US troops raid kindergarten

[rodeodance]

Source: iol

US troops raid kindergarten

January 08 2008 at 02:07PM

Baghdad - A US force has stormed a kindergarten in a Shi'a-dominated district in Baghdad, smashed toys, doors and windows and arrested three of its guards, the Iraqi government said on Tuesday.

US troops raided Kanari kindergarten in the Jamila area of Sadr City in Baghdad where they smashed children's toys, doors, windows and roofs, according to a statement by the media centre of the Iraqi cabinet.

"No evidence was found during the raid on the kindergarten that proves the school's involvement in terrorist acts or that it is used for storing weapons," the statement said.

The reason for the operation was not immediately known..........

Read more: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080108103758931C406967

[ixion]

1. oh yeah... winning the hearts and minds

way to go...not. :(

[Ian David]

2. They're looking for THIS guy...

[Hydra]

4. bwahaha!

The Burt w/rocket launcher is priceless!

[Hydra]

3. *chuckle*

We're just winning the hearts and minds there, aren't we? Our all-powerful military is reduced to scaring kindergardeners?

"Sir, I think the ship is sinking..."
"Nonsense! Full speed ahead!"

[Ian David]

5. General Burgermeister must be in charge

[DCKit]

42. Had the children been in classes, the article would have mentioned it....

Either way it sounds terrible and neither the actual Army or Blackwater's interests are well served by this article.

In defense of the troops (though the amount of destruction, as usual, is WAAAAYYYY over the top), what better place to hide munitions than a school, hospital or mosque?

The point is not so much what is happening in Iraq, but how we got there, why we're still there and will anyone be held accountable?

[Hydra]

44. It's all important

I want all the "patriots" to see how we are raping, pillaging, scaring lil kids, etc.

Why? Because everyone thinks that wars and occupations fix things. They don't. Not ever.

The sooner everyone gets a grasp on that concept, the better.

[LiberalEsto]

6. They were looking for the idiot

who reads "My Pet Goat"

[micraphone]

32. Yes they were

Illegal PIRATED copies!!!!!!!!!

Penalty: Immediate execution of pirates.

More great PR for the worlds press. Idiots.

[chelsea0011]

7. "No Child Left Alive" program

[havocmom]

8. Blackwater black op to give troops black eye

and maintain their lucrative war?

Yeah, I AM that cynical. I would hope only Blackwater mercs would be so cold as to raid a kindergarten. Yes, I do realize weapons can be hidden in unlikely place. I choose to believe real US troops might rely on more stealth and judgment to find out for sure.

[tuckessee]

37. WTF? Blackwater?

Take responsibility for what your regular troops do and accept them for what they are.

Don't go fabricating out of whole cloth wild fantasies about mercenaries on secret missions to distract from what really happened.

[havocmom]

38. Take a breath and accept that we really can't know ANYTHING for sure

And there are lots of bad people out there. There ARE some bad troops. There ARE more bad mercs. The mercs don't have as many rules and not as much paper trail.

Do take part in REALITY. Did you catch the INTEL report on the hoaxes of the Vietnam war? There is plenty of evidence that we should be skeptical about initial reports along with tin foil theories.

Of late, the tin foilers have been correct more than the party line reports.

I have been around military most of my life. Most are NOT wanton killers and most have decent judgment and sensibilities.

[tuckessee]

39. You apologists for US troops are really something.

If your troops have such "decent judgment and sensibilities" they wouldn't even have gone into Iraq in the first place let alone still be there killing people with the same mindless, cowardly, over use of firepower that failed so spectacularily in Indo-China.

You talk about hoaxes..... Well, was My Lai a hoax? Was Haditha a hoax? Was Fallujah a hoax? Was Abu Grahib a hoax? Is Gitmo a hoax?

Don't you find it odd that, as you say, "we really can't know anything for sure" about events in Iraq?

The nation was supposedly liberated by a glorious army of freedom, is still host to tens of thousands of those liberators, yet it might as well be behind the Iron Curtain when it comes to the free flow of information.

Trying to spin this raid as a possible Blackwater false flag black-op is too extreme. Why not try the "just a few bad apples" line?

[havocmom]

41. Hey, you know nothing about me save that I refuse to accept the story as told without proof

THAT is not being an apologist. What is the wisdom of believing what is told us by a government AND MEDIA that profits from war and has been proven to be liars over and over.

Convict the troops in media? Not my game, but if it's yours, go for it. Rush will love using it to try an illustrate how DEMS hate the troops.

I am not spinning anything. Just pointing out some rather obvious (and the past bears me out) possibilities.

I do stand by my personal observation that most of the military people I have known are good, decent public servants. I also know war does bad things to decent people. And believe me, I wanted the convictions of that happened at Mi Lai to go a WHOLE lot hight up the food chain than they did. A lot of what happens on the ground STARTS with the attitude and latitude from the office high up.

And CAN we really know anything for sure about events in Iraq? Well, show me how THAT is possibel? We have to rely on corporate (war profiteering) media, military brass, and a cheney led government for most of the news that we get. Yeah, no worries there, huh? :eyes:

[LeftyMom]

9. Gee, I'm proud.

:patriot:

I trust our strong, brave men didn't suffer heavy casualties at the bloody hands of those vicious little tykes?

[Supersedeas]

10. part of the much ballyhooed rally against extremists??

[pberq]

11. I feel safer now

Just think, if it wasn't for that raid on the kindergarten, terrorists would be swarming in American cities tomorrow!

:sarcasm:

[Vektor]

12. I'd rather fight kindergartners over there than fight them over here.

:eyes:

[bluesmail]

13. only the most f'ed up group of humans would do that

what are they taking? Steroids, sure, in combination with what? F G help us.

[timtom]

16. I always cringe and grit my teeth

when I hear someone say, "Let's pray for our boys and girls over there who are fighting for our freedom..."

It's almost enough to make me an apostate.

[damntexdem]

19. Hey, don't become aprostate!

That gland is important!

Of course, the kindergartners just fail to understand that.

[timtom]

23. Too late!

I'm deprostrated.

[annabanana]

14. (not familiar with this South African site)

are there any corroborating links?

[stillcool]

21. something?

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/170836.html
US army launches anti-al-Qaeda operation in Iraq - Summary
Posted : Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:23:00 GMT

Middle East World News | Home
Baghdad - The US military said Tuesday it has launched a major joint operation with Iraqi troops to attack strongholds of the al-Qaeda terrorist network while the Iraqi army killed six terror suspects and held 218 in raids across Baghdad. Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, announced the launch of Operation Phantom Phoenix, which will "pursue and neutralize remaining al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist elements."

The US military said that the al-Qaeda militants, although driven out of their sanctuaries in many areas in Iraq, remain a dangerous threat.

In a separate development, Iraqi troops launched a series of raids in eight areas across the capital as part of a major security offensive to clear the city of insurgents. The raids left four security personnel dead and 14 injured, according to a military statement.
------------------------------------
The offensive came a day after two suicide bombers struck Baghdad's Sunni district of Azamya, killing the leader of a neighbourhood volunteer patrol from the Awakening Council, which fights militants affiliated to the al-Qaeda terrorist network and has branches across the country.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile earlier Tuesday, the US military stormed a kindergarten in a Shiite-dominated district of Baghdad and arrested three of its guards, the Iraqi government said.

US troops raided Kanari kindergarten in the Jamila area of Sadr City where they smashed toys, doors, windows and roofs, according to a statement by the media centre of the Iraqi cabinet.

"No evidence was found during the raid on the kindergarten that proves the school's involvement in terrorist acts or that it is used for storing weapons," the statement said.

The reason for the operation was not immediately known.

Sadr City, located in east Baghdad, has been a hotbed for fighters from the Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army which is controlled by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

US forces have frequently launched operations against Mahdi Army offices in the area and arrested local politicians and fighters.

