Arms cache explosion in Baghdad kills 40, US troops attacked

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-04-26 12:51pm

Though US troops were not responsible, anger was directed at them

Buggered if I know why. Some soldiers were wounded. The explosions lasted for about an HOUR. Fuck- it was caused by unknown assailants firing flares into it.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2003-04-26 01:02pm

I heard in the news that some Iraqis have said that the explosion was caused by Americans who were destroying weapons with explosives at the weapons dump. If that is what the locals belief happened their anger at the U.S. troops is quite understandable.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-04-26 04:09pm

I've never heard anything that says US troops where destroying weapons in the dump, and if they where then why where none killed? It sounds like this dump existed because the US had stopped destroying weapons, and the Iraqis are pissed because they had complained about the risk of an explosion before.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2003-04-26 09:34pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:I've never heard anything that says US troops where destroying weapons in the dump, and if they where then why where none killed? It sounds like this dump existed because the US had stopped destroying weapons, and the Iraqis are pissed because they had complained about the risk of an explosion before.

The article said the troops were destroying the cache in a series of controlled explosions. It seems that a lot of the civilian deaths came from a surface to surface missile that fired into a building. Our troops not being killed may have been a matter of luck, but some were probably injured. At any rate, this is terrible. I am inclined to wonder why the weapons were not moved out of the civilian neighborhood before being destroyed. That seems to have been the logical, and safe thing to do.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-04-26 10:55pm

It sounds like serious negligence to me. If it happened in an American city, it would be regarded as criminal negligence and charges would be laid. A court martial would be expected, followed by civil suits.

Rubberanvil · Post by **Rubberanvil** » 2003-04-27 02:00am

Wicked Pilot wrote:
The article said the troops were destroying the cache in a series of controlled explosions. I am inclined to wonder why the weapons were not moved out of the civilian neighborhood before being destroyed. That seems to have been the logical, and safe thing to do.

Playing devil advocate's here I would guess the soldiers may have thought doing small controlled explosions is safer then trying to move all of it completely out of the city. Given the area is still somewhat hostile, moving large amount of explosives in any non-armored transport can be considered too risky for the soldiers involved and the civilians nearby by the higher-ups.

Darth Wong wrote:It sounds like serious negligence to me. If it happened in an American city, it would be regarded as criminal negligence and charges would be laid. A court martial would be expected, followed by civil suits.

IIRC police don't usually have to deal with ammunition stockpiles of that scale very often. Until more details about the matter is reveal, I'ld wait before passing judgement.