posted on August 31, 2005 05:57:19 AM new
THIS IS ANOTHER TRAGEDY IN A VERY LONG LIST OF TRAGEDIES FROM THE BUSH'S SENSELESS IRAQ WAR!!!!!!!!
Bridge Stampede in Iraq Leaves 648 Dead
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:56 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — At least 648 people were killed in a stampede on a bridge Wednesday when panic engulfed a Shiite religious procession amid rumors that a suicide bomber was about to attack, officials said. It appeared to be the single biggest loss of life in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
Scores jumped or were pushed to their deaths into the Tigris River, while others were crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women and children, Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.
Tensions already had been running high in the procession in Baghdad's heavily Shiite Kazamiyah district because of a mortar attack two hours earlier against the shrine where the marchers were heading. The shrine was about a mile from the bridge.
One survivor said panic ensued when a rumor spread that a suicide bomber was in the crowd.
Abdul-Rahman said 648 were killed and 322 injured. Most of the dead were women and children, he said. Survivors were rushed in ambulances and private cars to several hospitals and officials were scrambling to compile an accurate figure.
After the collapse, bare-chested men swam through the muddy river looking for bodies.
"We were on the bridge. It was so crowded. Thousands of people were surrounding me," said survivor Fadhel Ali, 28, barefoot and soaking wet after swimming in the river. "We heard that a suicide attacker was among the crowd. Everybody was yelling so I jumped from the bridge into the river, swam and reached the bank. I saw women, children and old men falling after me into the water."
Health Minister Abdul-Mutalib Mohammed told state-run Iraqiya television that there were "huge crowds on the bridge and the disaster happened when someone shouted that there is a suicide bomber on the bridge."
"This led to a state of panic among the pilgrims and they started to push each other and there was many cases of suffocation," he said.
Earlier reports suggested that the bridge's railing collapsed, but television footage showed the green, waist-high railing undamaged.
Hundreds of thousands of Shiites were marching across the bridge, which links a Sunni and Shiite neighborhood, heading for the tomb of Imam Mousa al-Kadhim, a 9th century Shiite saint.
About two hours earlier, mortar shells exploded in the shrine compound, killing at least seven people. U.S. Apache helicopters fired at the attackers.
After the bridge disaster, thousands of people rushed to both banks of the river searching for survivors.
Television reports said about one million pilgrims from Baghdad and outlying provinces had gathered near the Imam Mousa al-Kadim shrine in the capital's Kazimiyah district for the annual commemoration of the Shiite saint's death.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, declared a three-day mourning period.
Shiite religious festivals have often been targeted for attack by Sunni extremists seeking to trigger civil war among the rival communities.
In March 2004 suicide attackers struck worshippers at the Imam Kadhim shrine and a holy site in Karbala, killing at least 181 overall.
The head of the country's major Sunni clerical group, the Association of Muslim Sholars, told Al-Jazeera television that the disaster Wednesday was "another catastrophe and something else that could be added to the list of ongoing Iraqi tragedies."
"On this occasion we want to express our condolences to all the Iraqis and the parents of the martyrs, who fell today in Kazimiyah and all over Iraq," the cleric, Haith al-Dhari, said.
posted on August 31, 2005 07:06:43 AM new
This has got to be the stupidest accusation yet !!!! how in the world can the president of the USA have ANY control over someone in Iraq hollering "suicide bomber" in a crowd ......
just as stupid as he is responsible for Katrina and can just solve all the issues involved there-
He is just a man not a god!
and I DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH !!!!! just blame tired of everyone blaming the Office of the Presidency for EVER problem on the face of the earth.
New Orleans is in deep peril and no ONE person can solve it! We need to forget red and blue and concern ourselves with the important things
AGAIN I DID NOT VOTE FOR GEORGE BUSH , but I know that NO MAN CAN SOLVE EVERTHING -
The preachers saying their garbage and others saying stupid things like this - both sides are showing dumbness and ignorance is alive and well on both red and blue sides .................
