Coalition forces hit a market in Baghdad

[U2girl]

Several TVs report that in their teletext, including CNN.

Victim number anywhere from 12 to 50, depending which TV's teletext you watch.

Also, on several TV's teletext, they apparently also hit an economic district there, again with several civilian dead.


British said there was an uprising in Basra, right? Yet the only TV that actually has its reporters there, Al Dhazeera, claims there are no signs of an uprising.

Who's lying?

 

[verte76]

This report is on my ISP's home page. But so was a claim, apparently not true, that there was a major "victory" near Baghdad last night. Also they blew up the report about Basra. The British military today admitted that they were confused about what was going on there. An Iraqi anti-Baath party official in Tehran said that there had been a demonstration in Basra but not a revolt. This is why I'm trying to find independent sources for war news, if indeed there is any.

 

[nbcrusader]

At this point, all I think we can conclude was that there was an explosion at a market in Baghdad. There is no confirmation that this was a coalition strike. It could very well be done by Iraqi operatives.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

al jazera is about as believable on arab issues as bill clinton is on his sex life

 

[ALEXRUS]

At this point, all I think we can conclude was that there was an explosion at a market in Baghdad. There is no confirmation that this was a coalition strike.
It could very well be done by Iraqi operatives.

There will be no confirmation it was a coalition strike, I am sure.
I understand that you in the US do not get all the reports from Baghdad. All Russian TV channels (5 TV channels in Baghdad) showed the bombed out market today. They report some 50 civilians were injured. They say coalition bombs Baghdad uniterruptedly: maximum break between bombardments is 2 - 2.5 hours.
Of course, those bombardments could very well be done by Iraqi operatives.

 

[melon]

Al-Jazeera is out of Qatar, the nation where our Central Command is located. The king of Qatar is responsible for modernizing the nation, and, in all actuality, it wouldn't be surprising if he made Qatar a democracy upon his retirement or death.

I wouldn't dismiss Al-Jazeera because it is out of the Middle East. In fact, it is quite disappointing that Al-Jazeera was thrown out of the NYSE. We should be encouraging freedom of press in the Middle East--and Al-Jazeera is a rarity in that respect. Of course, as is always the case, "freedom of the press" is not important; only pro-U.S. press.

Melon

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Fox news was tonight slagging off Al-Jazeera as being too biased on the Iraq side, Is that the pot calling the kettle black, I have never seen a news programme so one sided during a conflict as FOX news.

 

[Scarletwine]

At this point, all I think we can conclude was that there was an explosion at a market in Baghdad. There is no confirmation that this was a coalition strike. It could very well be done by Iraqi operatives.

This morning on NBC news Peter Arnett in Bagdad reported that the strike was a coalition strike and showed footage of the area.
He has a long experience of war reporting and was one of hte last out in Gulf 1.

 

[nbcrusader]

Peter Arnett is only reporting what the Iraqi's are saying. He probably received a nice press release from the Iraqi Minister of Information.

MSNBC Report


Apparently, the Iraqi's are claiming we used cluster bombs in the civilian area. This from the government that uses hospitals as forward firing bases......

 

[Dreadsox]

Interesting....on the PBS news this evening, the reporters that were interviewed on the phone said that in their opinion having looked at the bombing in Baghdad for a week this DID not look like anything from a bomb or a tomahawk.

General Clark also made a comment on MSNBC that many times civilians are killed by friend Anti-Acraft than by enemy strikes.

The Fact is, over 5,000 missions it is likely something bad might happen. However, the Pentagon was pretty firm about not having anything in the area.

 

[nbcrusader]

There are probably many injuries in Baghdad due to anti-aircraft fire. In Southern California there have been a few deaths from falling bullets shot into the air to "celebrate" New Years. Given the quantity of larger caliber ammunition shot by the Iraqis over Baghdad, all those bullets/shells must fall some where.

 

[womanfish]

I also heard similar reports on PBS (the most liberal reports around) - They say that the explosion does not look like it came from the a tomahawk strike.

Oh, and I can see how the Iraqi military would be all shaken up by civilian casualties. They use women and children as human shields, shoot anyone who wants to surrender, and use hospitals and mosks as military hideouts.

the thought that this could be done by Iraqi military as propaganda is completely out of the question.

I think this happened around the same time that Coalition forces were handing out food and water in Southern Iraq and the Iraqi Minister of Information said that the Coalition is blocking food and water from getting into the country.

 

[deep]

I also heard similar reports on PBS (the most liberal reports around) - .

Is this what you meant to say?

 

[diamond]

I think Ms Womanfish made her point w/o having to hairsplit her syntax or sentence structure

diamond
bruno.

 

[Basstrap]

of course, the Pentegon is not going to confirm it was them even if it was an accident. It would be the worse blow to the us yet.

as it is...even if this is iraqi doing, the US will have all but lost the support of any iraqi civilian in baghdad

 

[Dreadsox]

I am 90% certain that if I wagered my salary on the fact that this had 100% nothing to do with a use missle or bomb based on what I have heard and read on this I would win the bet.

 

[80sU2isBest]

of course, the Pentegon is not going to confirm it was them even if it was an accident. It would be the worse blow to the us yet.

as it is...even if this is iraqi doing, the US will have all but lost the support of any iraqi civilian in baghdad

You think so? Did you know that the community in which this happened was Shiite? Did you know that the Shiites in particular hate Saddam because he has tortured, massacred and slaughtered them for years? Now, knowing that, whom do you think they will believe - the USA or Saddam, whom they hate much more than they hate the USA? Also, did you know that half the Baghdad population is Shiite? Doesn't sound too promising for Saddam now, does it?

 

[anitram]

80s,

The top religious Shiite leader has come out today calling for violence against the invading troops and has advised the US to get the hell out of Iraq immediately after the war. Another Shiite religious leader has called for Shiites to fight the invasion in Najaf. It is not a case of the Shiites welcoming the soldiers with open arms, no matter what the Pentagon says. This is one area where they clearly miscalculated.

 

[anitram]

Also, did you know that half the Baghdad population is Shiite? Doesn't sound too promising for Saddam now, does it?

Here is the news today, you decide for yourself. Clearly, these people are not all 100% behind this invasion:

A prominent Iraqi Shiite leader on Tuesday signed a fatwa (religious decree), calling for expelling "infidel followers" who invaded Iraq.

"It is necessary for Muslims all over the world to come back to Allah and ask him to help us in a fierce battle against infidel followers who invaded our homeland," Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani said in the decree in the Shiite city of Najaf in southern Iraq.

In a foretaste of what the future may hold for the coalition forces, Sheikh Mohammed al-Khakani, a leading religious authority in Najaf, on Tuesday called on Iraqis to ?defend their country, honor and religion by expelling the unbelievers from the land of Islam.?
Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the largest Shiite opposition group, warned on Tuesday that his followers are ?ready to take up arms? should the coalition troops become an occupation force. The Badr Brigades, SCIRI?s 15,000-strong military wing mainly deployed in Iran with some units in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, has so far stayed out of the fighting. But they could represent a formidable obstacle to US plans for post-Saddam Iraq if Shiite interests are not taken fully into account.
?The American troops will face a very strong resistance in just a couple of months. They will have to leave the cities and move into the desert,? said a veteran Hizbullah fighter who spent his childhood in Najaf. ?I know the Iraqi people and I think the Americans will face the same resistance the Israelis faced in Lebanon, even harsher.?

Leave After War, Iraqi Opposition Tells US
Reuters



TEHRAN, 26 March 2003 ? The leader of Iraq?s main Shiite opposition group warned Washington yesterday that US troops would face armed resistance if they stayed in Iraq once President Saddam Hussein was toppled. ?Iraqis are against foreign dominance, and if they (the Americans) don?t want to leave Iraq, the nation will resist,? said Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir Hakim, head of the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). ?One of the legitimate ways of resistance against occupiers is force and weapons,? he told a news conference.

