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lennart
14-06-03, 14:36
Attack toll repels small town in Iraq
BLOODY PURSUIT OF U.S. ENEMIES THREATENS TO ALIENATE IRAQIS
By Tom Lasseter and Drew Brown
Knight Ridder

RAWAH, Iraq - Hassan Ibrahim walked the narrow space between the fresh graves and shook his head. There were 78, some of them packed with more than one body, with rocks as markers. The air stank of death. The names of the dead were written on paper and folded into soda bottles stuck in the ground.

``This town was safe before the Americans came here and made a lot of blood,'' said Ibrahim. ``Is this the democracy they were talking about?''

The graves were all that remained after U.S. forces struck a suspected terrorist training camp 5 1/2 miles from town Thursday, raking the earth with missiles and machine-gun fire.

Although the attack was a military success, it threatens to create thousands of new enemies in this small farming city on the banks of the Euphrates River. In a place where everyone knows each other and the streets are quiet after dark, the number of corpses and the havoc of battle could have unintended consequences.

``If I get a chance, I would shoot an American, because they are now my enemies,'' said Marwan Alrawi, a member of a family that owns farmland throughout the area. ``Before this, one of 10,000 Rawah citizens would fight the Americans. Now, more than half would.''

Unforeseen backlash

The backlash highlights the increasingly difficult task of crushing Baath Party loyalists and what U.S. officials say are a growing number of foreign fighters while also winning the sympathies of ordinary Iraqis.

The raid was part of some of the heaviest fighting in Iraq since President Bush declared the war largely over May 1. Most of it has taken place in the ``Triangle,'' an area that extends from Baghdad, in the east to Tikrit in the north, and then west almost to Syria. The area, made up predominantly of conservative Sunni Muslims, has been a recent flash point of attacks on American troops.

Attacks continued early Friday when a group of Iraqi gunmen ambushed a column of tanks from the Army's 4th Infantry Division with rocket-propelled grenades near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. U.S. tanks, armored personnel carriers and attack helicopters returned fire, killing 27 attackers, said officials at the U.S. Central Command.

In Mosul, five U.S. soldiers were wounded Friday night as U.S. troops battled Iraqi fighters for a second day in the streets of the northern provincial capital. Two Iraqi citizens were killed, and three more were wounded in the fighting.

Six U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have been wounded in grenade attacks over the past two days as demonstrations by ex-Iraqi soldiers demanding to be paid have turned violent.

Thursday, Iraqi police killed two Iraqis and wounded two others after hundreds of demonstrators stormed a government building and shot at police in the city center. U.S. commanders said fighting broke out again Friday after a crowd of about 100 angry Iraqis hurled stones and makeshift explosives while gunmen fired from rooftops.

Mosul has enjoyed relative calm for the past six weeks, and the fighting suggested that while many Iraqis welcomed Saddam's fall, they are increasingly frustrated by the chaos that has succeeded the dictator.

Eradication effort

Central Command officials said the U.S. military offensives in recent days are part of ``a continued effort to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements.''

Speaking to Pentagon reporters in a teleconference Friday, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the top allied commander in Iraq, declined to say much about the Rawah raid. He did not say who the suspected terrorists were.

``I will simply tell you that it was a camp area that was confirmed with bad guys, and specifically who the bad guys are will be determined as we exploit the site,'' he said.

While many in Rawah, about four hours west of Baghdad, said the people killed were fighters from Syria and Iraq, the death toll outraged them.

Villagers said nearly 80 fighters were killed in the raid. Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said the number of casualties could not be confirmed.

``The command has always stayed away from specific body counts,'' Lowell said. ``The bottom line is if we're in that area, and we've put this type of combat power there, then it's obvious there's some significant concentration of enemy there.''

A Pentagon official said information remained sketchy about the nationalities of those killed in the raid. ``Some Syrians were among them,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``But there were other nationalities as well.''

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/6088018.htm

lennart
14-06-03, 14:39
U.S. Forces “Slaughter” Iraqis At Dawn

Hossam al-Sayed, IOL Chief Correspondent

RAWAH, Iraq , June 14 (IslamOnline.net) - American troops "slaughtered" more than one hundred Iraqi civilians, most of them killed while asleep inside their homes, at the small hours of Friday, June 13, eyewitnesses told IslamOnline.net.

The U.S. forces deliberately opened fire from tanks and helicopter gunships at the houses of Iraqi civilians in Rawah, 400 kilometer to the north-west of Baghdad, killing tens of people, they charged.

The town residents rushed out of their homes which came under heavy American bombardment.

Some of them emerged with their light arms and battled the occupation forces, killing and injuring an unspecified number of American troops, eyewitnesses told IOL correspondent.

"The bodies of 12 of your boys were found tied with ropes, each with a bullet in the head. The Americans detained them and immediately executed them in this horrible way," charged Abu Saadoun, one of the town tribal leaders.

