Samarra locals' fury at US raids

[cal04]

Residents voiced their anger at the number of civilians killed, including women and children, and the lack of water and electricity.
US forces faced a backlash last night from the local population of Samarra after two days of ferocious fighting to reclaim the rebel-held Iraqi city.

Residents voiced their anger at the number of civilians killed, including women and children, and the lack of water and electricity.The mood was in stark contrast to southern Iraq, where the Black Watch has been waging a hearts-and-mind campaign to win over the Marsh Arabs to help cut major arms and drugs smuggling routes.


Around 3000 US troops and 2000 Iraqi soldiers stormed Samarra on Friday to rid the city of its insurgent population. In 36 hours of fighting, the US military said it killed 125 guerrillas and seized 88.
Abdul-Nasser Hamed Yas-sin, spokesman for the Samarra general hospital, said they had seen 70 dead since the fighting erupted, including 23 children and 18 women. A total of 160 wounded were treated.

"The people who were hurt most are normal people who have nothing to do with anything," according to one resident, Abdel Latif Hadi.
Others said bodies were left in the streets because of the fear of snipers. Families tried to bury their dead yesterday, but the road to the cemetery was blocked off by US troops, witnesses said. Dozens of houses were reduced to rubble.


http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/25269.html

[BootinUp]

1. They'll get over it

in a thousand years or so.

[cal04]

2. Civilians bear brunt as Samarra 'pacified'

Local people in Samarra claimed that many of the 1,000 insurgents the Americans were targeting had escaped before the attack, and civilians had borne the brunt of the casualties. Of 70 bodies brought into Samarra General Hospital, 23 were children and 18 women, said Abdul-Nasser Hamed Yassin, a hospital administrator. There were also 23 women among the 160 wounded.

Another resident, Mohammed Ali Amin, said: "There were American snipers on rooftops who were shooting people trying to get to their homes. Even at the hospital the Americans arrested injured boys of 15 saying they were insurgents."

CNN television was told by one man that his sister-in-law and her six daughters were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an US air strike. Aid organisations said there was acute concern about continuing lack of water and electricity in Samarra and the difficulties faced by people attempting to seek medical treatment. More than 500 families had fled the city.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=568511

[slojim240]

3. The rest of the world needs to ban together against the US.

We must be stopped!

[MsMagnificent]

4. We need to be full, responsible members of the International Community

We need to be a Member in Good Standing of the Global Village.

We need to finally take responsibility for our pollution, instead of only being concerned for company's profits.
We need to curb our acid rain that impacts Canada and Mexico, not to mention West Indies island nations.
We need to keep our pristine, wilderness areas pristine instead of planning to rape the environment whilst calling the rape "Good for the environment" and doctoring it up with positive sounding names! Do not forget: By your deeds you shall be judged, not your words. This administration only knows LIES.
We need to use diplomacy. At this point even a START will suffice.
We need to make up to our old but now alienated allies and make much more of an effort to explore areas beyond our failed 2 pronged *diplomatic* approach: Pre-emptive Invasion and Ridicule.
We truly must be humble.
We need to join the International Court. We need to be leaders in morals and in kindly treating our fellow-man instead of being afraid that we'll be pulled into that court, justifiably, on War Crimes! This is America for God's Sake! We used to be admired - our fathers who fought in WWII were; they would not recognize what's going on in our Armed Forces today. Those who fought had honor -- what we're doing is shameful.
We must take care of our Veterans, not play lip service to 'Support the Troops' while at the same time we strip Veterans Benefits and close down Veterans Hospitals.
We must honor and take care of our seniors; not strip, plunder and privatize (for someone else's profit!) their Medicare and Social Security! And surely not forget to protect ours and our childrens.
We need to truly care for the health, welfare and education of our children. No If's or But's. No snappy program names that signify nothing. When those programs are underfunded, it makes our children neglected.
We need strengthen the security of our borders and infrastructure (especially Bridge, Air, Waterway & Train). We will not do this by underfunding or cutting money to areas like border patrol, our security guard, our police, our National Guard, etc.
We need to keep our terrorism chiefs from becoming so frustrated by lack of cooperation that they just simply walk out the door (a la the cyberterrorism chief who just walked out.)
We need to restore money to our police officers and to our Firefighters. They must be well trained and fully equipped.
We need to balance our budget instead of running up more and more trillions in debt! We're leaving HUGE bills for our grandchildren to pay. If we love them, we MUST take care of them also in this area.
We need to figure out where we stand on Human Life and then be consistent. It is useless to 'protect the unborn' when, once they emerge, they will be neglected. If we cherish the unborns life, we also must cherish the adults life. If we refuse to kill unborn babies, we should also refuse to kill those babies grown into adults (ie: Death Row).
We need to re-examine our laws and punishments for non-violent offenders and to provide better, more creative and meaningful sentences.
We need to decide at what age a young adult becomes a full fledged adult. Upon reaching the age of their majority they should be ceded the rights to Vote, Marry, Enlist in the Armed Services, drink alcohol, and drive. They should not be conscripted until they reach that figure of adulthood. If our laws impact them at certain ages, they should have a say in the voting for those same laws. Now, we can send our children off to war, yet at the same time deem them too young to have a beer.

My God, there are a very many more "We need to/We must's" but most of all:

Whether Globally or Locally, WE NEED TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR!