Iraqis blame occupation. posted by Richard Seymour

From the Boston Globe :

Families of the 35 children who died in a string of bombings in Baghdad blamed American troops for the tragedy, accusing them of attracting insurgents to a ceremony where the attacks occurred.

...

Residents said that before the start of the celebration, U.S. soldiers called upon the children through loudspeakers to join the crowd, promising them sweets. There were an unusually large number around because the long school holidays were nearing an end.

''I blame the Americans for this tragedy. They wanted to make human shields out of our children. They should have kept the children away from danger,'' said Abdel-Hadi al-Badri, a cleric a the al-Mubashroun al-Ashra mosque, breaking down in tears during Friday prayers.

Al-Badri's son lost his right leg in the explosion after he ignored his father's warnings to stay away from the U.S. troops.

''The Americans are the first terrorists and the people who carried out the attack are the second terrorists,'' he added. It was the largest number of children killed in any single insurgent attack since the conflict erupted 17 months ago. [Emphasis added].

The ceremony in question was to celebrate the opening of a sewage plant that was already partially operating. I don't accept the conspiratorial side of the views reported here, but I draw two important lessons:

1) The occupiers are losing big time. If every time a series of suicide bombings is carried out, Iraqis blame the Americans, then you can forget hearts and minds. You can forget stomachs too, come to that.

2) In the circumstances, the occupiers are prepared to celebrate absolutely anything.