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- Schadenfreude - 05-19-2004 01:05 PM
Officials say American aircraft kill more than 40 at wedding party
By Associated Press
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party early Wednesday in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it could not confirm the report and was investigating.
Lt. Col Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of the city of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people died in the attack, which took place about 2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said those killed included 15 children and 10 women.
Dr. Salah al-Ani, who works at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.
Associated Press Television News obtained videotape showing a truck containing bodies of those allegedly killed.
About a dozen bodies, one without a head, could be clearly seen. but it appeared that bodies were piled on top of each other and a clear count was not possible.
The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television reported that more than 20 people were killed and 10 injured in the attack.
Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers had fired into the air in a traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.
``I cannot comment on this because we have not received any reports from our units that this has happened nor that any were involved in such a tragedy,'' Lt. Col. Dan Williams, a U.S. military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail in response to a question from The Associated Press.
``We take all these requests seriously and we have forwarded this inquiry to the Joint Operations Center for further review and any other information that may be available,'' Williams said.
The video footage showed mourners with shovels digging graves. A group of men crouched and wept around one coffin.
Al-Ani said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters attacked the area at about 3 a.m. Two houses were destroyed, he said.
``This was a wedding and the (U.S.) planes came and attacked the people at a house. Is this the democracy and freedom that (President) Bush has brought us?'' said a man on the videotape, Dahham Harraj. ``There was no reason.''
Another man shown on the tape, who refused to give his name, said the victims were at a wedding party ``and the U.S. military planes came... and started killing everyone in the house.''
In July 2002, Afghan officials said 48 civilians at a wedding party were killed and 117 wounded by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. An investigative report released by the U.S. Central Command said the airstrike was justified because American planes had come under fire.
- KlutzDio I - 05-19-2004 03:00 PM
Well if they had any sense at all they wouldn't have held their wedding party where bombs would be falling.
The nerve of these infidels!
Don't they know we're fighting a war? :roflol:
- joebordenrebel - 05-19-2004 03:03 PM
Oh, big F'ing deal!
I've seen worse at frat parties! Why, there was this one year when Beanland was playing at the Pike house. . .
- Strat 93 - 05-19-2004 03:25 PM
There goes the neighborhood!
Seriously, this could hurt us PR wise. We are so loved in the Arab world!
- HuskieDan - 05-19-2004 03:51 PM
Alright, this could be ugly, but I can't help but thinking - considering what's going on in the country, do you think it's still a good idea to have celebratory gunfire? Just doesn't seem like the best idea in the world, especially a very tense corner of the world.
- Schadenfreude - 05-19-2004 06:01 PM
HuskieDan Wrote:Alright, this could be ugly, but I can't help but thinking - considering what's going on in the country, do you think it's still a good idea to have celebratory gunfire? Just doesn't seem like the best idea in the world, especially a very tense corner of the world.Sounds like Texas to me. :D
- 1125 - 05-19-2004 06:42 PM
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>U.S. Disputes Strike Report on Iraqi Wedding Party</span>
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. military officials disputed suggestions that an American helicopter struck a wedding party in western Iraq on Wednesday and said coalition forces staged an attack against suspected foreign fighters.
Arab television and The Associated Press aired video showing the bodies of small children in a truck full of bodies and people digging graves as they quoted witnesses and Iraqi officials who discussed the attack.
But senior military officials in Washington said U.S. and coalition forces conducted a strike on "anti-coalition vehicles" along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
According to the military, at 3 a.m. local time Wednesday, coalition forces conducted an operation against a suspected foreign fighter safe house in the open desert. The house was 25 kilometers from the Syrian border, 85 kilometers southwest of Husaybah, military officials said.
Coalition forces came under hostile fire and called for support from the air. After the strike, coalition forces recovered numerous weapons, foreign passports, a SATCOM radio and two million Iraqi and Syrian dinars, military officials said.
The attack killed about 40 people, officials said.
A Coalition Press Information Center official said that since it was carried out during a raid on a suspected safe house, the air strike would therefore be "within the rules of engagement."
That official reiterated that the objective was a suspected hideout, and had no information about a wedding party.
Iraqi officials and others described a very different scenario.
Lt. Col Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of the city of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people died in the attack, which took place about 2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said those killed included 15 children and 10 women.
Dr. Salah al-Ani, who works at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.
The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television reported that more than 20 people were killed and 10 injured in the attack.
The videotape, obtained and aired by Associated Press Television News, showed about a dozen bodies, one without a head. But it appeared that bodies were piled on top of each other and a clear count was not possible.
Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers had fired into the air in a traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.
The video footage showed mourners with shovels digging graves. A group of men crouched and wept around one coffin.
Al-Ani said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters attacked the area at about 3 a.m. Two houses were destroyed, he said.
"This was a wedding and the (U.S.) planes came and attacked the people at a house. Is this the democracy and freedom that (President) Bush has brought us?" said a man on the videotape, Dahham Harraj. "There was no reason."
Another man shown on the tape, who refused to give his name, said the victims were at a wedding party "and the U.S. military planes came... and started killing everyone in the house."
Lt. Col. Dan Williams, a U.S. military spokesman, said earlier that the military was investigating.
"I cannot comment on this because we have not received any reports from our units that this has happened nor that any were involved in such a tragedy," Williams wrote in an e-mail in response to a question from The Associated Press.
"We take all these requests seriously and we have forwarded this inquiry to the Joint Operations Center for further review and any other information that may be available," Williams said.
In July 2002, Afghan officials said 48 civilians at a wedding party were killed and 117 wounded by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. An investigative report released by the U.S. Central Command said the airstrike was justified because American planes had come under fire.
<a href='http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120373,00.html' target='_blank'>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120373,00.html</a>
- KlutzDio I - 05-19-2004 06:52 PM
Like I said, how dare those fockers have parties in a war zone. :chair:
- Dorothy Parker - 05-19-2004 08:17 PM
joebordenrebel Wrote:Oh, big F'ing deal!Yes, JBR, you should have been at Beanland's latest gig last month when those two hot girls French-kissed and then (gasp) spanked each other right in front of Square Books, in broad daylight, in front of God and everybody in Oxford, Mississippi. :eek: Now, those were some fireworks.
I've seen worse at frat parties! Why, there was this one year when Beanland was playing at the Pike house. . .
- KlutzDio I - 05-20-2004 05:30 PM
Dorothy Parker Wrote:Girls gone wild in Oxford?joebordenrebel Wrote:Oh, big F'ing deal!Yes, JBR, you should have been at Beanland's latest gig last month when those two hot girls French-kissed and then (gasp) spanked each other right in front of Square Books, in broad daylight, in front of God and everybody in Oxford, Mississippi. :eek: Now, those were some fireworks.
I've seen worse at frat parties! Why, there was this one year when Beanland was playing at the Pike house. . .
Where's Snoop when you need him?
- joebordenrebel - 05-20-2004 08:56 PM
Well, girls gone wild in Oxford is nothing new, Dot (as you well know. . .but don't take that personally!). Did you get any PICTURES, though?
Naked, with bags over their heads and flashlights in hand?
You know, trendy stuff? :drink:
- MaumeeRocket - 05-22-2004 02:59 PM
<a href='http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/22/iraq.main/index.html' target='_blank'>I guess their was no wedding afterall, There must be an angry bride somewhere.</a>
- Dorothy Parker - 05-22-2004 05:26 PM
joebordenrebel Wrote:Well, girls gone wild in Oxford is nothing new, Dot (as you well know. . .but don't take that personally!). Did you get any PICTURES, though?Sorry, JBR. Back in my day Oxford girls didn't go that wild unless they were behind closed doors.
Naked, with bags over their heads and flashlights in hand?
You know, trendy stuff? :drink:
I haven't downloaded the photos yet, but if I have any keepers, I'll be sure to share them with you. :drink:
- Skipuno - 05-22-2004 07:30 PM
The "Wedding party " turned out the be terrorists. But I know some of you idiots will still believe what al-jazirah says. :rolleyes:
- Schadenfreude - 05-22-2004 07:34 PM
Thanks for updating us.
- Guest - 05-24-2004 04:54 AM
Unfortunately, as usual, the story changes a couple of days later:
<a href='http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-iraq24.html' target='_blank'>http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nw...nws-iraq24.html</a>