Does anyone really believe that ANYONE sould solve all mankinds problems??? Just who is that mortal man or woman ????
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[ edited by deur1 on Aug 31, 2005 07:17 AM ]
posted on August 31, 2005 11:45:30 AM new
Sorry all but if Bush didn't start a SENSELESS WAR based on FLAT OUT LIES to the American people. THEN A SENSELESS WAR WOULDN'T EQUAL SENSELESS TRAGEDIES. NOW BECAUSE OF POOR LEADERSHIP FROM BUSH AND POOR PLANNING FROM BUSH THERE HAS BEEN THOUSANDS OF SENSELESS TRAGEDIES.
Thankfully, now its only the minority of Americans like you people that don't understand.
[ edited by bigpeepa on Aug 31, 2005 11:47 AM ]
posted on August 31, 2005 12:05:24 PM new
Peepa - this is kind of like blaming Henry Ford for a car accident. If he had not invented the car you would not be in one to habve an accident. It's a big stretch that absolves guilty parties of all responsibility and lays it at the feet of those not involved.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on August 31, 2005 12:13:18 PM newIt's a big stretch that absolves guilty parties of all responsibility and lays it at the feet of those not involved.
posted on August 31, 2005 02:11:58 PM new
The truth is that this president has managed to be a miserable failure throughout his life. He has no sense of planning, no sense of direction, no sense of leadership, no sense of responsibility... the guy is absolutely senseless.
The neocons who seem to think this tragedy wasn't caused by the Bush Agenda are simply in denial. They deny it is their guys fault, willing to be duped to the end.
posted on August 31, 2005 02:18:04 PM new
Start AOL poll on the subject why don't you peepa.
"Why, it appears that we appointed all of our worst generals to command the armies and we appointed all of our best generals to edit the newspapers. I mean, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor generals saw all of the defects plainly from the start but didn't tell me until it was too late. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals and I'll do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper." --Robert E. Lee
posted on August 31, 2005 02:19:29 PM new
By the same token... I suppose we can't blame Saddam Hussein for the deaths of thousand of Kurds who starved and died because they had to flee.
posted on August 31, 2005 02:21:58 PM new
Just curious, but if someone died a few days after 9/11 because of smoke and dust inhalation, do we blame Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda?
It seems as though the neocons are up to their double standards again.
posted on August 31, 2005 02:36:25 PM new
Rusty - Sweetheart honey darling dear... I'm a democrat. The only diference between our political views is that I apply common sense and a little reality.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on August 31, 2005 03:44:38 PM new
The reality is that this is a classic case of cause and effect. Just curious, but how many suicide bombers attacks were there before we invaded, and how many have there been since the war began? Would this have happened without American boots there? Very doubtful.
posted on August 31, 2005 04:03:06 PM new
"The neocons who seem to think this tragedy wasn't caused by the Bush Agenda are simply in denial" Rusty you just nailed it with your above statement.
posted on August 31, 2005 04:09:51 PM new
Well then....we should just reverse that post.
How many people have been raped, had their heads cut off, been put in a wood chipper - feet first, had their daughters heads put on posts outside their house, had rape rooms for the 'boy's to 'play in', had their tongues cut out, their hands cut off, their ears cut off, and just how many of those thousands and thousands of people in all those graves that were dug up. How many kurds were killed? The list goes on and on.
Plus not counting that saddam was supporting terrorist/terrorism. Plus he was trying to make/build/buy nuclear weapons.
None of those things are going to happen now. Now the Iraqi's are FREE people....voting as done in a democracy. Forming their own constitution, their own governing board...etc.
So it's just plane silly and to ask a question like that.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
posted on August 31, 2005 04:44:08 PM new
Linda, it seems people like placing blame everywhere but where it belongs.
And in doing so gives more assistance to those fighting us.
The insurgents are counting on American outrage and hoping that the pressure brought on by those who do not understand; will make President Bush leave immediately, leaving the country in a state of chaos. We do need a timeline and plan for withdrawl, but this hardly the President's fault.
Ron
