At least seven civilians are dead as a result of what the Iraqi government is calling an accidental bombing. You know it's true since the Iraqi war plane dropped the bomb on Baghdad and not Falluja or any other Anbar Province city or town. AFP reports the war plane accidentally dropped the bomb on eastern Baghdad and a spokesperson said "it fell on three houses." The pilot was flying a Sukhoi Su-25 which Iraq got "from Russia and Iran last year." Shen Qing (Xinhau) updates the number of homes destroyed to six and notes the bomb also "caused damages to several
nearby buildings and civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition
of anonymity."
Meanwhile, the US will be supplying Iraq with F-16s. Rudaw reports that Shi'ite MP Abed Issawi is insisting that there is a conspiracy to prevent Iraq from obtaining the planes and that the US government is insisting the F-16s be stationed in Jordan. Issawi is quoted declaring, "We have information the US has decided that the three F-16s should
carry out airstrikes from the land of Jordan while Iraq has a big
airbase in the Ziqar province in southern Iraq."
Iraqi Spring MC notes rumors that the Iraqi military is due to invade to the east of Ramadi and that the mission will be carried out under the direct supervision of US forces.
Iraqi Spring MC also notes that at least 90 people have been killed or injured in the Iraqi military's continued bombing of residential areas in Falluja and Ramadi.
Instead of offering conspiracy theories about what might happen with the F-16s, Abed Issawi might better spend his time addressing these ongoing bombings of civilian areas which (a) meet the criteria of War Crimes and (b) also meet the prohibitions outlined in the Leahy Amendment so (c) could kill the F-16 deal completely.
The Iraqi government has gotten a repeated pass on these bombings for over 18 months now. At some point, the US Congress might decided enough is finally enough.
