Iraqis curse U.S. for 'friendly-fire' killings

[Barrett808]

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Angry mourners swarmed this central Iraqi city yesterday, firing into the air, attacking journalists and cursing the American occupation as they followed the flag-draped coffins of eight Iraqi police killed in a friendly fire incident involving U.S. troops.

The U.S. military apologized yesterday for the shootings that killed nine people - the eight Iraqis and a Jordanian guard - and badly damaged a hospital. U.S. troops only opened fire after they were attacked "by unknown forces," the military said.

But the explanation did not defuse the anger washing over Fallujah, a city of 200,000 in Iraq's most troubled region. The shooting was the worst case of friendly fire since major hostilities in Iraq were declared over May 1, and it served to intensify talk here of the heavy-handedness of American troops.

"We have had enough of the Americans killing us and then just saying 'Oh, sorry!"' said Salam Mohammed, 60, a Fallujah resident and a relative of some of the victims.

"We want the Americans to leave our country because they have brought us only death," said Taleb Hameed, a 30-year-old schoolteacher. "We are fed up with their apologies. We will continue our resistance."

Yesterday afternoon, the eight coffins were carried into a mosque for religious rites before they were given to family members for burial. Outside, gunshots erupted throughout Fallujah as mourners fired into the air. Some in the crowd chanted: "There is no God but Allah, and America is the enemy of Allah."

In an ominous message, Fawzi Namiq, the mosque's imam, said through loudspeakers: "Save your bullets for the chests of the enemy."

(more)

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/iraqiscurse14.htm

[arcane1]

1. "Save your bullets for the chests of the enemy."

but, what about the flowers??

:shrug:

it's only a matter of time before the US will go from "Oh, those poor, downtrodden, freedom-deprived Iraqis", to "those Iraqi bastards, kill them all"

thanks George :puke: