US military massacres dozens in wake of Iraq referendum

[align=center]US military massacres dozens in wake of Iraq referendum
By James Cogan
18 October 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oc...iraq-o18.shtml[/align]

In the space of a few hours on Sunday, less than a day after voting finished on the draft constitution in Iraq, the US military used laser-guided bombs and helicopter gunships to massacre as many as 70 people in two incidents in the predominantly Sunni Arab city of Ramadi.

The killings expose the utterly cynical character of the Bush administrationâ??s propaganda that the October 15 referendum marked a genuine step toward democracy and sovereignty. Iraq is a conquered country, where US occupation troops are using the most ruthless methods to intimidate any opposition by the Iraqi people and force them into accepting neo-colonial American rule.

In the first incident, at least 25 people were blown to pieces when an F-15 dropped a bomb on a crowd that was gathered around the wreckage of an American humvee. It had been destroyed on Saturday by an insurgent roadside bomb, killing five marines and two soldiers of the Iraqi government armed forces and taking the total of US fatalities in Iraq to 1,976.

The US military asserted the airstrike resulted in the â??death of terroristsâ?� who had been planting another bomb. Witnesses and Ramadi hospital staff, however, have insisted that the casualties were young people and children who were pulling parts from the wreck.

Ahmed Fouad told the Washington Post that his son and eight-year-old daughter were among the dead. â??She was killed with her brother when they were near the humvee. Her mother had a stroke out of shock,â?� he said. A local police officer told Reuters: â??Their bodies were completely ripped apart.â?�

On Sunday evening, at least another 50 people were killed in the village of Al-Bu Faraj, on the outskirts of Ramadi. The US military claimed that helicopter gunships monitoring an alleged â??terrorist safe houseâ?� killed 10 armed men who fired on them. The house was then destroyed by a precision-guided bomb dropped by an F/A-18 fighter, claiming the lives of a further 40 people.

Witnesses told Associated Press that at least 14 of those killed in the house were civilians. A local told Reuters: â??The planes came and bombed us right after prayers. These are innocent civilians. To hell with this constitution.â?�

Usage of the word â??terroristâ?� has assumed the same character in Iraq as the term Viet Cong or â??VCâ?� during the Vietnam War. It is the convenient label applied to any casualty caused by the occupation forces. As far as the US military is concerned, the entire population is the enemy in areas such as Ramadi. Civilians are being butchered and their deaths included in the body-counts reported by the Pentagon to try to convince the American people that the war is going well.

The reality is that Sundayâ??s attacksâ??like the numerous atrocities committed against civilian communities in Vietnamâ??are acts of collective punishment by the US military for opposition to the occupation and the support in cities like Ramadi for the armed Iraqi resistance.

Ramadi is the most populous city and capital of the western province of Anbar, which has a predominantly Sunni Arab population and has been a focus of the insurgency since the 2003 invasion. The province has endured continuous repression. Tens of thousands of peopleâ??men, women and childrenâ??have been killed or wounded, or dragged off to US-run concentration camps. The city of Fallujah was laid waste last November by American marines. Ramadi has also been the target of brutal anti-insurgency operations.

Over the past several months, towns and villages along the Syrian border and in the Euphrates Valley have been subjected to US offensives, aimed at disrupting the ability of Sunnis to vote in the referendum. Tens of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee from cities such as Tal Afar, Qaim and Haditha by operations named â??Iron Fistâ?� and â??River Gateâ?�.

Contradicting the constant propaganda claims of the White House that the insurgency is the work of â??foreign terroristsâ?�, marine Major General Stephen Johnson told a press conference on October 7 his troops had been fighting â??largely locally based insurgentsâ?�:

â??[T]he insurgent we fight here is from here, heâ??s from those communities in which we are engaging them. They are generally young people, 20 to 30-years old. They are day laborers, agricultural workers. They are disaffected and thereâ??s a lot of unemployment. But theyâ??re local people and they can come and go within the community.â?�

The chaos, dislocation and instability caused by the US operations ensured that as many as one third of the polling stations in Anbar province did not open on Saturday. Nevertheless, those who could vote, overwhelming opposed the constitution. In Fallujah, where initial results have been reported, 97 percent rejected the document, while at the same time making clear they viewed the entire process as illegitimate.

The British Guardian reported on October 17: â??Voters in Fallujah said they would continue supporting the insurrection. â??The resistance will go on,â?? said Hamid Jassim, 60, queueing to vote at al-Khansa primary school. Those within earshot nodded vigorously. â??God willing it will go on,â?? they said.â?� Initial reports indicate a similar rejection of the constitution in other Sunni areas and determination to continue fighting the occupation.

The massacres on Sunday are a foretaste of what is to come over the coming weeks and months. Iraqis of all backgroundsâ??Sunni, Shiite and Kurdishâ??face disastrous conditions of life, none of which will be altered by a constitution or the new government to be elected in December. While at present the resistance is concentrated in Sunni areas, it can only spread as the resentment and hostility to the occupation and the political parties collaborating with US imperialism intensifies across the country.

