Iraqi Families Take Refuge in the Desert

[Barrett808]

Iraqi Families Take Refuge in the Desert
By MOHAMMED BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer

JAZIRAH DESERT, Iraq - On the first day of a major U.S. offensive, two shells landed in Um Mazin's house. Grabbing what she could, she fled with four other women and 21 children.

They are now all sheltering in a single flimsy tent, braving sandstorms in the desert — one of scores of families who have fled the roar of fighter jets, shattering gunfire and artillery barrages near the Syrian border.

"We ran away from the American bombings," said Um Mazin, as the wind picked up, sending sand swirling around her. "The Americans do not hit the gunmen, they hit the houses of civilians."

More than 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers are sweeping through small desert outposts, searching for followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,

Iraq's most-wanted militant leader. The thundering offensive, which began late Saturday in the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, sent hundreds of people fleeing from surrounding villages.

Dozens of tents now dot a desolate highway running south through the desert to Jordan.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAR222206.htm

[Jacobin]

1. Things are so much better with Saddam in jail

:eyes:

[Karenina]

2. What America is allowing its military

to do to Iraqi citizens...

[spuddonna]

3. Well, like Rummy sez, freedom sure is messy!

But see, now they have that freedom to CHOOSE to go live in the dessert, unlike before when...uh...they...uh...lived in their home?

God help us... Yeah, we are winning the war on terror, eh? What do you think all the children who are growing up under this destruction will believe - that we are there to save them? or that we are the 'evil west'?

I watched Hillary Clinton screaming yesterday about how money we have allocated to rebuild Iraq is unspent, while the DoD asks for more funds to fight... They can't rebuild because they are too damn busy destroying things still! God, how many times do you need to learn a lesson? Didn't we do this already in Vietnam? argggh!

[NNN0LHI]

4. They hate us for our freedoms n/t

[NeoConsSuck]

5. So how many new insurgents

were created with operation matador?

What a clusterfuck.

[neweurope]

6. "al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most-wanted militant leader." What's wrong

with me? I'm willing to swear that they have "captured" him three times already... Must be getting this mixed up with something else. Hm. Somebody please set me straight...?

-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[XemaSab]

7. Arabs are interchangeable

Didn't you get the memo?

/sarcasm

[Barrett808]

8. I've been telling people the policy is: "Kill more Arabs"

We don't control Baghdad or Route Irish to BIA, therefore we don't control the country. The solution: "Kill more Arabs." That's gotta work, right?