"Now we have to avenge not only the occupation of our country but also the slaughtering of our boys. We will open the gates of hell on the Americans," he pledged in exclusive statements to IOL.

Tired and exhausted Abu Khaled told IOL he spent three hours in the desert at the outskirts of Rawah digging a mass grave for the victims of the American massacre.

"We buried more than 80 of our sons but are still puzzled what pushed the Americans to massacre our people. We are far away from Baghdad and no fighting has been reported here.

"We have no training camps as alleged by the occupation forces. No Baathists. No nothing. The people of Rawah all reserved Sunnis," lamented Abu Khaled.

"Rawah has a majority of PHD and university certificates holders," he asserted.

He uncovered to IOL that a number of Arab fighters, who flocked to Iraq during the days leading to the Anglo-American occupation to join arms in defending the Arab country, occasionally came to the town, also inhabited by a number of Iraqi army officers.

"But, they are not Baathist officers. They opposed Saddam regime but they more strongly oppose the American occupation of their country," Abu Khaled said of the Iraqi army officers.

He asserted that the resistance of the American occupation has not yet gained its full momentum and is just at the very beginning.

American armored vehicles and tanks are heavily deployed along Baghdad-Rawah highway but none of the Americans agreed to deliver statements to IOL team other than that they were hunting down loyalists to Saddam and his Baath party.

Asked why they target the north and north-west of Iraq, areas of Sunni majority, an American major who declined to put his name said they do not care if the areas belong to Sunnis or others, claiming there was "terrorist" activities there.

Islamists Not Baathists

http://www.islam-online.net/english/News/2003-06/14/images/pic01b.jpg
U.S. soldiers detained scores of Iraqis, even children, on charges of resisting the occupation

Majid al-Rawi, a doctor of Rawah hospital, debunked American "superstitions" , asserting that Baathists and Fedayeen Saddam did not fight during the war and left Iraq for the Americans. So why should they develop such a resistance enthusiasm now?"

"Most of the boys I treated I personally knew them very well. They are reserved Islamists and not Baathists, " he told IOL correspondent.

"The fairy tale of hunting down Sadda’s loyalists and Baathists is a pretext exploited by the occupation forces to violate all human rights, detain and kill people without being held accountable and to evade being disclosed by the media," asserted the doctor.

"Suppose the Americans were right, does this give them the right to immediate execute people in such a horrible manner. Where is the democracy and freedom they said they came to give to the Iraqi people? "

Doctor al-Rawi recalled hearing many Iraqi young men saying they had yearned to fight the invading troops and "here they have come to us by themselves. "

One of the local leaders who refused to put his name told IOL correspondent "I swear by Allah Almighty there are no training camps here. We do not need one. Each Iraqi child knows how to use arms.

"The obligatory enlisting and the long-running wars Iraq fought over the past two decades taught lost of Iraq men military planning and tactics of using heavy weapons. "

He asserted that the Popular Army and Al-Quds Army formed by Saddam to falsely depict him as defender of the Arab nation did not prevent the Americans from invading our land but they helped train men, elders, women and children on using all types of arms.

"This will certainly help when we start real resistance to boot out the occupation forces outside the town, " the unnamed local leader told IOL.

The Americans, he said angrily, break into our homes in a violent and barbaric not respecting in the least our traditions.

"They (U.S. forces) claim they are hunting down Baathists while in fact they are only trying to terrorize us not to resist the occupation, " he concluded.

U.S. Causalities

The American occupation forces sustain daily losses and damages in all Sunni areas in northern Iraq.

In Falluja, anti-occupation resistance has been on the upswing to the extent that American forces stationed there fear to leave their posts after sun set and open random fire at any thing that moves.

Also, the towns of Abu Ghareb, el-Ramadi and Heit, all to the west of the capital Baghdad, witness regular resistance operations that inflicted fatalities and damage to the Americans and their weaponry machine.

Over the past three days, confirms IOL correspondent, the Americans lost seven soldiers; three Apache helicopter gunships, downed by Russian-made Strella missiles and two tanks destroyed by RBJ.

Maddened by the resistance attacks and the causalities, the Americans developed hostile attitude towards the media and deprived the entire population of Falluja of electricity.

The American forces are always keen on evacuating any attack site immediately even if this would cost them more lives.

One U.S. officers told IOL correspondent there are strict orders not to allow the media to document any American causalities.

The American forces even rearrange the attack site so that no one would ever notice a battle was raging there.

Fires blazed on the major pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields after twin bomb attacks aimed at sabotaging exports through Turkey.

Iraqis accusing the Americans of stealing their oil wealth by trying to export oil without the approval of a central Iraqi government in Baghdad.

U.S. occupation forces killed 31 Iraqis on Friday, northeast of Baghdad, one day after another massive raid killed 70, putting the death toll to 101.

