BAGHDAD, March 21, 2007
Iraqi Police: Kids Were Decoys In Bombing
Cops Say New Tactic Was Used In Weekend Attack In Northern Baghdad
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Iraqi police officers gesture under a destroyed bridge adjacent to the ministry of finance, following the explosion of a car bomb in Baghdad on March 21, 2007. (Getty Images/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)
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A boy stands by cars destroyed after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad on March 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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An Iraqi soldier climbs on top of a tank at a checkpoint in Baghdad on March 21, 2007. (Getty Images/Ali Al-Saadi)
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The account appeared to confirm one given Tuesday by a U.S. general. He said children were used in a Sunday bombing in northern Baghdad and labeled it a brutal new tactic put to use by insurgents to battle a five-week-old security crackdown in the capital.
Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations on the Joint Staff, said the vehicle used in the attack was waved through a U.S. military checkpoint because two children were visible in the back seat. He said it was the first reported use of children in a car bombing in Baghdad.
"Children in the back seat lowered suspicion, (so) we let it move through, they parked the vehicle, the adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back," Barbero told reporters in Washington. "The brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed."
Other U.S. officials said later that three Iraqi bystanders were killed in the attack near a marketplace in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah, besides the two children, and seven people were injured. The officials had no other details, including the estimated ages of the children.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, confirmed Barbero's account but said he couldn't provide more details.
Two policemen, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the general was referring to a car bomb Sunday that killed eight Iraqis and wounded 28 others in the predominantly Shiite district of Shaab. The attack targeted people cooking food at open-air grills in the street as part of a Shiite Muslim holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad's death.
The reports could not be independently confirmed and key details were missing from the police accounts, such as the ages and genders of the children, whether they were among the victims, and what happened to their bodies.
A senior official in the Shaab police department said an investigation was opened after the owner of a shop in the market district said he and other residents initially told a man he could not park his car on the street but relented after seeing the children in the back seat.
Another police officer also said witnesses had reported seeing two children inside the car before it exploded. He said three other cases had been registered since last year in which women and children were used in parked car bombings, although they reportedly got out of the cars before those explosions.
The U.S. military has warned that insurgents are finding new ways to bypass stepped-up security to kill as many people as possible and spread panic. A series of bombings using toxic chlorine since Jan. 28 also raised concerns.
Insurgent tactics have evolved since the war started four years ago and youths often have been among their victims, but the use of children as decoys would signal a new level of ruthlessness in the fight for control of the capital.
Iraqi children have been drawn into the fight in the past, however.
In the deadliest cases, a suicide car bomber sped up to American soldiers distributing candy to children July 2005 and detonated his explosives, killing up to 27 people, including a dozen children and a U.S. soldier.
That occurred about nine months after 35 Iraqi children were killed in a string of bombs that exploded as American troops were handing out candy at a government-sponsored celebration to inaugurate a sewage plant in west Baghdad.
Last April, a Marine told an Associated Press reporter in Ramadi that he was shot at by insurgents who were holding children. Other Marines on patrol in the city west of Baghdad have said Sunni insurgents ask children to check out American defenses or warn them of approaching convoys.
And in September, U.S. soldiers told an AP reporter in Baghdad that children often throw rocks at their vehicles, in what they suspect is an attempt either to lure them into firing range of hidden snipers or to goad the soldiers into shooting at the children.
According to the U.N.'s mission in Iraq, at least 204 children were killed last year in fighting, and nearly 800 others were wounded.
In other developments:
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Add a Comment See all 69 Comments
- feelfree1 wrote:
"p.s.- Did you see this article?
"Study: Israel a hotbed of Internet attacks"
"Israel unfortunately is home to the most malicious Internet activity per Internet user"
www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php
/id;385587886;fp;2;fpid;1"
Yeah, being involved in the area of Information Technology (and a linux fan as well), I've seen quite a few articles over the past few years about Israeli "hackers/crackers".
There's always a *** for tat war going on between Israeli and Arab "hackers/crackers" as well. - Reply to this comment
- Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have been bought by the AIPAC political Action Group. They are not going to let the Democrats stray too far from the Bush party line in practice. The example of that is by Nancy Pelosi not including wording in the bill for Bush to not attack Iran. Israel wants America to Attack Iran before Bush leaves office.
