XPost: alt.law.war-crimes.tribunals, alt.activism, alt.activism.children   
   XPost: alt.activism.youth-rights, alt.politics.usa, alt.politics.bush   
   XPost: alt.politics.youth   
   From: jei@horus.hut.fi   
      
      Children among 8 Dead in U.S. Air Strikes on Fallujah   
      By Fadil Badran   
      Reuters   
      
      Thursday 09 September 2004   
      
      Fallujah, Iraq - U.S. warplanes bombed houses in the Iraqi city of   
   Fallujah for a third successive night, killing at least eight people, four   
   of them children, doctors and residents said on Thursday.   
      
      A statement from the U.S. military said the air assault was part of a   
   "precision strike" on an operating base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab   
   al-Zarqawi, a man Washington says is allied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda   
   network.   
      
      A doctor at Fallujah's main hospital, Rafi Hayad, said four of those   
   killed were children and two women. He said at least 16 people had been   
   wounded, eight of them children.   
      
      Bloodied bodies lay on hospital beds while residents with flashlights   
   searched for more victims in the rubble.   
      
      The strike was launched shortly after 2 a.m. (6 p.m. EDT) on a northern   
   district of Fallujah, a city of around 250,000 people which has been a   
   focus of anti-American activity since the U.S.-led invasion and is largely   
   under guerrilla control.   
      
      Witnesses said at least two houses had been destroyed and said those   
   killed came from three families. The U.S. military said the target was a   
   "building frequently used by terrorists."   
      
      "Three Zarqawi associates were reported to be in the area, no other   
   individuals were present at the time of the strike," the military said in   
   a statement.   
      
      U.S. forces have carried out around a dozen air strikes on Falluja over   
   recent weeks, in one case hitting a truck lot. On each occasion Fallujah   
   residents have said civilians were killed and that Zarqawi was not in the   
   area.   
      
      The strike came hours after a U.S. helicopter crashed in the desert near   
   the western city. It was not clear what brought the aircraft down, but the   
   U.S. military said the four crew were rescued and did not suffer life   
   threatening injuries.   
      
      U.S. troops have been engaged in intense fighting around Falluja and in   
   the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City in recent days, incurring some   
   of their heaviest losses in weeks. At least 10 U.S. soldiers have been   
   killed since Monday.   
      
      The U.S. death toll in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003 surpassed   
   1,000 this week, the Pentagon said, hitting a psychologically damaging   
   mark that is likely to figure prominently in the U.S. presidential   
   election campaign.   
      
      In May last year, President Bush declared major combat in Iraq over, but   
   since then more than 800 U.S. soldiers have been killed in action - around   
   two a day.   
      
      Heavy Clashes   
      U.S. troops and Iraqi forces were engaged in heavy clashes around the   
   northern Iraq town of Tal Afar overnight. As well as continuing fighting,   
   Iraq's interim government is struggling to contain a widening hostage   
   crisis.   
      
      In one of the most brazen abductions so far, two Italian women aid   
   workers and two Iraqi colleagues were snatched from their office in   
   central Baghdad in broad daylight on Tuesday. No word has yet emerged from   
   their captors.   
      
      On Wednesday, international aid agencies met to consider withdrawing   
   from Iraq. Jean-Dominique Bunel, a Frenchman helping to coordinate aid   
   groups operating in Iraq, said he expected most of the remaining 50   
   foreign aid workers to pull out soon.   
      
      Since April, people from more than two dozen countries have been   
   kidnapped as guerrillas have tried to force foreign troops and firms to   
   leave. More than 20 foreigners have been killed.   
      
      The kidnapping of the Italians has piled more pressure on Prime Minister   
   Silvio Berlusconi, most of whose voters strongly oppose Italy's role in   
   Iraq. Italy has the third largest military contingent in the country, with   
   2,700 troops.   
      
      In August, Islamic guerrillas kidnapped and killed Italian journalist   
   Enzo Baldoni. Security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi was shot in the back of   
   the head by his captors in April.   
      
      The latest abductions are likely to fuel uncertainty over the fate of   
   two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who have   
   been held since August 20 despite intense diplomatic efforts to free them.   
      
   http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091004X.shtml   
      
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