ARBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan -- A little more information and clarification on the "blue on blue" (friendly fire) incident yesterday in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Twenty-two Kurdish fighters and five Special Forces died. Forty-five peshmergas were wounded, including Wazeri Barzani, a brother of KDP president Massoud Barzani.
The attack happened not because of the capture of Iraqi tanks, as early reports from Fawzi Hariri said yesterday, but because a Special Forces commander in the attacked convoy called in air strikes on a nearby Iraqi tank column and the American pilots hit the convoy by mistake.
More details as they become available.
The regime in Baghdad is about to collapse. Iraqis in Karbala celebrated their new-found freedom yesterday — by tearing down a statue of hated tyrant Saddam Hussein. An elderly man added in broken English: “Good, good, good — Mr W. Bush, no Saddam.” As US troops proudly wore flowers given to them by townsfolk, a 25-year-old Iraqi said he could not understand opposition to the war. So um…why are people opposing this war? When the Iraqi people support it? They love President Bush in Iraq. Bad news for all the naysayers….
Um, theres no clear sign whether the invaders are welcomed or not. For every report that they’re being given flowers, there is one to the contrary.
If your kids are having their limbs blown off, if you live in a war torn area, the last thing you are going to feel is affinity with those who are dropping those bombs.
Yes, Saddam was terrible. But hes not conducting this war. We are.
Baghdad will be a big test I guess. When the regime is gone, we will see how the people react. And I believe the “invaders” a.k.a the liberators will be welcomed. Once the people of Iraq know that Saddam and his cohorts are gone for good, then they will show how they feel.
The U.S. Marines were welcomed by the Lebanese sickened by the factional warfare around them. And when the U.S. showed bias in favour of the Phalangists and Israelis, resentment grew. Finally, more than 240 soldiers went home in body bags. The U.S. is liberating Iraq. But unless America shows a greater awareness of local conditions and political realities than it has in the past, or its current leaders are now exhibiting, there will be significant blowback from what I believe is essentially a just war.
The U.S. Marines were welcomed by the Lebanese sickened by the factional warfare around them. And when the U.S. showed bias in favour of the Phalangists and Israelis, resentment grew. Finally, more than 240 soldiers went home in body bags. The U.S. is liberating Iraq. But unless America shows a greater awareness of local conditions and political realities than it has in the past, or its current leaders are now exhibiting, there will be significant blowback from what I believe is essentially a just war.
I think it’s clear that there is a wide range of reactions to the U.S. war in Iraq. Among those who see Saddam as a sworn enemy (i.e. Kurds in the north), there seems to be quite a bit of pleasure at the fact that Saddam is going to fall. In the south, the Shia majority hasn’t been nearly as welcoming as the U.S. anticipated. The fighting in Basra still rages on, when they were expecting it to fall in the first couple of days. In a country as fractured as Iraq, a statement like “They love President Bush in Iraq” is preposterous. On the other hand, so is the statement “Iraqi’s hate the U.S. invasion”. It just depends on who you ask.
Um, invaders. You can’t get away from the fact that when you enter a country with troops, uninvited, you are invading. Be honest with yourself.
Yes invaders. That’s what you do in a war. You invade.
Or I defend myself from invasion.
After Al-Jazeera’s guys got hit last night, do you feel journalists will be less safe now, Chris?
i smell like poo