U.S. army insists desert house was legitimate target (new spin)

[UpInArms]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20040524-0305-iraq-wedding-military.html

BAGHDAD – The U.S. military insisted on Monday that it hit a legitimate target in an air and ground strike in western Iraq last week, despite evidence that many of those who died in the attack were part of a wedding party.

"We still don't believe that there was a wedding or a wedding party going on when we hit in the early hours of the morning," a senior military official told reporters.

"Could there have been some sort of celebration going on earlier? Certainly. It could be that there was a wedding party and that could have broken up by about 1800 (1400 GMT) that evening," said the official, who declined to be identified.

"There are still a lot of inconsistencies that still need to be worked out and that is why we're doing an investigation and we're going to take a hard look at this. We haven't denied anything. We're open to whatever evidence may come forward."

...more...

HUH?? All they have done is deny, deny, deny.

[wtmusic]

1. 9-11 PM Wedding Party, 12A - 3A Anti-Coalition Terrorist Mtg, BYOW

(bring your own weapons). Says so right there on the damn schedule.

[Just Me]

26. What really p*sses me off is that,...THEY DON'T KNOW!!!!

They do an "auto-deny". The reports contradict. They SAY, "we found stuff". A video contradicts. They do a "we still believe, but are open to,...".

They never give a basis,...a substantive basis for ANYTHING that they do.

That's called "lawlessness".

That's not okay in any "democracy".

They are increasingly appearing as nothing but murderous thugs,...which is totally ANTI-DEMOCRACY, ANTI-FREEDOM/LIBERATION,...

anti-hope, anti-human, anti-life, anti-dignity, anti-love,....

[wtmusic]

30. Yes, and the apologists

beg you which is worse, them or Saddam, totally, of course, missing the point...

[benddem]

2. I've been to Arab weddings

They last all night. The groom comes into the women's room after he is done celebrating with his male buds and relatives. the women don't eat till the groom comes in. The last one I went to the groom didn't come in till after 3:30 AM. We didn't get home till 6 AM. And we left the wedding party didn't. The kids are up all night.
This is just another bunch of BS and lies. They screwed up.:mad:

[keithyboy]

21. And of course, they have guns...that's part of the celebration.

They would also have money and passports. Many of these people probably came from far and near. Can you imagine if they didn't carry their passports? Money? It was a wedding for Christ's sake. Who doesnt bring money gifts to a wedding? The US would arrest them no doubt. This is so much bullshit it is unbearable. How can we keep getting away with this crap?

[madrchsod]

3. denying the denial

well that`s a good one. what next? denying the denial of the denial...

[UpInArms]

4. next they will say that you never heard or read their denial

anywhere!

You had just better quit believing your lying eyes! /sarcasm

[yellowcanine]

8. Right - "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?"

"That woman crawled into my bed while I was sleeping."

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I think General Kimmitt

is really Bob Boudelang!

[saigon68]

13. He is a Thug in Denial

An official who is encouraging and abetting WAR CRIMES

[okieinpain]

15. what was the iragi information officers name. well meet his us

counterpart.

[ret5hd]

6. who does this sound like...

"Could there have been some sort of celebration going on earlier? Certainly. It could be that there was a wedding party and that could have broken up by about 1800 (1400 GMT) that evening," said the official, who declined to be identified.

If you're saying that particular speech patterns can help identify a person, you may be correct.
If you're saying that it sounds like rummy, you may be correct.

a better question would be "why would rummy ask not to be identified?

[0007]

7. Shibley Telhami of the Brookings Institution

confirmed the U.S. bombed a wedding party and are now in the process of lying about it, if there was any doubt what so ever you would not be hearing from Mr. Telhami.

[plcdude]

9. do you have a source

for this?

[0007]

28. It was on c-span this morning - I don't think you'll have a problem

finding it.

May have been the 'Foreign Policy Studies'?

[Minstrel Boy]

10. Hell, they still insist Iraq was a legitimate target.

It wasn't.

In an illegitimate war, no aggressor's target is legitimate. Least of all a fucking wedding, and more than a dozen children.

Lying, shameless murderers.

[Cocoa]

11. the inevitable ending of this story

they'll admit they bombed a wedding, but they'll emphasize that they didn't do it on purpose.

All the intermediate lying, of course, will not be addressed.

[Tracer]

12. Not on purpose?

Oh. OK. That's all right, then.

