If you were an Iraqi, would you go outside and fire a gun into the air for fun?
I sure as hell wouldn't. You have got to be stupid to say "well it's a wedding! And it's a tradition! So go ahead. Shoot your guns off." Do they not know that they are in the midst of a war? That U.S. commandos are out there looking for people to kill and things to blow up? Don't fucking draw attention to yourselves!
Christ almighty.
But despite the stupidity of shooting a gun into the air in celebration, there is something curious about this whole thing:
"Al-Ani, the doctor, said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters later arrived and attacked the area. Two houses were destroyed, he said.""This was a wedding and the (U.S.) planes came and attacked the people at a house. Is this the democracy and freedom that (President) Bush has brought us?" said a man on the videotape, Dahham Harraj. "There was no reason."
"Another man shown on the tape, who refused to give his name, said the victims were at a wedding party 'and the U.S. military planes came... and started killing everyone in the house.'"
So the troops left, knowing that this was a wedding party, and then they came back and killed everyone? I'm going to have to stay abreast of this one. Too damn weird.
Things are such an irreconcilable mess over there, my heart just feels heavy and as each day passes and each piece of news is relayed, I feel more and more hopeless about what we are going to achieve in Iraq.
Posted by Maria at May 19, 2004 05:29 PM