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Outrage over damage homes cluster bombs Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5644818.htm http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5644818.htm Posted on Wed, Apr. 16, 2003 Unexploded bombs litter neighborhoods BAGHDAD RESIDENTS EXPRESS OUTRAGE OVER CIVILIAN CASUALTIES, DAMAGE TO HOMES FROM U.S. AIRSTRIKES By Carol Rosenberg and Matt Schofield Mercury News BAGHDAD, Iraq - In Baghdad's Al-Kharnouq neighborhood, five unexploded American-made cluster bomblets perch precariously in Qusai Abdel Majid's lemon tree and the flower bed beneath it. Stepping carefully, one can follow a trail of dozens of the 2-inch-long black bombs that have killed four of his neighbors so far. ``There was no military here to put the bombs on us. So, I imagine, they wanted to kill us,'' said Abdel Majid, 43, who is afraid to let his children play in the yard. In the Al-Adhamiya neighborhood, men point to fallen walls, collapsed roofs and smashed cars riddled with bullet holes. They speak angrily. ``A year ago, on these streets, we would have yawned if someone had mentioned America to us,'' Khalid Tarah said. ``Now, look what they have done to us. Everyone feels this pain. Everyone here now wants to kill. Everyone here now wants to kill Americans.'' At the end of the U.S. military's first week in Baghdad, gunfire of uncertain origin continued sporadically Tuesday, picking up late at night, but looting had all but subsided. The Army's 101st Airborne Division said it was considering an 11 p.m.-to-dawn curfew in an effort to control the gunfire, but Marines who occupy the portions of Baghdad east of the Tigris River said they had no such plan. Elements of the 4th Infantry Division drove through town on their way from Kuwait to northern Iraq and were greeted by smiling and waving Baghdadis. But many residents were angry as they talked about the destruction in their neighborhoods. ``The people are paying for this war, not Saddam or anybody else. Really, we wanted to get rid from him, but not in this way,'' said Kawther Hussein, 46, a British-trained chemical engineer and mother of three. ``People lived here. Children lived here. Where will they live now?'' a man in Al-Adhamiya said as the crowd picked up the bricks of a collapsed apartment building. U.S. military officials acknowledge the damage in civilian neighborhoods. Two U.S. Army ordnance experts went street to street in Al-Kharnouq on Tuesday, searching for the canisters that fluttered down April 7, leaving a virtual minefield amid the rows of split-level homes. ``It's a big problem,'' said Army Corps of Engineers Capt. Thomas Austin, whose crews are responsible for disarming unexploded ordinance in part of Baghdad. ``This is the worst neighborhood I've personally seen.'' Austin defended the bomblets' use, saying the Iraqi military sometimes put anti-aircraft artillery in civilian neighborhoods and that the bomblets were meant to rain down on armor or anti-aircraft batteries, exploding when they hit their metal surfaces. Instead, they landed on softer targets -- lawns and trees, and in one instance the asbestos roof of 60-year-old Sabih el Bazzaz's carport -- cushioning their fall and failing to trigger them. The toll, they said, was four civilians. The house of Rashid Majid and his sons Ghassan and Arkan had a black banner of mourning outside Tuesday, declaring them ``martyrs of the American aggression.'' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bayarea.com

1700 iraqi civilian deaths { May 18 2003 } 36 dead civilians bahgdad bombing { March 27 2003 } 4000 dead civilians one week { March 27 2003 } 50 die market blast Accuses us targeting civilians Baghdad blasts kill 17 civilians { March 27 2003 } Baghdad hospital bombed { April 2 2003 } Baghdad market world cries { March 29 2003 } Baghdad marketplace hit Bathed in blood { April 6 2003 } Bloody checkpoint marines weeping { April 6 2003 } Bombed maternity hospital Boy without arms [jpg] Boy without arms2 [jpg] Chick got in the way { March 29 2003 } Children die checkpoint { April 1 2003 } Cluster bombs liberate children Concern grows for iraqi civilians { April 6 2003 } Counting iraqis dead { March 25 2003 } Cruise missile residential area { March 26 2003 } Denies targeting baghdad marketplace Errant missile hits iran { March 22 2003 } Excessive force cluster bombs { April 1 2003 } Explosions dismemberd iraqis { April 3 2003 } Face of war [jpg] Forces kill 7 woman children High civilian death toll { May 22 2003 } Hilla hospital cluster bombs { April 3 2003 } Hit marketplace 3 26 03 [jpg] Hospitals overwhelmed Humanitarian effort disaster { April 7 2003 } Hundreds reported dead Iran says building hit { March 22 2003 } Iraq shows casualties hospital { April 3 2003 } Iraqi civilian deaths 10 000 Iraqi wounded too high to count Marketplace death us missile { April 2 2003 } Mirror appeal boy without arms Missile strikes baghdad market friday Missile strikes house family { March 25 2003 } Nasiriya bridge slaughter { March 31 2003 } Outrage over damage homes cluster bombs Proof marketplace us missile Rutba hospital bombed { March 31 2003 } Saddam bombs hit homes Slaughter bridge death Target baghdad marketplace Tours hospitals wounded Vegetable market bombed Women children killed highway9 { April 1 2003 } Files Listed: 50

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