Not that they should investigate the squad who was on the ground, or their superiors, nor the pilots, or their superiors, or the superiors's superiors.

Nah.

[Roy]

14. No sweat.......

When it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt they massacred a wedding party. They will do as they always do.

Re-iterate that they do not "intentionally target civilians", and as proof of their compassion compensation will be paid to each family who lost a love one.

$50 bucks for lost of 1st immediate family member.
$25 bucks for the 2nd immediate family member.

Other family members,
$15 for grandparent
$10 for cousins, aunts, uncles etc.

males between ages 14 and 30 are not eligible to be compensated for.

All Iraqis wishing to receive their cash compensation should report to Abu Gharib prison to complete the necessary documents.

NOTE: do bring personal belongings they will not be needed

[NickB79]

16. In a related story

Gen. Kimmett insists the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are real. "We still don't believe there was a parent putting out the candy and presents in the middle of the night," a senior military official told reporters.

Just how delusional are these bastards?

[Kadie]

17. Here is the AP story....

U.S. military: Evidence shows Iraq attack site was not wedding


By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military said Monday its photographs of rifles, machine guns, white powder and foreign passports support its case that it attacked a safehouse for foreign fighters - not a wedding party - near the Syrian border.
Iraqi survivors and police said up to 45 people died, and that the victims had been celebrating a wedding. Video that Associated Press Television News shot a day after the attack shows fragments of musical instruments, pots and pans, and brightly colored beddings used for celebrations, scattered around a bombed out tent.
"At this point, we have seen really nothing that causes us to change our minds. That's why we need to get as much evidence as possible and hand it to the investigators," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the coalition deputy chief of staff for operations in Iraq.

"What we found on the ground and our post-strike analysis suggests that what we had was a significant foreign fighter smuggler waystation in the middle of the desert that was bringing people into this country for the sole purpose of attacking to kill the people of Iraq," he said.

http://newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/1391344p-8652339c.html

[riverwalker]

18. "shows fragments of musical instruments"

I guess it was the Militant Insurgant Marching Band, according to Dimwit Kimmitt.

[louis-t]

19. 'White powder' could have been

sugar for wedding cookies. Weapons could have been planted. Can't trust military or * admin, yet freeper types still say "prove that shrub lied!"

[floda]

20. Kimmit is lying about the children too!

The Spanish newspaper Elmundo published a picture. Its graphic and heartbreaking. No dDoubt Kimmit will try to spin this one too.(maybe he will say they are sleeping?):grr:

GRAPHIC
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2004/05/19/internacional/1084989203.html

[saigon68]

23. "We'll save them from torture and rape rooms" the Chimpanzee




"The Iraqi people are now free. And they do not have to worry about the secret police coming
after them in the middle of the night, and they don't have to worry about their husbands and
brothers being taken off and shot, or their wives being taken to rape rooms. Those days are
over."——Paul Bremer, Administrator, Coalition Provisional Authority, Sept. 2, 2003

"Iraq is free of rape rooms and torture chambers."——President Bush, remarks to 2003
Republican National Committee Presidential Gala, Oct. 8, 2003

“One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape
rooms."——Bush, press availability in Monterrey, Mexico. Jan. 12, 2004

[indepat]

22. It's not rocket science understanding anything they say is a legitimate

target, anything of their choosing is a legitimate target. Just trust them.

[funnymanpants]

24. CNN buys US spin

CNN has an article on this story repeating Kimmit's denails, *but not any statments from the other side that would show this was in fact a wedding party!*

Why should I be surprised that the media continues to play spokesperson for the administration after what we saw leading up to the war?

CNN--free propaganda.

[Berserker]

25. On CNN today they played a little of the tape and quickly

said no one new when these scenes where shot (because it did look like a wedding) but then they showed pictures of white powder and needles they had found at the site. Spin Spin Spin

[Cronus Protagonist]

27. And all this time I thought d'Nile was in Egypt

Apparently, it's in Iraq.

Click here for stunning, insulting, shocking, funny buttons, magnets and stickers

[Disturbed]

29. War crimes Strategy

Deny, make up counter story, deny. If actually caught then minimize. By the time the real story comes out it will have faded or been replaced by other stories.

I believe that these people studied Geobels carefully.

[daleo]

31. A wedding celebration breaks up at 1800 (6 p.m.)?

These unnamed officials must think the entire world is as stupid as Bush.