Many killed in US bombing of Samarra

[Darranar]

The US military has dropped a series of half-tonne bombs on a number of locations in the city of Samarra, killing at least 50 people.

Captain Bill Coppernoll said on Saturday the bombing was part of an operation called Cajun Mousetrap III.

The attack "was conducted to assist in the freedom of movement for Iraqi citizens and deny the enemy sanctuary in the surrounding area ... initial reports indicate that approximately 50 anti-Iraqi forces were killed", he said.

At least 13 Iraqis were also killed and 84 wounded in heavy overnight fighting between occupation troops and resistance fighters in Samarra.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B50857D9-590D-48BB-AA5C-3A7F12A14596.htm

[lynx rufus]

1. Massacre. Should have been called 'Operation Jenin II'

[MidwestTransplant]

3. Ummmm Jenin was found to be a hoax

do you think this was too?

[Darranar]

4. May actually have been US exaggeration...

in regard to number of "insurgents" killed - see Reuters article below.

Edit: In this case the US admitted to the slaughter, it's not at all equivalent to Jenin in that respect. Of course, they did call them "insurgents".

[Darranar]

2. Reuters:

U.S. Forces Kill Scores in Iraq But Najaf Truce Holds

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces said they killed about 50 insurgents near the northern Iraqi town of Samarra on Saturday, but a truce appeared to hold in the holy city of Najaf despite a radical cleric's threat to fight to the death.

...

The U.S. military said it had killed about 50 fighters near the northern town of Samarra, a mainly Sunni Muslim area where U.S. troops have launched repeated raids to flush out guerrillas opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

Warplanes screaming overhead dropped 500-pound bombs, while insurgents responded with rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades, a U.S. military statement said, adding there were no U.S. casualties.

Casting doubt on the U.S. toll, Iraqi police in Samarra said at least five people were killed and 50 wounded in fighting in the area, 62 miles north of Baghdad.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=R4BTH3EATL5U4CRBAEZSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5975772

[mom cat]

6. This is so cruel, so brutal, and evil. This must stop.

[aquart]

7. It won't.

We aren't going to admit we are completely in the wrong. Not now. Not in my lifetime.

[acmavm]

5. That one paragraph totally blows and pretence of 'sovereignity' out

of the water.

<snip>
The U.S. military said it had killed about 50 fighters near the northern town of Samarra, a mainly Sunni Muslim area where U.S. troops have launched repeated raids to flush out guerrillas opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
<snip>

So, exactly how does one equate 'freedom' with the 'presence of foreign troops'? Especially foreign troops who have to keep bombing the hell out of the populace?

[leftchick]

8. "anti-Iraqi forces" my ass....

The US Drops 500lb bombs all over Iraq in the last few days and they only kill "anti-Iraqi Forces". Like magic....


<snip>
"We have received 13 bodies including three women and two children and 84 injured," said doctor Abd Al-Hamid al-Samarrai of the city's general hospital - adding that many of the wounded were also women and children.

<snip>
Police said more than 40 homes and several civilian vehicles were destroyed in the fighting as well as the municipal building and the offices of the political party of Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib.

Mosques were heard urging people through loudspeakers to donate blood.

The US military confirmed it had conducted operations in the Sunni Muslim region, but refused to provide further details

[Darranar]

9. It would be interesting to know exactly what they consider...

to be "anti-Iraqi forces"....

[Moderator]

10. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=750008