In order to crush the opposition to its war aims, and to a puppet government in Baghdad that hands over territory and oil to US interests, the American ruling elite is prepared to slaughter tens of thousands more Iraqis.

The US military asserted the airstrike resulted in the â??death of terroristsâ?� who had been planting another bomb. Witnesses and Ramadi hospital staff, however, have insisted that the casualties were young people and children who were pulling parts from the wreck.

Planting another bomb, or not, they should've stayed away from the wreckage, unless given permission by the U.S. Military. If someone bombed your house, would you want a bunch of Arabs (or anyone) going through your stuff?

Ahmed Fouad told the Washington Post that his son and eight-year-old daughter were among the dead. â??She was killed with her brother when they were near the humvee. Her mother had a stroke out of shock,â?� he said. A local police officer told Reuters: â??Their bodies were completely ripped apart.â?�

No proof that they died. Insurance fraud. I have no idea how this Father will be compensated.

Edit: The rest of this is too depressing to even comment on.

They wanted to do a mass suicide for the constitution, so they all gatherd around and waited for the bombs to drop. I guess the 100,000s of iraqis were not enuff blood.

I laughed when I saw this, then when I saw where you linked the story, I laughed even harder. Come on dude..you fall for this false information too easy. :;gives you a tinfoil hat::

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tholiak

I laughed when I saw this, then when I saw where you linked the story, I laughed even harder. Come on dude..you fall for this false information too easy. :;gives you a tinfoil hat::

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Ya, I laugh when they said saddam was looking for yellow cake in Niger so he can nuke a u.s. city and if we dont stop him they will take over america and the american women would have to where a burka. I also laugh about that WMD they still have not found. That is what I heard right b4 the war on foxnews, I still remember them saying such crap

And that has what to do with the above story? Face it. US killed Terrorist/Insurgents, after they were dead, their friends came out to collect their Guns and then proclaim that they were innocent Civis.

Well for one thing we would not be in Iraq if it wasnt for them forge yellow cake documents

Thats why they outed a CIA agent, because joe wilson would not go along with the lies.

Yea we would have, and the documents werent forged numb nuts. it wsa CIA intelligence that said he was looking into it the Cake, be it wrong or right.

oh..and long live israel

OK, LOL what ever u say dick. Long live The USA, motherfucker, Forget isreal.

The Iraqi people are FULLY aware that ANY U.S. vehicle, plane, whatever, when damaged in the field will be completely destroyed very quickly.

But of course, we DEFINATELY need another conspiracy! :rolleyes:

Yes, your right psycho they are aware of this, maybe the bad guys r telling them 2 go jump around the burning vehicles, just to make an uprising/civil war to happen. Now that a conspiracy..

ho,

Tholiak, your heart turns black before our very eyes, these were children playing on a broken vehicle, your glorious soldiers are scared and becoming foul. this is the same perverse shit your armies did in vietnam, you have already lost. terrorist only exist in your frightened little mind and your governments gross propaganda. maybe you should poke a little tinfoil up your butt and chew some at the same time you grab some 220 volt electrics, it may wake you up.

CONSPIRACY!!!

MAYBE we don't want intellegence falling into the wrong hands? MAYBE we don't want certain technology falling into the wrong hands? CAN'T BE THOUGH! It HAS to be dirty Americans killing poor folk just trying to loot over a vehicle. Hell, we probably disabled the humvee ourselves just to kill the poor bastards!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

CONSPIRACY!!!

MAYBE we don't want intellegence falling into the wrong hands? MAYBE we don't want certain technology falling into the wrong hands? CAN'T BE THOUGH! It HAS to be dirty Americans killing poor folk just trying to loot over a vehicle. Hell, we probably disabled the humvee ourselves just to kill the poor bastards!!

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ho,

you really think there is intelligence around anything your government does, now that is a real illusion, you jerkoffs are so funny with your lame names for all your missions, like desert storm and shock and awe, you are such children. you are killing infants for oil, you fucking disgust honest and compassionate people.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hempity

ho,

you really think there is intelligence around anything your government does, now that is a real illusion, you jerkoffs are so funny with your lame names for all your missions, like desert storm and shock and awe, you are such children. you are killing infants for oil, you fucking disgust honest and compassionate people.

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I can understand how you don't understand terms like intellegence. Don't worry, if you continue to insult others with different points of view it will make it all alright....at least in your flappy lil' head! :D

would you rather the USA nuke them all
or try to get the ones killing over politics and religion

i wish they would get the fuck out of there,

saddam is on trial ,let them sort it out now


but your retoric on here is getting old to me
big bad usa taking over the world shit,
i know better,

we just dont know exactly whos ass to kick for 911
so we picked a bad guy in abad place and yes the people of iraq will benifit from it in about 10 yrs,
peace