The US night-time attack on houses in Tikrit gave every indication of a revenge raid, rather than any planned campaign. For the first time since the end - according to US President Bush - of the major hostilities in Iraq, bombs were used against civilian targets, in combination with a heavy onslaught of artillery. All this done at night, when victims of such oppression are at their most vulnerable.
The reason for the massive firepower was because it was suspected that the rocket-propelled grenade that downed a Black Hawk helicopter recently emanated from somewhere in that vicinity. So, rather than seek out the perpetrators, which is time-consuming and costly, the American military thought it far better to randomly target anyone who lives in Tikrit, especially as it is the home town of Saddam Hussain, his family and a stronghold of supporters.
Warfare is a bloody business and militias expect to die or be injured. But innocent civilians do not expect to be in the line of fire and be the recipients of bombardments of the nature the American military demonstrated on Tikrit.
For some time now, western leaders have condemned the Middle East for attacks on innocent civilians through suicide bombings, but the methods used against the civilians of Tikrit showed very little difference in compassion.
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