U.S. helicopter fires on wedding party in Iraq; many dead

[Brent]

The U.S. military can't confirm but is investigating:

U.S. strike kills 40 at Iraqi wedding party
The Associated Press

May 19, 2004, 1:11 PM EDT

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party early Wednesday in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it could not confirm the report and was investigating.

Lt. Col Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of the city of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people died in the attack, which took place about 2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said those killed included 15 children and 10 women.

Dr. Salah al-Ani, who works at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.

Associated Press Television News obtained videotape showing a truck containing bodies of those allegedly killed. Most of the bodies were wrapped in blankets and other cloths, but the footage showed at least eight uncovered, bloody bodies, several of them children. One child was headless.

[Skywatch_NC]

Yes, it's things like this incident that will only re-intensify the HATE that many Iraqis have toward America...

Eric

[bfez1]

Just read that on breaking news---yikes!!!

[Rainband]

Sad situation!!

[Lindaloo]

Does anyone know why they were fired upon? I highly doubt our troops did this intentionally.

[GalvestonDuck]

It was reported that partygoers were firing guns into the air (not smart, even when you don't live in a war zone). U.S. troops went to investigate, found out what was going on, and went back to camp. Shortly afterwards, the copters came.

It could be a tragic case of miscommunication between the troops who investigated the gunfire and whoever ordered the copter crews to go out.

However, there are also reports that the military says they were firing on anti-coalition vehicles and not on a wedding party.

[Rainband]

I heard on the fox news they were targeting a safe house for insurgents. Maybe they are lying about this being a wedding..or it was a front

[Brent]

I'm by no means saying the military did it intentionally. It's sad though because the Iraqis and the Arab world will believe the U.S. did it on purpose.

It SOUNDS like they were firing in the air, which IMO would give the U.S. the right to strike.

[CaluWxBill]

Firing rifles in the air is not going to get your wedding party killed by our troops, we clearly know it is a custom of iraqi's to fire off there rifles at weddings. This was near the border of both Syria and Jordan, there is an awful lot of stuff going on there, including Al Qaeda trying to get into the country to keep us on our toes. This is probably a cover-up by terrorists of an operations that is much more serious.

[Brent]

A lot of military officials think the foreign fighters come in through Syria/Jordan. There's nobody out there anyway. It's not exactly a booming city.

[SolarQuestions]

war is hell ...it is full of lies, mistrust, hate, vengeance, murder, miscommunication, bigotry, torture....all the lesser aspects of humanity. in the long run nothing good will come of this war ...except more hate and time for countries to lick their wounds for the next war. War is money...peace is no money. So the governments choose war. Sometimes i dont even believe we are human beings anymore ...we are more like alien things or robots or worse. The human race is going down hill for sure. We are certainly not evolving into something better. We are stagnating in a quagmire of filth.

[GalvestonDuck]

I don't see this as war in the traditional sense of the word.

I see this more as a large sting operation for the purpose of apprehending known gang leaders and their thugs who are terrorizing people both within and outside their communities. Only, instead of being just your everyday run-of-the-mill Mafia organization or Crips gang, this is a large-scale and multi-national gang.

You wouldn't want cops to not do their jobs, now would you?

[SolarQuestions]

What about the innocent people that have been killed in this war....what do you say to that ...woopps i guess huh

This you have to kill them to save them mentality is a very bad one. I hope they dont take that attitude with our country.

Dont forget they see us as the bad guys to.

round and round we go.

[GalvestonDuck]

It was said in the beginning that innocent lives would be lost. What about our soldiers' lives? They are innocent also. They're fighting to protect us against future attacks.

[streetsoldier]

Gee...I wish MY "wedding party" came with RPGs, AK rifles, maps, cash (newly minted Iraqi dinars, US dollars) and a guest list full of people with forged passports.

Did anyone forget the oldest trick in the terrorist's playbook....that of firing from, or hiding out within-around-behind, groups of innocent people?

Kin Ah heah a "DUH"? OH, yeah...thet's whut Ah thawt.