U.S. army detained Monday, June 9, around 400 Iraqis suspected of participating in recent resistance attacks against U.S. occupation troops.
http://www.islam-online.net/english/News/2003-06/14/article01.shtml

Dan zal je misschien denken... slechte PR van die Amerikanen... Maar dit is wat het Witte Huis wil... een Clash of Civilizations.

Tomas
14-06-03, 15:30
Geplaatst door lennart
http://www.islam-online.net/english/News/2003-06/14/article01.shtml

Dan zal je misschien denken... slechte PR van die Amerikanen... Maar dit is wat het Witte Huis wil... een Clash of Civilizations.

Nee, dat denk ik neit echt. Eerder: daar heb je weer zo'n islamistische propaganda site die zo graag een Clash of Civilizations wil.

Maar buiten dat: Wat is Irak ook alweer? Ik heb wel een dejavu gevoel bij het woord, maar ben ff kwijt wat daar ookweer mee was.

taouanza
14-06-03, 15:31
de familie van de slachtoffers zullen heel blij zijn dat hun geliefden niet door saddam zijn vermoord.
het moet echt een goed gevoel geven dat je kinderen zijn vermoord in naam van de democratie.
of je die krijgt maakt natuurlijk geen fuck uit.
wat maakt het uit. als de amerikanen het niet doen dat had saddam het wel gedaan.

het maakt niet uit dat er geweld wordt gebruikt. maar door wie. toch? pukkel!

Puk
14-06-03, 15:34
Geplaatst door taouanza
de familie van de slachtoffers zullen heel blij zijn dat hun geliefden niet door saddam zijn vermoord.
het moet echt een goed gevoel geven dat je kinderen zijn vermoord in naam van de democratie.
of je die krijgt maakt natuurlijk geen fuck uit.
wat maakt het uit. als de amerikanen het niet doen dat had saddam het wel gedaan.

het maakt niet uit dat er geweld wordt gebruikt. maar door wie. toch? pukkel!

Beste teef,

De Irakezen zijn nu duizendmaal beter uit.

lennart
14-06-03, 15:53
Geplaatst door Tomas
Nee, dat denk ik neit echt. Eerder: daar heb je weer zo'n islamistische propaganda site die zo graag een Clash of Civilizations wil.

Maar buiten dat: Wat is Irak ook alweer? Ik heb wel een dejavu gevoel bij het woord, maar ben ff kwijt wat daar ookweer mee was.

Tomas:
Artikel 1 komt uit een amerikaanse krant:

Villagers said nearly 80 fighters were killed in the raid. Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said the number of casualties could not be confirmed.

Artikel 2 komt uit een Arabische bron:

"We buried more than 80 of our sons but are still puzzled what pushed the Americans to massacre our people. We are far away from Baghdad and no fighting has been reported here.

Tomas
14-06-03, 16:10
Geplaatst door lennart
Tomas:
Artikel 1 komt uit een amerikaanse krant:

Villagers said nearly 80 fighters were killed in the raid. Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said the number of casualties could not be confirmed.

Artikel 2 komt uit een Arabische bron:

"We buried more than 80 of our sons but are still puzzled what pushed the Americans to massacre our people. We are far away from Baghdad and no fighting has been reported here.

Nou?

Artikel 2 is heel duidelijk over de situatie: duivelse heiden die uit louter bloedorstigheid en een ingeboren barbaarsheid onschuldige gelovigen afslachten.

In een land dat bezet is (maakt niet uit of dat goed of slecht is) heb je tegenstanders die zich organiseren en derhalve wel eens hier en daar een treffen met slachtoffers. Ok misverstanden en vergissingen komen voor, zoals het neerschieten van je eigen mensen. Als dit niet zou gebeuren, dan zou de berichtgeving pas ongeloofwaardig lijken.

Ik zie dus niet zo wat nu de slechte pr is van de amerikanen met als doel een clash of civilisations.

lennart
14-06-03, 16:34
Het is slechte PR omdat de vertaling uit artikel 2 eerder in alle arabische kranten zal komen te staan dan de vertaling uit artikel 1.

Ik geloof trouwens de vertaling van artikel 2 eigenlijk eerder dan artikel 1. Welke Iraakse burger zal nu zeggen dat er 80 strijders zijn gedood.

Verder is het artikel niet waar ik op doel... maar de actie zelf. De actie van de Amerikanen is duidelijk een terreurdaad.

De Rode Roos
15-06-03, 00:01
Irak is niet bevrijd, maar veroverd.

Pixelshade
15-06-03, 01:19
Geplaatst door De Rode Roos
Irak is niet bevrijd, maar veroverd.

precies, maarja, vertel dat tomas of puk maar eens :moe:

Puk
15-06-03, 01:24
Geplaatst door De Rode Roos
Irak is niet bevrijd, maar veroverd.

Ha Rode Roos van me, :Iluvu:
Zou jou ook willen veroveren.
Hoe pak ik dat aan?

Pixelshade
15-06-03, 10:35
PUK :laser:
PUK :auw:
PUK :motorzaag
PUK :terrorist