Explosion in Market left crater 2ft deep: US bombs are much more powerful, it was probably Iraqi AAA

The Agonist ^ | 3/26/03 | Agonist

[xm177e2]

5:07 EST Developing story right now is that the 'bomb' that went off in the market earlier is left too small a crater for coalition weapon. It was only 2 feet deep. Suspected to be an Iraqi air defense weapon. The weapon, repeat, does not resemble any coalition 'penetration weapon'.

[xm177e2]

I have no way of knowing how accurate this news is or what sources this guy has. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but this might be the next big story.

[xm177e2]

This newsflash refers to the marketplace explosion story.

[MindBender26]

How wide was crater.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Any confirmation from 'The Ecstasist'?

[mystery-ak]

LOL...this was the Iraqi's own AAA falling back down.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

From the news clips I saw, I'd say that explosion looked like a couple of car bombs.

We don't usually send cruise missles at midday.

I'll bet that the Iraqis did it to themselves to create a propaganda bonanza.

When the war is over we will learn about alot of this crap!

[Desecrated]

"I'll bet that the Iraqis did it to themselves to create a propaganda bonanza."

Ding ding. We have a winner. Al Jazeera probably has been showing it non-stop. How many civies were killed in Dresden?

[DeathfromBelow]

I didn't see any shrapnel from the strike in or around the hole shown on all the news networks. Usually some chunks left lying around.

[vigilante2]

must have been a car bomb!

[Spiff]

I saw a little bit of the damage caused by the "bomb strike" in that marketplace. It was my impression that the damage was relatively minor. If it had been a cruise missile or JDAMs strike, or something similar, there would have been a great deal more damage to the surrounding structures.

[Steely Tom]

NPR is playing this to the hilt. Their bottom-of-the-hour newsreader said the explosion was caused "presumably by cruise missles." This based on nothing other than what the "Iraqi media" have said.

The media are awful. They are behaving terribly, and NPR is leading the way.

(steely)

[george wythe]

Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said U.S. forces did not specifically aim at the northern Baghdad community of Al-Shaab, "nor were any bombs and missiles fired" there. American-led forces did target Iraqi missiles and launchers very close to homes in another neighborhood nowhere near Al-Shaab, but could not say whether the weapons used might have gone astray, officials said.

"We do know for a fact that something landed in the Shaab district," McChrystal said. "But we do not know if it was U.S. or Iraqi. We do know that we did not target anything in the vicinity of the (Al-Shaab) district."

U.S. Denies Targeting Baghdad Community

[rwfromkansas]

sick

[Tommyjo]

JDAM's start at 250-pounds (Mk81s) going all the way up to 2000-pounds. If you look at the footage of the debris you'll see a small gray damaged fin. This is very similar to a JDAM fin. There is the possibility that a Coalition weapon malfunctioned.

[dfwgator]

When the war is over we will learn about alot of this crap!

It won't matter, the Arabs and the DUmmies will still blame us.

[KnutCase]

Have you seen damage from Cruise missles shown on video tapes (I believe either FOX or MSNBC) ? They show damage considerably greater than the damage seen at the market explosion. I'm going with the Iraqi AAA speculation until proven otherwise.

[Teetop]

My guess says it is an Iraqi SAM (surface to air) missile that went offcourse. A US bomb would make a 15 ft deep crater.

[narby]

If it had landed in someone's back yard, or some random house, I might believe it was a rogue cruise missle. But it hit a market! Definatly an Iraqi propaganda bomb.