U.S. troops accused of shooting civilians in Sadr City

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Military investigating Sadr City incident in which man, 2 daughters killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American soldiers were accused Friday of opening fire on a car carrying a family in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, killing a man and his two young daughters and wounding his son.

The allegations were made by the man's wife, who was in the car, and members of the Iraqi police, who were at the scene. The American military command said in a statement that it was investigating an episode in Sadr City involving "an escalation of force," but it could not confirm any details of the account given by the man's wife.

The woman, Ikhlas Thulsiqar, said her family had turned from an alleyway onto a main street guarded by American soldiers. Seconds later, she said, a fusillade of bullets ripped into the car.

"They killed the father of my children! The Americans killed my daughters!" she sobbed, sitting crumpled on the floor of Imam Ali Hospital in Sadr City where rescuers had taken the victims, including her daughters, 9 and 11, and her son, 7.

The deadly shooting appeared to be the first in the working-class district involving either the Iraqi or American military since a joint force of more than 1,100 American and Iraqi troops began a house-to-house search for weapons and militants last Sunday.

The military operation in Sadr City, part of an effort to pacify the capital by flooding the streets with security forces, has served as a test of a new, fragile relationship between the authorities and Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric who controls the Mahdi Army and commands a vast following among poor Shiites.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070310/NEWS/703100320/1033/NEWS01

[babylonsister]

1. Still winning hearts and minds, I see. We need to GET OUT!

I'm sure the soldiers are frazzled from so many tours, but there is no justification for this; imagine the hate for Americans this must inspire.

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3. Over deployed troops in the middle of a country whose citizens don't want them there

overstressed, and nervous. Incidents like this will undo whatever they hope to accomplish by re-occupying these communities.

[Broadslidin]

2. Obviously, If Confronted With a Suspicious Looking Person, Shoot 'Um...!

After all, shoot 'um first and ask questions latter

is perfectly legal in Florida.

Why not in Iraq? Tis the American Way.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. "Let Freedom Reign!"

"a fusillade of bullets ripped into the car"