24 Iraqi children killed by car bomb(Death Toll Now At Thirty Two)

BAGHDAD -- Twenty-four Iraqi children were killed Wednesday by a suicide car bomber targeting American soldiers handing out sweets after entering their Baghdad neighborhood precisely to warn of a possible attack.

Some 20 more children were wounded in the blast, while a US soldier died and three were injured, hospital and US sources said. "A driver approached one of the US Humvees and then detonated his car," said Sergeant David Abrams.

Witness Mohammed Ali Hamza said US forces came to the Al-Jedidah district to warn residents to stay indoors because of reports of a car bomb in the area.

WHY ARE SOLDIERS HANDING OUT CANDY IN THE MIDDLE OF A BOMB ALERT?

"Children gathered round the Americans who were handing out sweets. Suddenly a suicide car bomber drove round from a side street and blew himself up," he added.

"We have received the bodies of 24 children aged between 10 and 13," said the official in charge of the morgue at Kindi hospital.

Abu Hamed whose 12-year-old son Mohammed was killed, said, "I was at home. I heard the explosion. I rushed outside to find my son. I only found his bicycle."

He was speaking at the hospital, where hundreds of distraught parents mingled in blood-soaked hallways shouting and screaming. He said he had found his son in the hospital morgue. "I recognized him from his head. The rest of the body was completely burnt."

It's not the first time this has happened:

"The last such attack involved a triple car bombing against US troops inaugurating a water treatment plant in western Baghdad on September 30. Forty-three people were killed, including 37 children who had gathered to take candy from the soldiers." -- AFP24 Iraqi children killed by car bomb

Raed In The Middle; July 13, 2005

The attacks that target Iraqi civilians should be condemned whether they're carried out by the US army (like the daily attacks) or by others (like some ethnic attacks against mosques and individuals). Yet, the attacks targeting military convoys that kills Iraqi civilians gathering around them is another story, or at least a more controversial one. Civilians shouldn't be put in danger by sending military troops close to their homes.

What You Can Do:

War is insane, and its record is written in civilian casualties.  

Let's start breaking these numbers down.  The official death toll for Iraq1 civilians is now 128,000 (UnitedPressInternational)  How many of these are children?  Contact the International Committee of Red Cross/Red Crescent.  

Contact your representatives in government and protest the US military practice of distributing sweets to Iraqi children based on this report from today's Oman Times: 61 children dead in two separate incidents.  Handing out sweets when US military personnel are the target of bombs, suicide and otherwise, is criminally negligent.

International Red Cross/Red Crescent

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