http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=560815Turkey reacts with fury to massive US assault on northern Iraqi city
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American and Iraqi government forces last week sealed off Tal Afar, a city west of Mosul belonging to Iraq's embattled Turkmen minority. The US said it killed 67 insurgents while a Turkmen leader claims 60 civilians were killed and 100 wounded. The massive and indiscriminate use of US firepower in built-up areas, leading to heavy civilian casualties in cities like Tal Afar, Fallujah and Najaf, is coming under increasing criticism in Iraq. The US "came into Iraq like an elephant astride its war machine," said Ibrahim Jaafari, the influential Iraqi Vice President.
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The US was probably more impressed by the furious Turkish government reaction to the siege. Turkey's Foreign Ministry said: "We have asked the US authorities to stop the offensive in Tal Afar as soon as possible and avoid indiscriminate use of force." The Turkish General Staff said it was also watching developments. On Friday medical supplies were allowed into the city.
The attack on Tal Afar shows how the US can capture any city in Iraq but it must also pay a high political price for using its great firepower in the middle of heavily populated areas.
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Tal Afar has been marked by the bloody hand of the bushgang
written on walls during WWII was "kilroy was here". now in the world a bloody hand print on a wall is the bushgang's icon.