Iraq celebrates football victory

[oostevo]

Source: BBC News

Thousands of Iraqis have spilled onto the streets to celebrate their football squad's Asian Cup victory, firing guns into the air despite a government ban.

Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. Celebratory gunfire was heard in Baghdad, where authorities had banned vehicles and urged fans not to gather.

Correspondents say Iraq's progress has temporarily united the divided country. The team includes Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as Kurds.

Iraq surprised the football world by beating tournament favourites Australia, and then former winners South Korea in Wednesday's semi-final match.

Wild celebrations followed that victory, with crowds dancing in the streets and waving the national flag.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6921078.stm

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I hadn't seem someone else post this yet, so I thought I'd share a bit of good news finally coming out of Iraq.

[Psephos]

1. This is very cool

Good for them. I felt a bit of vicarious pride for them as I looked at the pictures. Sports are a uniter in a world of dividers. Iraq needs many more unifying moments.

[rodeodance]

2. good for them.

[rodeodance]

3. hate to say this but Bushco will use it as a political statement----yup!

[Psephos]

5. So what. We use bad news out of Iraq as a political statement all the time.

Some things are more important than politics. This is an uplifting story. Fuck the politics.

[sanskritwarrior]

14. Agreed

"Oh noes good news out of Iraq".................... :eyes:

god some people on this place are embarrassing.........

Good job Psephos........ :patriot:

[BulletproofLandshark]

6. Of course they will

And the Democrats can counter that since so much progress is being made, we can start bringing our troops home.

[mbperrin]

13. YES! Everything's great now, so pack up and get the f*** out!

NOW!

Hey, I will use any excuse to promote us leaving. It will be the best for US and for Iraq!

[Xipe Totec]

4. Police in Baghdad and Kut reported at least seven deaths

Police in Baghdad and Kut reported at least seven deaths and more than 50 people wounded by stray bullets as gun-toting revelers took to the streets in a wave of euphoria unprecedented after four years of war.

...

Unlike earlier in the week, when suicide bombers killed 50 people after the team won the semi-final on Wednesday, there were no reports of major bomb strikes targeting fans.

...

Brigadier General Qassim Moussawi, the Iraqi military's chief spokesman in Baghdad, said security forces had killed a suspected insurgent and defused a car bomb in the Saidiya district of southern Baghdad soon after the match.

...

Six people died when mortar rounds hit a house in Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.







I can't believe they actually report this with a straight face.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070729/ts_nm/iraq_dc_7

[daleo]

7. These claims always seem very unlikely to me

Assume Baghdad is 50 km by 50 km.
Assume that the population is 5,000,000.
That gives a probability of any particular square meter being occupied of 0.002, or 0.2 percent.

If you assume bullets are randomly fired, I calculate that it would take about 10 million bullets being fired in an area that large with that many people, to equal a probability of 40 people being hit.

Granted, this is a very simplistic calculation, but I think it shows that random bullet firing is not likely to kill or injure nearly 60 people. If anything, it is an overestimate, as a good proportion of the population would be in buildings, and a good proportion of the bullets would be tumbling, and not really falling fast enough to cause serious injury or death (as Myth Busters demonstrated on one episode).

If that many people were hit, I don't think it was an accident.

[Psephos]

8. Good thumbnail analysis

You're an honorary MythBuster for the day. ;-)

[daleo]

9. I am honored

It can be a pretty good show.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. 'Stray bullets' needn't mean bullets coming down

It also includes bullets fired vaguely in the air from the street, and hitting people in the windows or on the rooftops, pretty directly. Fire from a street, and the chances of hitting the buildings on either side are significant.

[Henny Penny]

15. And if you do want to actually hit someone ...

you have plenty of cover, whilst making it look like "those crazy Iraqis can't even celebrate a football victory... "

Well done Iraq, a little bit of good news amidst the misery of the occupation.

:grouphug:

[sanskritwarrior]

16. My last tour in Iraq in Kirkuk

a city of nearly a million we had 2 deaths a month from random celebratory fire........weddings, birthdays, etc.......May Iraqis like to "get their gun on" during parties......

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. I'd like to present this story as Exhibit A

to all those who say sports doesn't matter in life.

To many people in this country, and around the world, their favorite sports team is one of the few things that gives them hope and optimism and something to look forward to every day.

Unless you're a Cubs fan, of course.

;)

[cigsandcoffee]

12. I think it's wonderful.

To see people who have been kicked around for so long (under both former rule and occupation) unite in at least one day of national pride and joyful celebration is enough to bring tears to the eyes.

[VWolf]

17. You know what this means, don't you?

By winning the Asian cup, Iraq gets a berth in the Confederations Cup, which takes place in 2009 in South Africa. It's an 8-team tournament, with 2 groups of 4 playing in round-robin format. Given that the US has already qualified for it, that means there's a 50% chance of a US-Iraq match. That would be very interesting. I wonder if FIFA will rig the draw in order to prevent this matchup from occuring.

[robcon]

18. a fairytale ending

"Iraq completed one of sport's great fairytales by beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the Asian Cup final on Sunday to provide a rare moment for celebration in their war-torn homeland.

The Saudis had been bidding to become the first four-times winners of the tournament but Iraq, riding a wave of global sentiment, upset the hot-favourites for a rare slice of sporting glory."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKSP26426720070729?feedType=RSS&rpc=451