying 'a man is innocent until proven guilty'. Now since you (presumably) believe they might be "terrorists" then how come the military didn't captured/seized the ones who survived (wounded) an example would be :

(warning: this one might be considered a lil graphics, click the link if you like.)
us.news2.yimg.com... ag10210080840.iraq__bag102.jpg
An injured Iraqi man is comforted at the hospital in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), early morning Friday, Oct 8, 2004 after a US air strike on the Sunni city. The US air strike on the rebel-held city of Fallujah killed 13 people and wounding 17 at a wedding party, according to hospital sources. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)


Local residents examine the debris after houses were flattened in an US overnight airstrike in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), Friday, Oct 8, 2004.The US air strike on the rebel-held city of Fallujah killed 13 people and wounding 17 at a wedding party, according to hospital sources. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)


An Iraqi man cleans up a picture showing a page of the Quran, in a destroyed house in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), early morning Friday, Oct 8, 2004 after an US air strike on the Sunni city. The US air strike on the rebel-held city of Fallujah killed 13 people and wounding 17 at a wedding party, according to hospital sources. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)


Iraqi men rush an injured person to the hospital in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), early morning Friday, Oct 8, 2004 after an US air strike on the Sunni city. The US air strike on the rebel-held city of Fallujah killed 13 people and wounding 17 at a wedding party, according to hospital sources. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)


An Iraqi boy stands amid the debris of building and vehicles following a US military attack on the city of Fallujah. US warplanes bombed the rebel-held Iraqi city saying it was a "precision strike" targeting militants.(AFP/Fares Dlimi)

As for how they perceive the world, let not forget that you're on their country and instead of chasing the "guilty" you save face by bombing innocent people!

By the end next year Iraq will have over 200 thousnad troops. Then we can move to the boarder of Iran and stop them

By next year Snagltooth the casualties on the US side will be grater and the casualties of injuries that required soldiers to come home from treatment will be even grater, they will have to be replace with fresh troops that US will not have do to the over extension of duties, so will you be able to take their place and stop the Iranians? Or, you are to young to die for bushes war.

Get the facts first.

fanoose - I know were the occupying force, and we are on there land. They should be more gratefull, We took out there crazy leader and his whole empire. Now hold on, I know what your going to say, "How would you like it if some other country came on your soil and started bombing buildings and have carbombs go off on a regular basis, My response would be, That it wouldn't and couldn't happen because we would see them comming (in planes or ships) and take them out before they got here, But now lets say that I live in a country in Iraqs position, I would not like an occupying force in my country unless what there doing I agree with. Which I would, everyone knows that Sadaam had to go.(except France because he bought them off)

The problem is that the US comanders thought it would be easier then it is, and the reason its so hard is because its not just iraqis fighting, the majority of it is terrorist from other countries (Pakistan, Iran, Syria), They all want the US forces to loose in Iraq that way they leave the middle east.

They now see what happened after they gave up in Afghanistan, they had elections and are becoming a better country. and they know that if Iraq is another success that the US will move on to another country (Iran).

So its unfortunate for Iraq, but the truth is is that their country has become the main battle ground, and the terrorist relize its all or nothing.

Also, I dissagree with snagltooth, We currently have 128 thousand troops there and its obvious to everyone that it would be nice if more are there, but overtime the Iraqis will slowly begin to get there country back. There are increasing numbers of Iraqis that want to join the Police Force in Iraq, So in a year or two, If the US is still there it will be under 50,000 troops.

and fanoose, I know what are law is (innocent until proven guilty), but just because the people on the ground digging the people out of the rubble think they were innocent, The CIA and other military braches say otherwise (the US wants to win over the hearts and minds in Iraq, So all bombing missions are carefully planned out, we dont just bomb at will).

[edit on 11-10-2004 by Murcielago]