They Endangered Folks

US says Iraq air strike kills 11, mostly civilians - Oct 23, 2007 8:38 AM EDT - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it killed 11 people in a helicopter attack on a group of men seen planting a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Tuesday, but police and residents said the dead were farmers, women and children.... Major Peggy Kageleiry, the U.S. military spokeswoman in northern Iraq, said an Apache attack helicopter had spotted five men planting a roadside bomb near the city of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of the Iraqi capital. The helicopter "engaged" the men, who then ran into a nearby house that was also targeted. Kageleiry said an initial investigation showed five "military age males" and six civilians were killed in the strike. "They chose to go into a house with civilians to hide. They endangered folks on the ground by doing that. We send condolences to the families of those victims and we regret any loss of life," she said.

With troop strength in Iraq at an all-war high, is it really necessary to engage roadsidebombers (especially those known to be in a house with civilians) by helicopter?

Former attorney general raps White House - 23 Oct 2007 at 12:31pm - WASHINGTON -- A Republican U.S. attorney general from the first Bush administration told a House panel Tuesday he thinks the Justice Department had political aims in prosecuting a high-profile Democratic coroner from Pennsylvania.

House works to reduce vet suicide rates - 23 Oct 2007 at 2:57pm - WASHINGTON -- Congress took steps Tuesday to reduce the high rate of suicides among former members of the armed forces, but only after a gun rights senator succeeded in removing a plan to track veterans treated for mental illnesses.

Thought for the day:
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies. -Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)