I missed out on the development of Vietnam but I have to believe this is how a quagmire starts.
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Explosion Kills 7 Iraqi Police Recruits
By HAMZA HENDAWI
.c The Associated Press
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - An explosion struck a ceremony for Iraqi policemen graduating from U.S. training Saturday, killing at least seven recruits and wounding dozens, U.S. officials and hospital workers said. The blast in this tense western city littered the street with blood and debris.
The attack was the latest and deadliest attack to target Iraqis cooperating with the U.S-led occupation - a campaign that has paralleled daily ambushes and shootings against American troops, blamed on loyalists of the ousted Saddam Hussein.
The bomb attack in the town of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, came a day after Arab media aired an audiotape in which the speaker, purported to be Saddam, calls on Iraqis to back the resistance and stop helping the Americans.
The graduating police were marching from a boys school where they underwent five days of training to a nearby government building when the blast occurred, said Mahmoud Hamad, a 23-year-old survivor with wounds to his right arm and leg.
``Beside my injuries, I can't hear anymore,'' Hamad said from his gurney at Ramadi General Hospital.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which oversees Ramadi, reported seven people killed and 40 more wounded. None of the casualties were Americans, Capt. Michael Calvert said.
``These were new recruits that had just finished joint training with us,'' Calvert said.
The cause of the blast and the identities of the attackers were not immediately known. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, said the attack was the work of ``desperate men.''
``Those who refuse to embrace the new Iraq are clearly panicking,'' Bremer said. ``They are turning their sights on Iraqis themselves. Today, they have killed innocent Iraqis with the same disdain for their own citizens they showed for 35 years.''
He added that ``every evidence we have'' indicates a recent spate of insurgent attacks is the work of ``small groups of desperate men.''
Dr. Irfan Abdul Razzak said 54 people were wounded Saturday, with 15 victims undergoing emergency surgery. The hospital's emergency ward was covered in blood, and victims filled the corridors waiting for treatment.
``The entire staff is coming to the hospital,'' Razzak said.
Calls for blood donations went out over the loudspeakers of mosques in the town.
Outside, scores of relatives waited for news of their loved ones. Women in black chadors beat their heads in anguish, many sobbing and screaming.
``The explosion was so loud it was heard all over the city,'' Iraqi police Lt. Hamed Ali said.
Hours later, at least three U.S. helicopters hovered over the scene, and military vehicles roamed the city. U.S. soldiers at the blast site refused to comment, saying they were still investigating what happened. U.S. military officials in Baghdad said they had no information.
Ramadi, one of several Sunni-majority towns along the Euphrates River west of Baghdad, was a stronghold of support for Saddam Hussein, and has been the site of frequent attacks that have killed Americans as well as Iraqis. Insurgents frequently target police stations and people deemed to be cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation.
Still, many of the victims blamed America for the attack.
``The Americans have done it. Who else would do a thing like this?'' said police instructor Abdel-Karim Hamadi, who was waiting for treatment at the hospital.
One elderly Iraqi, speaking in the corridor of the emergency ward, shouted: ``That is what you get for working with the Americans. They have all been warned before.''
He would not give his name.
Saddam loyalists reportedly have been telling Iraqis in villages and markets that the leader is preparing a comeback and would punish those cooperating with the U.S. occupation.
The purported message from Saddam that aired Friday on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera could energize anti-U.S. forces and deepen the ongoing insurgency.
``Oh brothers and sisters, I relay to you good news: Jihad (holy war) cells and brigades have been formed,'' the speaker on the audiotape said, addressing the Iraqi people.
``There is resistance, and I know you are hearing about this. Not a day passes without them (suffering) losses in our great land thanks to our great mujahedeen. The coming days will, God willing, be days of hardship and trouble for the infidel invaders.''
At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer said the CIA would assess the tape, and a U.S. intelligence official said the agency could not verify whether the voice belonged to the ousted Iraqi leader. The British government has said it also wants to examine the recording.
In the tape, the speaker has characteristics similar to Saddam's style of speech, particularly his slow and drawn-out pronunciation. He also maintained Saddam's usual defiant, yet calm, demeanor.
The speaker claims to have recorded the message June 14. But the timing of the tape's release was impeccable: broadcast worldwide Friday as Americans celebrated their Independence Day, and just a day after Washington announced a $25 million bounty on Saddam's head.
It was not clear how much the tape's message would resonate with ordinary Iraqis, who suffered under Saddam's brutal rule for decades. Most say they are overwhelmingly pleased at his ouster, though skeptical of U.S. and British motives in occupying their land.
But there are fears it might energize hardcore resistance fighters who have launched daily attacks on U.S. troops.
U.S. officials insist the attacks on Americans are not centrally organized - but say the mystery surrounding Saddam's fate has become a rallying point for anti-U.S. forces.
At least 27 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile fire since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq.
07/05/03 12:05 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. |