We can still support our allies such as Israel without putting their interest over that of our own country. This is something American Politicians have not understood! It is not in Americas interest to attack Iran or to stay in Iraq!
If you follow the money trail you will find that most of those elected officials who support the war in Iraq are under the influence of AIPAC.
http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm
Now here is the real kicker! President Bush is funding Al Qaeda in Lebanon with funds from Iraq! This is Impeachment and Treason! Here is the proof Read it!
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh
If you think Americas sacrifice is worth it contact your ELECTED OFFICIAL and tell them http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
The House Speakers email address: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
info@gop.com Here is the Republican Party email address too!
democraticparty@democrats.org Here is the Democratic Party email address also!
I HAVE PROVIDED YOU THE CONTACT AND RESEARCH STREAMS NOW THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR YOUR TO CONTINUE TO EAT THE GRASS AND DRINK THE DICKTATERS COOL AID! - Reply to this comment
- "The reports could not be independently confirmed and key details were missing from the police accounts, such as the ages and genders of the children, whether they were among the victims, and what happened to their bodies."
As usual, the first lines of the article are meant to shock - but as we read further "the reports could not independently confirmed".
Then why should the Pentagon report it?
It's called manipulation of American public opinion. Probably devised by some hidden neocons still wandering the halls of the Pentagon. We are to believe that the "insurgents", who are predominately Iraqi, are brutal and inhuman and therefore our continued efforts towards destroying them are justified.
Just like the israelis portray the Palestinians -some sub-human form of life.
How many innocent Iraqi children did we allow to die from hunger and disease during the 10 yrs of sanctions against Iraq before the war? - Reply to this comment
- I am so sorry about this terrible situation. I can only tell you what you are telling me. This is absolutely President Bush's fault. First he created Global Warmingt and now this. Will he never quit trying to destroy the world.
- Reply to this comment
- Their officers and agents should be imprisoned, and their assests should be liquidated and used to create a reparations fund, in my opinion.
Posted by feelfree1 at 12:44 AM : Mar 22, 2007
Yes, spread the word. I visited their website after reading your post. The entire premise of mass manipulation for hire is a threat to democracy worldwide. Media outlets MUST protect the public from strategic manipulation. - Reply to this comment
- mcdazz,
Terrorizing and attacking women is a specialty of the Israelis. They also excel at terrorizing and killing children, and in the use of "human shields".
p.s.- Did you see this article?
"Study: Israel a hotbed of Internet attacks"
"Israel unfortunately is home to the most malicious Internet activity per Internet user"
www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;385587886;fp;2;fpid;1 - Reply to this comment
- standlee5,
Re: "feelfree1, we need to have media secure from Rendon Group and the likes."
I agree. I also think that they should be made an example of, for their war profiteering and fraud activities.
Their officers and agents should be imprisoned, and their assests should be liquidated and used to create a reparations fund, in my opinion. - Reply to this comment
- Re: "A U.S. Army soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to being an accessory to the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaying of her family"
Under the Bush regime, we have seen the minimum requirements of military entrants lowered from already ridiculously low levels.
The U.S. military now accepts more applicants who have little or no high school education, and even more that have criminal records.
We can be sure that we will see many more murders, rapes, torture, etc., at the hands of U.S. troops in the future, especially since those who have been prosecuted have received such light sentences.
After these combat trained men are finished in Iraq, they will return to a neighborhood near you, complete with posttraumatic stress disorder, and inadequate mental health care. - Reply to this comment
- The Picture of the Day on the CBS News main page shows a Palestinian woman being attacked by an Israeli Army dog.
The caption reads:
"An Israeli army dog attacks a Palestinian woman during an army raid in the West Bank village of Obadiyah, near Bethlehem, Wednesday, March 21, 2007. The dog, which was supposed to enter a house with troops searching for a wanted militant, attacked the female bystander instead. The woman received medical attention from the troops on the scene." - Reply to this comment
- feelfree1, we need to have media secure from Rendon Group and the likes.
- Reply to this comment
