At least 800 dead in Baghdad in "terrorist" attack

[TealFish]

A hurricane might have hit domestically, but don't forget about that war we have going overseas.

 

800 dead in Baghdad stampede

31/08/2005 16:59? - (SA)?

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Baghdad - At least 816 people were crushed to death or drowned on Wednesday in a stampede on a Baghdad bridge triggered by fears a suicide bomber was among vast crowds of Shiite pilgrims massed for a religious ceremony.

 

Iraq authorities said the tragedy, which unfolded after a deadly mortar attack on a Shiite shrine, was a "terrorist" act by toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's loyalists and al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zaqrqawi.

 

A security official said 816 were killed and 323 injured in the crush of panicked pilgrims, adding: "We are still recovering bodies from the river."

 

Many of the victims of the deadliest incident in Iraq since the US-led invasion more than two years ago were women, children and elderly people, hospital officials said.

 

Most were trampled to death or fell from al-Aaimmah bridge into the Tigris River as panic gripped thousands of pilgrims from an estimated one million attempting to make their way to the Kadhimiya mosque in the north of the city.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,...1762947,00.html

[Lefty]

This has nothing to do with our war. Regardless, it's very unfortunate. Not the best way to go...

[TealFish]

I'm sorry I just assume if the freedom of these people is so important, then their lives must be of the upmost importance and that while we are the majority security force within the country that we should make sure things like this don't happen.

[Lefty]

I'm sorry I just assume if the freedom of these people is so important, then their lives must be of the upmost importance and that while we are the majority security force within the country that we should make sure things like this don't happen.

923254[/snapback]

Suicidal attacks are a fact of life, these days. THere is no way to stop them. You can't set up metal detectors at every block. Like I said, it's very unfortunate. This all just backs up the claim that Bush made a mistake.

[Guest markotsay7]

First of all, the first thing that caught my attention is that the word "terrorist" is in quotations, as if it doesn't exist and is a fabricated term used only by some. But I digress.

 

So, let's recap. There were RUMORS of a POSSIBLE suicide bomber during an Iraqi religious ceremony. People fled and either got trampled or fell off a bridge to their deaths.

 

This is in no way related to anything regarding the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was an Iraqi religious ceremony that thousands of people attended. What's the point in saying that it's "the deadliest incident in Iraq since the US-led invasion?" When there's a Palestinian suicide bomber in Israel, do they compare it to the invasion of Iraq? No! People would read that news story and think, "What the hell does that have to do with the invasion of Iraq?" But the media has to try and spin everything, and this is just another example of that. By putting in the "since the US-led invasion," it seems as if these near-thousand deaths are directly related to the invasion, when they clearly aren't! Even worse, no bomb was detonated, and these people died fleeing because of FEAR of a bomber.

 

On top of that, regarding the statement that "many of the victims...were women, children and elderly people": DUH! Guaranteed, if you go anywhere in the world (except for the obvious exceptions where people are separated based on gender, etc.), the aggregate number of women, children, and elderly people will FAR surpass the number of men. This statement, combined with the aforementioned one, is written in order to make you sympathize and think, "Wow, because of that war we're fighting, 816 people are dead, and mostly women, children, and elderly people. We've gotta get out of there!"

 

As for my personal views, at this stage I no longer agree with or support the conflict in Iraq, but it's pretty simple to see that this incident in no way, shape, or form relates to the ongoing war effort over there. It's just an unfortunate incident (one that's far too common in Arab countries) that happened to occur in a country in which we're waging war.

[Marlin Nation]

People get trampled to death all the time during Hajj... It's just a case of too many people in a small area in a dangerous region. Absolutely not terror related.

[Shamrock]

MK ask yourself if these people would have been this spooked about suicide bombers pre-US invasion. I think the link is fairly obvious here.

[Hotcorner]

Could very well have been some Sunnis who started yelling about a suicide bomber to start a panic... who knows.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

It does have SOMETHING to do with the "war" in that it's going to make a positive outcome less likely.

 

If the Shias blame the Sunnis for this incident, you could see them start to really turn against the Sunnis, possibly leading to an all-out civil war.