Syrians killed by an American missile

[John Corn]

When an Amercian missile hit a buss with Syrians, was there 5 killed and 10 wounded. The buss was inside Iraq territorium, very close to the border, going back to Syria with Syrians, that had lived in Iraq, but were going back because of the war. All according to AP.

A Swedish link:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/telegram/0,1082,61677056_852__,00.html

[gcutler]

Sad that it happened (sure we will pay them some restitution in attempt to make up for it), but it is a war zone and it wasn't like a suprise to anyone that missles would be flying around any part of Iraq...

[James_F]

But a bus? Not good news...

That said Syria might take Iraqs place in the Axis of evil.....

[gcutler]

Originally posted by James_F
But a bus? Not good news...

That said Syria might take Iraqs place in the Axis of evil.....

Don't know the exact citcumstances (fog of war, mistaken identity, etc), but Buses do transport soldiers as well as people. We've accidentally shot our own people (The British Fighter Jet, etc) so I don't think this is intentional.

[James_F]

Nor do I, but we really need to be careful about this because it only hurts us in the region....

[DCSholtis]

Way I see it we just nailed another set of terrorists...No big deal Syria is just as bad.

[James_F]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2881119.stm

A statement from a US spokesman at the coalition's Central Command headquarters in Qatar said that the US-led forces "regretted" the loss of life, saying the bus was destroyed while coalition forces were targeting a bridge in Rutba, a western Iraqi town near the Syrian border.

"The bus stopped on the bridge and was hit by munitions already released prior to the bus approaching the bridge," it said.
Nice explaination but won't help to cool down hot heads in the area. :rolleyes:

[John Corn]

I think a big Pentagon propaganda effort is devoted to the whole "precision" issue in every conflict.

In every conflict bombs and missiles go astray, yet the Pentagon continues to claim its weapons are precise and will only hit what they are meant to hit.

Reality is that a lot of weapons are used that aren't very precise, it's easy to see why, the more precise a weapon is the more expensive it likely is too. So while the US military does have incredibly precise weapons, they don't make up 100% of the American arsenal.

A couple missiles landed in the Turkish countryside as well. No injuries were reported.

Unfortunately accidents will happen and civilians will be killed.
:(

[Jacob S]

This is war, war has casualties, accidental and intentional, and it is to be expected.

[timr21]

Here's some food for thought from www.debka.com, a good source for info from the middle east...

------------------

Away from the main arena, a small yet illuminating scene played out just across the Iraqi border Monday morning. Syria complained that a stray American missile had struck a bus killing five civilians and injuring ten.

According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the only true fact in this terse account was that the bus was Syrian. The missile was no stray. It was deliberately fired from an F-15 fighter-bomber at a bus carrying armed Palestinian volunteers to join up with Iraqi forces, in order to make sure this was the last such Palestinian group of volunteers for Iraq. That F-15 made a piece of history; it carried out the first American air attack on a combatant Palestinian group. More will certainly be heard of this episode

[James_F]

No offense but Debka is not a good source for anyone other than those who side with Israel... Its a very one sided publication. Just like Aljazeera...

[BobMurdoch]

Syria is next on our to do list if you ask me. I'm not saying we invade (a la Iraq), but we should be applying intense pressure to them to cease the terrorist training.

But first, I believe we help set up a Palestinian state to help defuse one of the main reasons that the Arab world has a beef with us.

[James_F]

Originally posted by BobMurdoch
But first, I believe we help set up a Palestinian state to help defuse one of the main reasons that the Arab world has a beef with us.
Excellent idea, but I doubt we'll see it with this Administration.

[Dgenx321]

You never saw it with the last either...

[RandyAB]

This is the first administration to even make reference to a future country of Palestine. If Bush is re-elected I think it will be done. But hopefully someone else will be elected and and they can make sure that it is done.

[James_F]

Yea right :rolleyes: