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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 23rd,
2007 - U.S. Investigates Report of Iraqi Civilians Killed |
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U.S. Investigates Report of Iraqi
Civilians Killed Reuters Friday, February 23, 2007; 3:10 AM Baghdad - The U.S. military
said on Friday it was investigating whether civilians, including two
children, were killed during a fierce gunbattle in Ramadi on Wednesday that
ended with U.S. air strikes destroying several buildings. U.S. Marine spokesman
Lieutenant Shawn Mercer had said on Thursday there were no reports of
civilian casualties but that U.S. forces had killed 12 insurgents in the
six-hour battle in the volatile western city. Iraqi officials in Ramadi
said 26 people were killed, including some women and children, and a Reuters
photographer saw the bodies of an infant and a young boy who had been pulled
from the rubble of one of the demolished buildings. "There was a claim we're
looking into right now as to a number of civilian casualties," U.S.
military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver told reporters in
Baghdad. "The Marines did not at
first think there were civilian casualties." Garver said insurgents were
"firmly entrenched" in several buildings and there was a long
exchange of fire with U.S. forces who used heavy weapons and then called in
air strikes to destroy the buildings where the insurgents were based. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022300144.html |