Iraqi town seethes as US withholds bodies, information in deadly shootings

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030912/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_fallujah_scene&cid=1514&ncid=1473

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Anger boiled over in the flashpoint Iraqi town of Fallujah as residents pressed the US military for both information and the victims' bodies after the shooting of 10 Iraqi security personnel by US troops.

Relatives and residents staged furious demonstrations outside the governor's office and police headquarters amid predictions of a new wave of violence against Americans in the town.

A spate of three attacks in barely five hours hit US troops around Fallujah later Friday in what police and relatives warned was an omen of worse to come if the US military failed to trust its Iraqi allies.

"Now we can expect that attacks will increase, because you will have not only what they call the resistance, but also the families of these 10 dead people and everyone else wanting to take revenge against the Americans," said police First Lieutenant Mahmud Hussein.

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[Beetwasher]

1. Things just got a whole helluvalot uglier

and even more out of control...

[grytpype]

2. A bunch of terrified teenagers with machine guns.

Don't blame them, blame Bush.

[Barrett808]

3. Don't forget to rate this story

I gave it a "5".

[tlcandie]

6. Link to AP video clip of burned/burning vehicle ...

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

My question: Is that a US flag or the new Iraq flag that just got thrown into the burning mess? Seems these peeps are none too happy either :o

[arcane1]

7. done

:grr:

[gratuitous]

4. Just dandy

We're certainly giving the Iraqis all kinds of reasons to dance in the streets and throw flowers, aren't we?

But remember folks, as Chimpy has told us, this is just spasmodic violence, the last throes of a dying terrorist claque. Nothing to worry about. Everything's under control. Until it isn't.

[Zhade]

15. "It was a typo."

According to Paul Wolfowitz, quoted in I Made This Up Weekly, "We never said flowers. That was a printing error. It's a funny story, actually - the original word was 'flamethrowers', but somehow the 'amethr' letters got squinched up due to a slight paper jam."

[KeepItReal]

5. Iraqi police may turn against the U.S. !?

"Before, the Americans just had the resistance to worry about, now they have also got the Iraqi police who used to be their allies," he said.
...
Lieutenant Hussein said he believed the Americans were aware of the anger they had stoked up in the town which was why they were being so slow to hand over the victims for burial.

"They still haven't given back the bodies because they are afraid of the reaction," he said. "

Damn, this is not good.

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

9. Yeah, that's a good plan...

...don't give the bodies back. It almost sounds like they are trying to make things worse.

KeepItReal, I think you summed it up pretty good, "Damn, this is not good."

[KeepItReal]

10. What is a worse Iraqi reaction?

Iraqis mad because we killed X number of cops or Iraqis mad because we screw up their religious custom of speedy burial (if it applies)?

[short bus president]

18. this may be a new new blowback land speed record

we trained the Iraqi police force how long ago? Bernie the fuckin' Nazi Ker-wack just left Baghdad, right? And now they've turned, because "our boys" seem to be killing "them towelheads" indiscriminantly? This is so doubleplus ungood.

And to whoever said "blame *, not the troops" who are out there blasting other humans away, fuck that. Even a soldier has to take personal moral responsbility at a certain point. The ones pulling the triggers are no better than * if they think they're above responsibility for THEIR actions, too.

[Barrett808]

8. Some ominous quotes

"Before, the Americans just had the resistance to worry about, now they have also got the Iraqi police who used to be their allies."

"This shows that the Americans are completely out of control."

"They have refused until now to give us any help. They have not even given us any equipment to protect ourselves."

We are so f*cked.

[MostlyBlackCat2]

11. isn't it Islamic tradition

that the body be cleansed and buried as soon after death as possible? Do they not realize they are (again) violating these peoples most sacred beliefs???

[ignatius]

12. Like this administration would 1. care

2. know anything about Iraqui traditions.

Remember that C. Roce telling us but the photos of Iraq showed gleaming buildings.

[htuttle]

13. Yes, it is

I believe the general rule is before sundown on the day they died.

[Zhade]

16. "Them damnable furriners ain't got no beliefs except hatin' 'merikka!"

Remember, they aren't fundamentalist, literalist Christians, so they have no beliefs worth respecting. Or so BushCo's actions reveal. :eyes:

Fuckers. It's one thing to kill people. It's even worse to desecrate the dead by violating death rites. That's just plain evil, man.

[Journeyman]

19. It's not strictly an Islamic tradition. . .

everyone who lives in the desert wants to bury their dead as quickly as possible. It's 120 degrees there. Everything ripens very fast.

[DeathvadeR]

20. I was thinking the same thing. N/t

[Maeve]

14. It just keeps getting deeper

And the big fool says to push on....

I still think we have a responsibility to clean up some of the mess we've made, but I'm coming around to the "get out NOW!!!" pov.

[expatriot]

17. Bush and lack of planning deserve ALL blame for this....

okay, the US kids fired at these Iraqi cops because they looked like third world guerrilla thugs wheeling around a corner about ready to attack US troops... why did they look like third world guerrilla thugs? because they were in a beat-up pick up with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on the bed. Why were they wheeling around in a beat up pick up with a .50 caliber MG on the bed, uniuniformed, etc.?

Here is the final quote of the article by the Lt.

"They have refused until now to give us any help. They have not even given us any equipment to protect ourselves," he complained.