U.S. Kills 9 Children in Airstrike
Fifteen Iraqi women and children found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time Thursday when the U.S. launched a series of airstrikes to back up ground operations targeting suspected insurgents.
Fifteen Iraqi women and children found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time Thursday when the U.S. launched a series of airstrikes to back up ground operations targeting suspected insurgents.
It’s the kind of overkill that challenges the sense of combating an urban insurgency with the full breadth of American military power, and places America’s Iraqi allies in the awkward position of having to explain their support for a force that appears to value dead insurgents over live Iraqis.
Your support matters…BBC:
The air and ground assault was targeted at senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq, in the Lake Tharthar region, it said.
An initial air raid killed four insurgents and more air strikes were launched to back up US ground troops, a statement said.
A further 15 insurgents were found dead along with six women and nine children.
More from AP via MSNBC:
American forces have applied fierce and determined pressure on militants, especially al-Qaida in Iraq, since the full contingent of additional U.S. troops arrived June 15. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has recently confronted top American commander Gen. David Petraeus about what he sees as overly aggressive U.S. tactics that harm innocent civilians, according to Iraqi officials.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Though the dark futility and carnage of our current wars are rarely publicly acknowledged, we should at least be able to confront the suicidal idiocy of World War I.
Officials expect the number of people killed and injured in Saturday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake to rise well above 2,500 and 5,000 respectively.
An annual U.N. report states that last year, more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and more than 17,000 injured at the hands of Israel.
Gen. John Allen, commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals.
Editors at The Guardian's Data Blog have assembled an interactive report that maps the number of U.S. military members killed and wounded in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. (more)
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.