Troops kill rioters in Baghdad and Basra

[Emillereid]

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad

05 October 2003

British and American troops fired into crowds of rioting former Iraqi soldiers in Basra and Baghdad yesterday, killing one man in each city.



In both places unrest broke out as the ex-soldiers, out of a job since the Iraqi army was dissolved in May, were queuing for hours to collect a promised pay-off of $40 each. A British military spokesman, Major Simon Routledge, said that in the Basra incident a British soldier heard gunfire and then shot and killed an Iraqi holding a weapon. Troops also fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.



In Baghdad hundreds of Iraqis threw stones and charged towards American soldiers, who fired in the air and beat them back with batons. "Get out of here. It is very dangerous," said a harassed Iraqi police officer as he stood beside the burned-out remains of a police car.



In the nearby Yarmuk hospital Hussein Hatem, an ex-soldier, was lying on a bed with an X-ray clutched to his chest showing that he had two bullets lodged in his thigh. "It started when one man went to get a drink of water after we had been queuing for five hours," said Mr Hatem. "The US soldiers wouldn't let him get back in the line and beat him and us with long batons and electric cattle prods. Then we started throwing stones at them and they fired back."...





http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=450122

I think the Iraqis have definitely been patient long enough.

[Cush]

1. Great....

just great.....

[saigon68]

5. WE ARE WINNING THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS

Things are going great- Colon Bowel Secty of State. Oct 2003

[oneighty]

2. Cattle prods?

Damn, what are we coming to?

180

[w13rd0]

4. Well, likely we're coming to "camps" with a program...

...to pacify the "opposition to the occupation"...

Or maybe walled off lil ghettos. Perhaps Iraq is Poland...

[BattyDem]

3. electric cattle prods?

:wtf:

[Paschall]

6. Iraqi patience

I can't help remembering that the Iraqis were hunkered down, stockpiling food, water, and gasoline for months before the invasion. At least seven months, in fact, from Sept. 2002 to March 2003. Could Americans--civilians--deal with the same stress, knowing an invasion was unavoidable and that our defense forces inevitably would be crushed by a far superior military force? In essence, this war has been "hot" for Iraqi civilians for over a year already.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Al-Jazeera: British troops fire on Basra protesters

Notice how the British troops are described as "occupation" forces. No pretense here about the US and UK being liberators, as the American media keeps parroting.

British troops fire on Basra protesters

Sunday 05 October 2003, 14:37 Makka Time, 11:37 GMT

British occupation forces have fired rubber bullets at former Iraqi soldiers demonstrating in the southern city of Basra.

Forces opened fire on Sunday at hundreds of protesters, who gathered early after a British soldier shot dead an Iraqi demonstrator during clashes on Saturday.

Former soldiers had gathered to collect redundancy payments after being laid off from the Iraqi army by US occupying administrator Paul Bremer in May.

Residents in Basra said five demonstrators were wounded. Iraqi police arrived to help quell the violence and fired in the air.

They fled for shelter after being chased away by the crowd.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CCF54B23-DF65-498C-9691-8CC943E3D174.htm