Thursday, September 18, 2003

Update on the story I posted earlier today -- AP now says:

Guerrillas ambushed two U.S. military convoys with remote-controlled bombs in separate attacks Thursday, wounding two Americans and sparking a heavy gunbattle in which a 20-year-old man was shot in the chest and two trucks were destroyed....

Al-Arabiya television reported eight Americans were killed and one wounded in Thursday violence. The U.S. military did not confirm any deaths.


It's quite possible that the claim of U.S. deaths is partly or wholly inaccurate.

But it's still been a rather unpleasant day. There's also this:

In the nearby town of Fallujah, witnesses said an American patrol opened fire on guests at a wedding, killing a 14-year-old boy and wounding six people, after mistaking celebratory gunfire for an attack....

North of Baghdad, fire raged at an oil pipeline following an explosion at the site, the U.S. military said, raising concerns that it was the latest in a series of sabotage attacks.

Guerrillas ambushed two U.S. military convoys with remote-controlled bombs in separate attacks Thursday, wounding two Americans and sparking a heavy gunbattle in which a 20-year-old man was shot in the chest and two trucks were destroyed.


Here's a condensed version of the story:

roadside bomb ... gunmen opened fire ... soldiers shot back with no obvious targets — often at anything they felt threatening ... reporter and photographer covering the incident were fired on ... ran to safety from their car after an American tank trained its machine on the vehicle ... Bradley fighting vehicles and 40 troops surrounded the neighborhood ... One Humvee was engulfed in flames ... people chanted: "With our blood, with our souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Saddam." ...Hmood said the Americans opened fire 360 degrees around themselves ...The dead boy...was on his way to buy cigarettes ...

What a disaster.

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