Iraqis Call Shuttle Disaster God's Vengeance Sat February 1, 2003 03:24 PM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Immediate popular reaction in Baghdad on Saturday to the loss of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew -- including the first Israeli in space -- was that it was God's retribution. "We are happy that it broke up," government employee Abdul Jabbar al-Quraishi said. "God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans. They have encroached on our country. God is avenging us," he said. Iraqis are braced for a possible U.S.-led war to rid their country of any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons it may possess. Iraq denies it has such weapons. Car mechanic Mohammed Jaber al-Tamini noted Israeli air force Colonel Ilan Ramon was among the dead when the shuttle broke up over the southwestern United States 16 minutes before its scheduled landing. The 48-year-old Israeli astronaut was a fighter pilot in the Israeli air force. He was the youngest pilot in a team that bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. Israel said the reactor was intended to develop nuclear weapons. "Israel launched an aggression on us when it raided our nuclear reactor without any reason, now time has come and God has retaliated to their aggression," Tamini said. There were no such signs of jubilation over the shuttle disaster in any of the Palestinian territories. The official response from the Palestinians was one of condolence. "President (Yasser) Arafat and the Palestinian Authority offer their condolences to the six American families and the Israeli family who lost their loved ones in the catastrophe," Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official and spokesman, told Reuters. Erekat said Arafat had sent President Bush a message of condolences over the loss of the NASA space agency's shuttle. The United States, Israel's closest ally, is the chief Middle East peace broker.
Such popular reaction amongst the Iraqis is not helpful, if they wish to avert a war... how dare they rejoice in the death of American, Indian and Israeli patriots who died in the pursuit of scientific knowledge... Such Iraqis are not deserving of any sympathy... God Bless America...
If Hussein wanted to join the rest of the civilized world, and it appears he doesn't want to, he would issue some statement about the tragedy and how Iraq and her people grieve for the loss of life. Anything less just shows a death wish on their part. Those comments from the Iraqi citizens are going to end up hand written on the bombs before they are dropped.
emotional fucker aren't ya Optional! oh, the paww wittle amewican got his feelings hurt did he? gotta go shoot someone now huh? doesn't take much to get you going does it..
lol. happy, do you, by any chance, remember having read any of my other posts here in chit-chat? as much as i'd support a war against iraq, i'd only support it for 'good' reasons (without getting bogged down defining 'good'). "let's bomb the shit out of them cos some iraqis offended us over the nasa incident" isn't really what most intelligent, mature people would call a 'good' reason, is it?
I mistook your tone to be quite inconsiderate of the astronaut disaster. I hope I'm right about being mistaken... As far as "good" reasons, I really don't know what else you need, and I'm not talking about Saddam's glee at the disaster. Anyhoo, maybe I'll volunteer to be a human shield in Baghdad and send my address, complete with GPS coordinates, to the nearest B-1 pilot...
I have such faith in people....and then I read some of these posts. Try being part of the solution, not the problem.