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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] Maybe the US thinks it's Israel -- bombing a town, hoping to get "suspected terrorists", but intentionally trying to frighten (terrorize) the civilians. Don't know who fired the rockets, so just bomb anyone? That's collective punishment, and is clearly a war crime, and will only make the Iraqis hate the US more. It's illegal, stupid and immoral. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=34840&d=9&m=11&y=2003 Sunday, 9, November, 2003 (14, Ramadhan, 1424) US Warplanes Bomb Tikrit Naseer Al-Nahr, Asharq Al-Awsat BAGHDAD, 9 November 2003 Hours after Iraqi insurgents downed an American Black Hawk helicopter killing six soldiers, US warplanes bombed Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit yesterday. The US Army said the airstrikes were a “show of force.” “We want to remind this town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them,” said Lt. Col. Steven Russell of the 4th Infantry Division who led the raid. The US offensive came as the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was temporarily shutting its offices in Baghdad and Basra and Iraqi fighters killed two US paratroopers in an ambush. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage described Iraq as a “war zone,” but noted that “we have the momentum in this process.” “I’m absolutely convinced we have a very solid plan to go out and get these people who are killing us and killing Iraqis,” he told reporters during a visit to Iraq. Late yesterday, three detonations were heard from the direction of western Baghdad. It was not immediately possible to determine whether the blasts, which sounded like small-caliber mortar rounds, had caused any damage. Traffic across the Jumhuriya Bridge over the Tigris River near the US command compound known as the “Green Zone” was blocked by US troops. For the first time since the end of major combat in May, US jets and helicopters flew overhead through the night sky with their navigation lights turned off. In yesterday’s attack by insurgents in the volatile town of Fallujah, the two US soldiers were killed and one was wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated near their convoy. A US army captain said the vehicle was a Bradley. The heavily armored personnel carrier differs only slightly from a tank. It would mark the second time since US troops invaded Iraq that insurgents have ripped apart US armor with their explosives. The first incident was on Oct. 29 when an M1 Abrams tank was hit by a bomb, killing two crew members near the northeastern town of Balad. The latest deaths brought to 34 the number of American soldiers who have died in Iraq this month. In Geneva, the international Red Cross said it was temporarily closing its offices in Baghdad and Basra because of the security situation. The Red Cross had planned to cut back on foreign staff after the Oct. 27 truck-bombing at its Baghdad office but wanted to keep the offices open with reduced staff. In Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, witnesses said a vehicle carrying American soldiers was attacked with automatic weapons as it drove down a city street. The vehicle stalled and several wounded soldiers got out and fled on foot. Local people then set the vehicle ablaze. “They (Americans) are occupying the world,” said Shazad Ahmed, a resident who saw the attack. “What do you want the people to do? Kiss them?” Meanwhile, the US Army said it had caught one of Saddam’s former bodyguards near Kirkuk and troops captured 12 people suspected of involvement in a deadly attack on a Baghdad hotel where US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. Also yesterday, Iraq’s interim Governing Council welcomed Turkey’s decision not to send forces to the war-torn country. “The Governing Council has always said that security and stability cannot be maintained in the presence of foreign forces,” council spokesman Hamid Al-Kifai told reporters. Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: <http://www.arabix.com/>arabix and powered by <http://www.eimaits.co.uk/>Eima IT _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk