Whether or not it was a mosque was hardly the main point of the article. I'm getting tired of people picking on one-liners. O.K. --- Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Omar: WASHINGTON - Last week's attack by US-led > Iraqi > paramilitary forces on a building that Shi'ite > leaders > claim was a mosque... > > Note the "claim [it] was a mosque." This is a > classic example of the Propaganda War going on in > Iraq. Apparently a "mosque" is whatever people say > it is. Most accounts discuss a successful raid on > an insurgent hideout, the capture of weapons...but > before the troops even returned to base, the Iraq > radio was describing "an attack on a mosque." > > A mosque? Huh? What mosque? > > See how cleverly the various Islamic factions play > the Propaganda War. People who don't bother > comparing accounts immediately think, "More > mistakes." And the uncritical buy into this > bullbleap because it reinforces their > anti-American or anti-Bush views. > > Here's a different account of the same incident. > > ___________________ > http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1602415.htm > > US accuses Shiites of mosque assault > 'misinformation' > > US commanders in Iraq have accused powerful Shiite > groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in > battle to encourage accusations that US-led troops > massacred unarmed worshippers in a mosque. > > "After the fact, someone went in and made the > scene look different from what it was. There's > been huge misinformation," Lieutenant General > Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking US commander > in Iraq, said. > > He rejects the accusations of a massacre that > prompted the Shiite-led Government to demand US > forces cede control of security but declined to > spell out which group he believed moved the bodies. > > Government-run television has shown footage of > bodies lying without weapons in what Shiite > ministers say is a mosque compound run by radical > cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. > > The security minister accuses Iraqi and US troops > of killing 37 unarmed men. > > Giving the first US military briefing on Sunday's > events in Baghdad, Lt Gen Chiarelli says the raid > by about 50 Iraqi special forces troops backed by > some 25 US "advisers" had been the fruit of long > intelligence work. > > He says they arrived to raid the site at nightfall > and were immediately fired on from a number of > buildings around the compound. > > The troops "cleared the compound", he says, > killing or capturing those inside. > > All the dead were killed by Iraqi fire, Lt Gen > Chiarelli says. > > He does not know the religious affiliation of 16 > "insurgents" who were killed and he insists the > compound was not a mosque but an office complex. > > Neighbours and aides to Mr Sadr call it a mosque > and say it was once offices for Saddam Hussein's > Baath party. > > Major General JD Thurman, whose division controls > Baghdad, said: "If it was a mosque, why are they > using it as a place to hold hostages". > > He added that weapons, including 34 assault rifles > and rocket-propelled grenades were also found. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, > vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit > www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html