U.S. Troops Kill Iraq Civilians in Botched Strikes (2 police/checkpoint)

[Barrett808]

U.S. Troops Kill Iraq Civilians in Botched Strikes
By Matt Spetalnick

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops mistakenly killed two Iraqi policemen and two bystanders near a checkpoint just hours after an American warplane exacted a heavy civilian toll when it bombed the wrong house, Iraqi officials said Sunday.

The back-to-back incidents Saturday fueled anti-American anger over the deaths of innocents during a raging insurgency just three weeks before Iraq (news - web sites)'s first election since U.S.-led forces toppled former President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Residents said 14 people, including children, were killed in a strike in the northern village of Aaytha. They showed visitors 14 freshly dug graves. The military, making a rare admission of error in its fight against guerrillas, said five people died when a 500-pound bomb flattened the house.

Shortly afterwards, a U.S. military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb blast near a police checkpoint south of Baghdad in a lawless area known as the "Triangle of Death."

Troops escorting the vehicles struck back but at the wrong target, Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said. Two police officers and two civilians were killed. He said a fifth Iraqi suffered a heart attack and died at the scene.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20050109/ts_nm/iraq_dc

[AlbizuX]

1. but...

we're winning their hearts and minds....didn't we build them a Mcdonalds?:crazy:

[VegasWolf]

2. that was to make them too fat to fit into spider holes. n/t

[Moderator]

3. duplicate post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1135007