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
