Yesterday a suicide bomber targeted an American soldier who was busy distributing candy to Iraqi children during a bomb alert. The soldier, the bomber and thirty two children were killed. (Le Monde: A Bagdad, 32 enfants ont été tués par une voiture piégée lors d’une distribution de friandises américaine; July 13, 2005)
What is wrong with this picture?
This is the US armed forces, this is not the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Why would a US soldier be handing out sweets in the middle of a bomb alert? Why is this going on?
24 Iraqi children killed by car bomb(Death Toll Now at Thirty-Two)
BAGHDAD — Twenty-four Iraqi children were killed Wednesday by a suicide car bomber targeting American soldiers handing out sweets after entering their Baghdad neighborhood precisely to warn of a possible attack.
Some 20 more children were wounded in the blast, while a US soldier died and three were injured, hospital and US sources said. “A driver approached one of the US Humvees and then detonated his car,” said Sergeant David Abrams.
Witness Mohammed Ali Hamza said US forces came to the Al-Jedidah district to warn residents to stay indoors because of reports of a car bomb in the area.
WHY ARE SOLDIERS HANDING OUT CANDY IN THE MIDDLE OF A BOMB ALERT?
“Children gathered round the Americans who were handing out sweets. Suddenly a suicide car bomber drove round from a side street and blew himself up,” he added.
“We have received the bodies of 24 children aged between 10 and 13,” said the official in charge of the morgue at Kindi hospital.
Abu Hamed whose 12-year-old son Mohammed was killed, said, “I was at home. I heard the explosion. I rushed outside to find my son. I only found his bicycle.”
He was speaking at the hospital, where hundreds of distraught parents mingled in blood-soaked hallways shouting and screaming. He said he had found his son in the hospital morgue. “I recognized him from his head. The rest of the body was completely burnt.”
It’s not the first time this has happened:
“The last such attack involved a triple car bombing against US troops inaugurating a water treatment plant in western Baghdad on September 30. Forty-three people were killed, including 37 children who had gathered to take candy from the soldiers.” — AFP24 Iraqi children killed by car bomb
Raed In The Middle; July 13, 2005
The attacks that target Iraqi civilians should be condemned whether they’re carried out by the US army (like the daily attacks) or by others (like some ethnic attacks against mosques and individuals). Yet, the attacks targeting military convoys that kills Iraqi civilians gathering around them is another story, or at least a more controversial one. Civilians shouldn’t be put in danger by sending military troops close to their homes.
What You Can Do:
War is insane, and its record is written in civilian casualties.
Let’s start breaking these numbers down. The official death toll for Iraq1 civilians is now 125,000 (UnitedPressInternational) How many of these are children? Contact the International Committee of Red Cross/Red Crescent.
Contact your representatives in government and protest the US military practice of distributing sweets to Iraqi children based on this report from today’s Oman Times: 61 children dead in two separate incidents. Handing out sweets when US military personnel are a target of bombs, suicide and otherwise, is criminally negligent.
It’s time to stop this insane war. Let’s start with the children.
Resources:
International Red Cross/Red Crescent
Save the Children: Emergencies, Iraq – Working to Improve …Save the Children is operating one of the largest private relief efforts in Iraq. Save the Children USA, based in Basra operates a number of programs …
Save The ChildrenNo change in west’s policy towards Iraq, despite UN admission of child deaths.
The routine bombing of Iraq by the US and Britain, and the UN sanctions kept …
UN, Unicef, Childrens Mortality IraqCBC News Indepth: Iraq
INDEPTH: IRAQ Casualties in the Iraq war CBC News Online | Updated June 27, 2005
Iraq Childrens CasualtiesHumanitarian Consequences of the War and Occupation of Iraq …
The experts conclude that children in Iraq are far more vulnerable to the effects
… Global Public Health Experts Say Failure to Count Iraqi Casualties Is …
Childrens Casualties IraqCivilian Casualties In Iraq
UN: Iraq fighting ‘wreaking havoc’ on children. Malnutrition rates have nearly
doubled since start of war. Fighting in Iraq is “wreaking havoc” on the …
Children’s Casualties Iraq
Absolutely heartbreaking. Yet another demostration of the failure of Bush’s “presidency”
I have spent the last hour trying to track down the sources of photos of Iraqi children killed in this war, that is not a war… it’s been an occupation for the last year. The purpose of this occupation is for the good of the people. I am trying to remember that as I sift through photographic evidence of families sifting through rubble to find the bodies of children.
The UPI story is the first on real numbers of civilian casualties since the Lancet report of last year that numbered civilian casualties as high as 100,000.
Now here is this:
128,000, 39,000 or 24. Which number is too many?
The answer: All of them.
Hi, Suskind –
I drew upon this bombing for one of my daily diaries.
As noted in the captions, these photos are generally taken by Iraqi stringers on behalf of various wire services. There are anywhere from 25-100 released each day.
Also of note, very few news outlets use the photos – too downbeat, I guess.
Hey RubDMC..your daily diaries are important..might not seem like people are paying attention to them but I think a lot of people check them but find like myself wondering just what to say.
Yeah, we’re at war but lets not be to ‘downbeat’ about all the killing and mayhem perpetrated on civilians especially the children well Iraqi children anyway. To paraphrase: ‘if Iraqi children die in the forest does anyone in the US care?’
Let’s pretend instead war is more like a John Wayne war movie with that old Green Beret song in the background.
How do you deal with this. If we can’t rise up, march and stop this madness, we are all truly worthless. Our taxes. Our apapthy. All wrapped in a Hershey’s Kiss, blown out of some poor little kid’s hand.
