What the hell happened today in Ramadi?

[w8liftinglady]

Did we or did we not blow up 18 kids?What's going on?This has been disappeared.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/YAT768974.htm
BAGHDAD, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Iraq's government and police said a bomb blast near a soccer field in the western city of Ramadi on Tuesday killed 18 people, mostly children, but the U.S. military said it was unaware of such an attack.

The United States said it would attend two conferences planned by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government that were designed to help stabilise Iraq and may involve contact with Iran and Syria, nations Washington has been reluctant to engage.

"(Maliki) believes, and President Bush and I agree, that success in Iraq requires the positive support of Iraq's neighbours," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The conferences are expected to be held in March and April.

The U.S. military said its soldiers had carried out a controlled explosion in Ramadi, near a soccer field, that wounded 30 people, including nine children.

"I can't imagine there would be another attack involving children without our people knowing," said Major Jeff Pool, a spokesman for U.S. forces in western Anbar province. The wounded had cuts and bruises, he said.

The offices of Maliki and President Jalal Talabani issued statements condemning the blast that they said killed 18 people.

[magellan]

1. Hm. US military carried out a controlled explosion that wounded 30 people?

If that's the story they're going with, I can only suggest that it wasn't very "controlled" if it wounded that many people.

[w8liftinglady]

2. my son will be in Ramadi tomorrow...this worries me

[jannyk]

6. sorry, didn't mean to post the BBC link under your post...

to you I meant to send lots of:

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

It's so hard for those waiting at home.

[w8liftinglady]

7. it's cool-I really DO want to know...

[puebloknot]

13. K&R Best wishes for strength for you and your family. nt

[jannyk]

4. Here's the BBC link - nobody seems to know

what really happened. One event or two? 18 dead or 30 injured? Either way, a controlled blast, next to an occupied soccer field, doesn't sound too bright.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6401839.stm

[walldude]

3. WHAT? PLEASE TELL ME WE DID NOT DO THIS!

When I heard about this all I could think of was being at one of my kids soccer games.. I guess this was the "one bomb" Laura was talking about. Fuck, I can't take much more of this.

[w8liftinglady]

5. my kids at home are 10 and 16...could have been them...

where has this gone...and was is just a mistake,a terrorist act,or what?They will blame it on us if we continue this doublespeak.

[Sterling]

11. We did not do this.

They don't need any help making this stuff happen. We do all sorts of dumb shit over there but we don't blow up kids at soccer games on purpose. Sect on sec terrorists do all the time tough.

[w8liftinglady]

12. I hope not.

[w8liftinglady]

8. I know-no big deal.

[w8liftinglady]

9. i'll kick again for info

[Hissyspit]

10. .

[GreenZoneLT]

14. The Marines put out an "oops" press release

Apparently, the explosion was a lot bigger than they expected. They were disposing of insurgent explosives, which is routine.

Here's the press release:

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - Thirty citizens of south-east Ramadi and one Iraqi Soldier are being treated for wounds sustained by flying glass and debris which resulted from a controlled detonation this evening.
The wounded were evacuated to a nearby Coalition aid station for medical treatment. None of the injuries are reported to be life threatening. The more seriously injured were flown to a nearby military hospital for treatment.
After a search by Iraqi and U.S. forces uncovered 15 bags of an unknown explosive, the Soldiers brought the bags to the courtyard of a nearby abandoned building for disposal.
The blast was much larger than expected, shattering glass in surrounding buildings and injuring the civilians.
The incident is under investigation.

The Prime Minister's office put out a press release deploring some kind of attack in Anbar province, must be the one the story talks about. Doesn't sound like it was us that did that one; either an insurgent attack the Marines weren't aware of, or exaggerated propaganda about this (un)controlled detonation (the Association of Muslim "Scholars" puts out that sort of thing frequently.) We're pretty good about owning up to civilian casualties we cause, although sometimes it takes a few days for the reports to come in.

[GreenZoneLT]

15. Never mind. The Iraqi government got it fucked up. No attack Tuesday.

BAGHDAD, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A report of a bomb killing 18 people, mostly children, on Tuesday in the Iraqi city of Ramadi was wrong and stemmed from confusion over a similar attack the day before, police officials and residents said on Wednesday.

The reported killing of so many children drew swift condemnation from the president and the prime minister, but Colonel Tariq al Theibani, security adviser for Anbar province, said the report of the bombing on Tuesday was wrong.

"It happened the day before yesterday," he told Reuters.

He said 18 people, many of them children, were killed on Monday by a suicide car bomb, as previously reported. The U.S. military had put the death toll from that attack at 15.

Iraq's government and police had reported on Tuesday another bomb near a soccer field killing 18 people, mostly children. The U.S. military, which has a heavy presence in Anbar, had said it was unaware of such an attack.

But the U.S. military said its soldiers had carried out a controlled explosion in the volatile western city, also near a soccer field, that wounded 30 people, including nine children on Tuesday afternoon.

Theibani said the confusion may have arisen partly because the victims of Monday's car bomb were buried on Tuesday.

The loud blast from Tuesday's controlled explosion near a soccer field may have also contributed to the confusion.

The U.S. military often carries out controlled explosions in Iraq to destroy captured weapons or unexploded bombs.

Other police sources in Ramadi and residents also confirmed that the report of the death of children in a blast on Tuesday was wrong, and said there were no major attacks that day in Ramadi.

According to a U.S. statement, in Monday's attack insurgents killed 15 Iraqis including women, children and two police officers in a car bomb near a mosque in a residential neighbourhood in northwestern Ramadi.

Theibani blamed Monday's attack on al Qaeda.

[w8liftinglady]

17. Thank god-my son lands in Ramadi later today.

[radfringe]

16. whatever happened

it ruined Laura Bush's whole day....



"Many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, uh, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everyone." -- Laura Bush, interview on Larry King Live 2/26/07


“I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iran — Iraq — it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there’s a strong will for democracy, these people want a unity government, the unity government’s functioning.” -- George W. Bush, Interview with CNN Wolf blitzer, September 2006


"One of the great things about America, one of the beauties of our country, is that when we see a young, innocent child blown up by an IED, we cry." -- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Mar. 29, 2006

blown up kids is so beautiful it makes us cry?????