Drunk US Soldiers Kill Baghdad Tiger After Attack--Reuters

[BN]

U.S. Soldier Kills Baghdad Tiger After Attack - Zoo

 

 

Sat September 20, 2003 07:37 AM ET

 

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier shot dead a rare Bengal tiger at Baghdad zoo after the animal injured a colleague who was trying to feed it through the cage bars, the zoo's manager said on Saturday.

Adil Salman Mousa told Reuters a group of U.S. soldiers were having a party in the zoo on Thursday night, after it had closed.

 

"Someone was trying to feed the tigers," he said. "The tiger bit his finger off and clawed his arm. So his colleague took a gun and shot the tiger."

 

The night watchman said the soldiers had arrived in military vehicles but were casually dressed and were drinking beer.

 

There was no immediate U.S. comment.

 

At the tiger's now-empty cage, pools of blood showed that the soldier passed through a first cage intended only for keepers and was standing right up against the inner cage's narrow bars.

 

Mousa said U.S. officials came to see him on Friday to discuss the incident.

 

The tiger was one of two in the zoo -- once the largest in the Middle East, today a decrepit collection of dirty cages and sad-looking animals.

 

In April, U.S. soldiers killed four lions that had escaped from the zoo. Hundreds of other animals were stolen or let loose by looters in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of the Iraqi capital.

 

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3478222

[BN]

Good websites

 

http://www.GWBush.com "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." -George W. Bush

 

http://www.JoinArnie.com "I'll be back...when the debate is over." -Arnold Schwarzenegger.

 

http://www.mediawhoresonline.com "The site that set out to bring the media to their knees, but found they were already there."

[Gabbal]

loooooooooooooool

 

I'll be back...when the debate is over." -Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[African]

Bari thx 4 the links.

 

Check this link out; US plans to attack seven Muslim states

 

Clark claims he met a senior military officer in Washington in November 2001 who told him the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran,

Somalia

and Sudan.

“But neither Hezbollah [sic] nor Hamas were targeting Americans,” he writes. “Why not build international power against Al Qaeda?”

 

Instead, Clark points the finger at what he calls “the real sources of terrorists - US allies in the region like Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia”.

 

Clark blames Egypt’s “repressive policies”, Pakistan’s “corruption and poverty, as well as Saudi Arabia’s “radical ideology and direct funding” for creating a pool of angry young men who became “terrorists”.

 

Many political observers have portrayed Clark as an anti-war candidate whose own war record – he was decorated after being shot and wounded while serving in Vietnam – means he cannot be accused of lacking courage or patriotism.

 

[BN]

African,

 

I think the political climate is much different today then it was in late 2001 or even 2002. I doubt there is the political will or capital for another war. The neo-conservatives are losing ground quickly with both the American public and the Whitehouse due to their miscalculations/blunders in Iraq. Key figures like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Condi Rice have less influence over GW Bush then Colin Powell and the State Department--who seems to be maneuvering US foreign policy as of late. Although the latest attempts to gain international assistance seems to have failed.

 

Bush Fails to Gain Pledges on Troops or Funds for Iraq

 

"President Bush ended two days of meetings with foreign leaders today without winning more international troops or funds for Iraq and with a top aide saying it could take months to achieve a new U.N. resolution backing the U.S. occupation."

 

"And Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that more National Guard and Reserve forces could be activated if the third foreign division -- 15,000 to 20,000 troops -- is not secured within the next six weeks." For More Washington Post

 

Although it can't be ruled out. American public opinion can be easily shaped and mouled by the spin-doctors in the Pentagon and Media to support yet another war of aggression. We'll just have to wait and see...

 

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