In a separate incident, three members of a family, including an Iraqi soldier, were killed by gunmen in the town of Hawija near the northern city of Kirkuk, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.

[guruoo]

34. "Whoever answered the door would get wasted."

Phoenix Program (snipped) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program#Quotes

"The problem was, how do you find the people on the blacklist? It's not like you had their address and telephone number. The normal procedure would be to go into a village and just grab someone and say, 'Where's Nguyen so-and-so?' Half the time the people were so afraid they would say anything. Then a Phoenix team would take the informant, put a sandbag over his head, poke out two holes so he could see, put commo wire around his neck like a long leash, and walk him through the village and say, 'When we go by Nguyen's house scratch your head.' Then that night Phoenix would come back, knock on the door, and say, 'April Fool, motherfucker.' Whoever answered the door would get wasted. As far as they were concerned whoever answered was a Communist, including family members. Sometimes they'd come back to camp with ears to prove that they killed people."

- Lieutenant Vincent Okamoto, intelligence-liaison officer for the Phoenix Program for 2 months in 1968 and a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. Wounded 3 times, he is the highest-decorated Japanese-American veteran of the Vietnam War. He has served as president of the Japanese American Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee and as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. <3><4>

[sabra]

22. posted yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3127805&mesg_id=3127805

[boricua79]

15. wow...destroying toys

we have reached the ultimate layer of Hell with THAT one...even Dante would say it's too hot now!

Raiding kindergardens? Wow...we are a Nazis...wow....

[damntexdem]

17. Those little terrorists!

And if they're not fully toilet trained, you really have to be careful.

[fascisthunter]

18. What Idiot Ordered That?

Reminds me of a video of a song called "Bomb"

[bluesmail]

20. Why oh Why? WHY?

Regressing no doubt to happier days

[7 of 11]

24. Otherwise, how else do you expect

Black water and Haliburton to make money. You know first we rebuild schools then we knock them down so they can be rebuilt again, so Wall street can make that money.AND!!! We can replace the toys with ones made by child slave labour in china. It;s a win win situation for the right!

This is what this war has been all about, a perpetual greed machine so the rich can get richer!

[superconnected]

25. So much for Bush restoring dignity to America.

One embarassment after another.

[Dukkha]

26. were they greeted as liberators of naptime?

fucking idiots :mad:

[Andrushka]

27. "The reason for the operation was not immediately known..."

Kind of sums up the last 4 years, dunnit?

As if the kids of Iraq weren't traumatized enough, now this superb example of US military might. Jackboots on teddy bears. Way to go.

[Sabriel]

28. Did they clean up after themselves before moving on to the next site?

And I hope they washed their hands, too.

Honestly, how much lower can this military sink?

Is the military intel really THAT bad?

[happygoluckytoyou]

29. THEN BUSH SAT DOWN AND READ THEM "THE HUNGRY CATERPILLAR", the end

[emilyg]

31. yes - upside down.

[RayOfHope]

30. I teach kindergarten. This makes me physically ill n/t

[China_cat]

36. I don't particularly like kids that age, but there's no reason for

shit like this. Makes me ill to have to admit that I'm a US citizen.

[candymarl]

33. Toddlers for Terrorism

First there was crying, and clutching stuffed animals. We must protect ourselves against the newly toilet trained set. They may cling to their parent or parents. Obviously, there's a plot afoot. Let's see, this was a Shi'a school. The Shi'a are the majority. The Sunnis, backed by Saddam, are the minority but run everything with US/European backing . Although Saddam was smart enough to incorporate a few Shia's into his inner ranks. We (the US/Europe) have decided to back Sunnis, again. We train them and arm them. This is different from when Saddam was in power how?

[Sedona]

35. "Fighting them over there......

......um who is "them" again?

[alarimer]

40. Well someone said they were holy terrors.

We must have thought they said "holy terrorists".

[panzerfaust]

43. Newborn Nursery to be hit next

[FiveGoodMen]

45. Do you think they'll take babies out of incubators and throw them on the floor?

Oh, wait ...