Civilian Casualties:
World War I: 16%
World War II: 65%
All wars since 95+%
This is the efficiency of modern warfare.
(source: Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War; 1998; An ALA Notable Book. A New York Times Notable Book. By: Barbara Ehrenreich)
Why are soldiers still allowed to hand out candy? It is the soldiers who are specifically being targeted, and they shouldn’t encourage children to gather around them in a war zone.
In my 14 months in Iraq one of the overarching themes was that the fate of that land was ultimately in the hands of the children. That said, at first handing out candy was a natural symapthetic response of the soldier to the plight of the children in Iraq. Many soldiers have children of their own, and would often use interactions with the children as a way to soften the blow of a long deployment. Yet there were immediate and obvious problems with this beneficence:
Eventually my division issued an order banning the distribution of candy to children after a traffic accident killed a child. I cannot say with authority how long lasting the ban was or how widespread.
Soldiers simply ignored the ban when not being directly policed by their superiors (chalk one up for human nature!).
I would like to hear of left-wing forces assembling to independently march upon religious centers where they will by force if need be stop the brain washing of innocent youth. I would like the left to be at the vanguard of the destruction of the Ancien Regime, as it was at least until Viet Nam.
by Coriolanus on Thu Jul 14th, 2005 at 11:39:59 AM EDT (from European Tribune)
It’s good public relations and it’s good for soldier morale. On the other hand, it does — as you say — have certain risks.
I was surprised to see this as front page news — above the fold, with photo — in the Boston Globe this morning. Boston folks got a bit of Daily Witness today …
Good public relations for who?..our MSM to tout how caring our soldiers are..doubt Iraqi parents are seeing this as being good for public relations. I can think of better things for soldiers morale such as oh maybe armor plated hummers for instance and so on.
The very human-ness of the soldiers is killing the children they are drawn to love. This is horrific. I have avoided this diary all day because I, frankly, didn’t want to know the details.
But, my husband — who served in Vietnam — read the headline and immediately jumped to the conclusion that these children were being purposely lured to their deaths in order to turn their bereaved parents against the insurgents. I’m sorta glad he may be wrong. It could be exactly what the article above says, soldiers missing their own children want to reach out and cause unintended consequences. Gawd, I hope this isn’t some evil plan…
But would you tell your husband that I believe it was criminal negligence and in violation of the Geneva Conventions ONLY because the soldiers at the checkpoint were supposed to be safeguarding the civilians during a bomb alert… this means they were supposed to be clearing the streets of civilians, not engaging children to stay out in them.
The sooner the US military faces up to this, and takes responsibility, corrects and reinforces its policy about not endangering the lives of children by bringing them anywhere nears a military target (i.e. US armed forces and armed vehicles) the sooner we will be able to recover from this incident.
This is a serious problem. 70 children have died in two incidents. In a similar incident a 2 year old who was run over by an armed vehicle in a crowd where sweets were being distributed. Playing with kids is inappropriate for soldiers on duty in a free fire zone. I’d like to hear your husband’s view on what happened and what should happen to rectify this situation. This soldier let down his guard, and was not paying attention to the dangerous situation he was posted there to watch.
The US forces are there to protect civilians and to preserve the peace.
So soldiers are human too. And that’s what gets them killed.
I am reminded of the stories my Norwegian grandparents told me about the occupation – WWII – and about teaching their kids not to accept candy from German soldiers. Children don’t understand politics – they just see that someone is smiling and handing out free candy.
Please note I am not comparing anyone to the Nazis or saying anything about occupations. This is just another voice in the wilderness saying that war is not a good place to be.
We are all haveing a hard time understanding this one. The fact is that suicide bombers have killed these children, in large groups where they gathered.
This is insanity.
When the last candy bombing happened, I learned just how different I am from the rest of Americans.
I was instantly angry that our soldiers were handing out candy in a war zone. That their need to feel warm and fuzzy by passing out sweets like my Grandpa did with Hershey bars in Italy, outshot the need for the children’s safety. Time and time again, I heard “but it makes the soldiers feel good”… at what cost?
Is it worth it?
How many children will die because they are running after a jeep like it’s a fucking ice cream truck?
It’s Iraq, a complete fuck up, a quagmire. NOT Willy Wonka.
I’m sure I’ll hear more about how our soldiers need to feel like humans by handing out sweets…
they can start by getting the hell out of Iraq.
That makes three of us: you, me and this mother who was interviewed on NPR:
“I heard a report on National Public Radio on Wednesday quoting one of the bereaved mothers as blaming the Americans for the childrens’ deaths (insofar as they were the occasion for the bombing).”–Juan Cole, Informed Comment, July 14.
Will you work with me please, Janet? I can’t even get the numbers of children killed for a start. The report above was 24, then China and France reported 32. This morning I wake up and its 18…. and the story has been rewritten so often one would be hard pressed to find any mention of passing out sweets at all.
I have been going over the official numbers Iraqi casualties, the Lancet numbers from last year, and the new numbers. 128,000 civilian casualties means at least 68,000 children dead…. and that ain’t suicide bombers…. I need help to find out real numbers and to join with other organizations (especially mothers and others against the war) to stop this insanity.
I need more information, and reliable information.. This is not easy.
Numbers mean some type of investigation… Numbers mean accountability…
None of which this government will have anything to do with.
Marla died trying to count the numbers. http://www.civicworldwide.org/
I can’t find any “final” count either, SusKind.
So many numbers, each count fights with another count. Each estimate, de-values another number.
Sadly our government only cares about certain numbers… Bush’s popularity polls and the almight buck. o
Infant & Child Mortality — Iraqi Civilian Casualties It’s sloppy but it’s a start.