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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US bombards Iraq mosque complex |
| 2004-04-07 |
| A US air strike has killed as many as 40 people inside a mosque compound during heavy fighting in the Sunni Muslim Iraqi town of Falluja. A US Marine colonel said the strike targeted insurgents who had fired on US troops from inside the mosque compound. Five US Marines were wounded by gunfire from within the compound, the US military said. The incident came as coalition troops fought separate uprisings by both Sunni and Shia Muslims in several towns. Hospital and military sources in Falluja say that more than 100 Iraqis have been killed in the town since Tuesday. At least 35 coalition troops have also been killed in Iraq in the last three days, including 12 US Marines in a single attack in the town of Ramadi on Tuesday. It is the worst escalation of fighting since the war to topple Saddam Hussein ended a year ago. In Falluja, a reporter for the Associated Press saw cars carrying the dead and wounded from the Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque, following the US air strike. The US Marine colonel said his troops attacked the mosque complex because Sunni insurgents were using the site to fire on US forces with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. "If they use the mosque as a military machine, then it’s no longer a house of worship and we strike," said Lt Col Brennan Byrne. Col Byrne said an attack helicopter fired a missile at the site before another aircraft dropped a laser-guided bomb. Witnesses said the attack destroyed part of the wall of the compound. Guess what sportsfans? You played dirty and now the gloves are off. If you turn a house of religion into a military base, it’s no longer a Mosque, it’s a target. Have fun worshiping in your rubble. |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #6 We are in a war that started 25 years ago in Iran. It is a war not so much as against nation states but against an idea. Nothing to argue with that, Cheddarhead. I'm thinking this current conflict needs to end in Iran as well. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-07 7:10:14 PM |
| #5 Zenster, I said it was a dream. It could never happen simply because the Air Force would never allow the refueling birds to be used that way. But if the ashats are out in the open and there are no civs around I really don't care how far the rubble bounces. We are in a war that started 25 years ago in Iran. It is a war not so much as against nation states but against an idea. |
| Posted by: Cheddarhead 2004-04-07 5:56:55 PM |
| #4 I have yet to see a compelling reason for American forces to become indiscriminate in how we target the Iraqi insurgents. We have high precision ordnance to take out the real baddies without snuffing too many bystanders. If Iraqi insurgents come out firing from behind women or children, our troops must be instructed to fire directly back, no flinching. Absent that sort of morally leveraged threat, we just need to keep squashing them methodically. Using religious means like pig fat is not so much a form of descending to their level, it's just being stupidly antagonistic. There's no need for that. We can kill these turds the old fashioned way and they'll stay deader longer. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-07 5:50:21 PM |
| #3 I think it is time to give the MOAB its baptism. It is time to show the Arab World just what this nation can do if it is trully pissed. The best why in the long run to fuck these people over is to cut off their money and that means not buying any of their oil, thank you very much. Either that or simply sieze the oil fields and make this about the oil. Let them stew in the 12th century. Sometimes I have evil dreams. I see a flight of KC-135s and KC-10s coming in low over Mecca their refueling tanks filled with lard oil and it sprays from the booms as they pass over head |
| Posted by: Cheddarhead 2004-04-07 5:22:19 PM |
| #2 The Iraqis need to understand some basic lessons about separation of church and state. If you inseparably fuse your military and religious activities, they and their sites both become indistinguishable as targets. We have demonstrated admirable restraint in the face of none shown by our opponents. Their barbaric acts have mandated more indiscriminate policy in target selection. Sadr's faction must not acquire any political sway in Iraq's rebuilding. They have already proven themselves unworthy of trust and lacking in all military honor. Absent those essential elements of wartime functionality, we are obliged to exterminate them like the vermin they are. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-07 4:55:49 PM |
| #1 Finally this line in the sand has been crossed |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-04-07 3:56:02 PM |