The gray-bearded Hakim said SCIRI, which draws its support from Iraq?s Shiite majority, said he had tens of thousands of troops stationed inside and outside Iraq, ready to resist any foreign occupation. The group?s armed wing, known as the Badr Brigade, has paraded hundreds of lightly armed fighters in Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq. But it has tended to keep the size and whereabouts of its other forces a closely guarded secret.

 

[Rono]

80s,

The top religious Shiite leader has come out today calling for violence against the invading troops and has advised the US to get the hell out of Iraq immediately after the war. Another Shiite religious leader has called for Shiites to fight the invasion in Najaf. It is not a case of the Shiites welcoming the soldiers with open arms, no matter what the Pentagon says. This is one area where they clearly miscalculated.

Is it true that the coalition included the Shiite leader into the meetings for a post-saddam goverment at the last moment ? In a phone interview with a Shiite leader in the North of Iraq he stated, why should we fight and die for a Iraq where there is no room for us in the future goverment of Iraq.

Maybe the Shiite people are scared for a attack on Iran . Another country in the ax of evil. Iran is a shiite country.

 

[womanfish]

LATEST NEWS!! - The leader of the Iraqi air defense has been replaced, sources say it was because his launching of surface to surface missles fell back into Baghdad causing the destruction in the markets that have previously been blamed on Coalition strikes.

this is not 100% confirmed, but comes from "reliable sources"

 

[womanfish]

This info comes from British Intelligence within Baghdad. I guess the guy was Saddam's cousin. I wonder if this means he gets a promotion or he gets dipped in a vat of acid?

 

[Dreadsox]

I am 90% certain that if I wagered my salary on the fact that this had 100% nothing to do with a use missle or bomb based on what I have heard and read on this I would win the bet.

I Take it back!!!!!

 

[womanfish]

why do you take it back dread?

 

[Dreadsox]

I am taking it back because in a article, read last night at a rediculous hour, I was reading about the suspension of missile flights over Saudi Arabia and Turkey. IN the article it talked about up to 12 missles that are confiremed to have gone off course. I read through the entire article, and burried towards the end was a littel tidbit about the market in Baghdad. It seems that there were 7 missle fired over the market along with a bomber that flew over. The bomber, for some reason returned with all of it's ordinance, however, they have only been able to confirm that six of the missles hit is target. SO where is the 7th missle?

I am just not secure in my prior predictions, given the problems they seem to be having with the missles. Sorry, but in my late night haze, I lost where I read the article. I would have linked it, except a majority of the article was about another topic.

Peace

Matt

 

[Scarletwine]

Yesterday at the military briefing in Qatar, they confirmed that Saudia airspace was closed. It was specifically Tomahawk missles that were missing their targets. Apparently there is a small space of time between launch and locking on target that they can get "lost". A couple have also hit Turkey. I was going to post it but haven't found it in print.

 

[womanfish]

But the ones so far that have "gone off track" (about 1%) have also not detonated from what I understand. I may be wrong. Also, from military sources who have seen the damage in market, have said that if it were a coalition missile the destruction would have been much, much greater. This looks like a smaller explosion, further pointing to Iraqi air defenses gone wrong.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Al-Jazeera is out of Qatar, the nation where our Central Command is located. The king of Qatar is responsible for modernizing the nation, and, in all actuality, it wouldn't be surprising if he made Qatar a democracy upon his retirement or death.

I wouldn't dismiss Al-Jazeera because it is out of the Middle East. In fact, it is quite disappointing that Al-Jazeera was thrown out of the NYSE. We should be encouraging freedom of press in the Middle East--and Al-Jazeera is a rarity in that respect. Of course, as is always the case, "freedom of the press" is not important; only pro-U.S. press.

Melon

Free press is one thing. Showing executed US servicemen all over your nightly news cast is another. That is the reason why they were thrown off the floor, not because they're from the middle east.

 

[Klaus]

womanfish:

I've heared that about 75% of these "high precicion" weapons work as designed - that means 25% might hit targets which they shouldn't hit.

That's far better than conventional bombs and i guess it's stupid to think that we can have a "clean" war without so called colateral damage

Anyway, i think it's a good thing that the US Military tries to minimize civilian deaths also they can't avoid them completely (at least not as long as they are invading that country)

Klaus