Striking Fallujah, Again

From ABC;

United States aircraft have launched a new air strike in the rebel-held city of Fallujah aimed at killing supporters of a Jordanian militant who has led a campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings in Iraq.

The US military said the attack targeted supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and no innocent civilians were in the area.

But doctors at Fallujah's main hospital said at least seven civilians were killed and 13 wounded, including women and children.

Reuters television showed a crowd of Iraqis digging through the ruins of a destroyed building, and pulling out survivors including two women and two children...

Are we headed for a repeat of last April?

The Silence of the Press

From Amnesty International

Ambulance Pictures

Eyes Wide Open

Here is some video of war crimes (note; violent content - recommended for adults only);

Marines kill wounded Iraqi

Massacre of civilians in Fallujah

Apache helicopter kills wounded Iraqi

From Nancy A. Youssef reporting for Knight Ridder;

Operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis - most of them civilians - as attacks by insurgents, according to statistics compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry and obtained exclusively by Knight Ridder.

According to the ministry, the interim Iraqi government recorded 3,487 Iraqi deaths in 15 of the country's 18 provinces from April 5 - when the ministry began compiling the data - until Sept. 19. Of those, 328 were women and children. Another 13,720 Iraqis were injured, the ministry said.

While most of the dead are believed to be civilians, the data include an unknown number of police and Iraqi national guardsmen. Many Iraqi deaths, especially of insurgents, are never reported, so the actual number of Iraqis killed in fighting could be significantly higher.

During the same period, 432 American soldiers were killed.

Iraqi officials said the statistics proved that U.S. airstrikes intended for insurgents also were killing large numbers of innocent civilians. Some say these casualties are undermining popular acceptance of the American-backed interim government...

Note that this is just since April. Iraq Body Count has estimated, based on news reports, that between 13,000 and 15,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the invasion.

And we wonder why they hate us? Someone decided not to rein in our troops. The leadership at the top must be held accountable. If this is this administration's idea of how to "win hearts and minds" during a campaign year, the mind boggles imagining what will happen after November 2 if they win the election.

J.