U.S. forces fire on Canadian vehicle in Iraq

[Spazito]

A vehicle carrying four members of a Canadian diplomatic mission in Iraq was fired on by U.S. forces inside Baghdad's Green Zone on Tuesday. No one was injured in the incident.

The vehicle was reportedly carrying Stewart Henderson, the Canadian chargé d'affaires in Iraq.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday night that it was aware of an incident in Baghdad Tuesday involving four Canadians, but would not confirm whether Mr. Henderson was among them.

“A vehicle with four Canadians who are part of our small mission in Baghdad was travelling in the Green Zone. U.S. forces fired on the engine block,” said Pamela Greenwell, a ministry spokeswoman.

more

http://globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060131.ambassador01/BNStory/International

In the GREEN ZONE, no less, Geez.

[tuvor]

1. Godammit!

Here we go again.

[CanSocDem]

2. When it comes to the American military....

...everybody's suspect. I have no doubt they would shoot me if given the chance.

[Spazito]

3. More details here in a CTV article, differing accounts

between US officials and those actually in the vehicle:

snip

A spokesman for the U.S. forces in Iraq said warning shots were fired at the Canadian envoy's car when it apparently attempted to pass an American military convoy.

snip

However, Canadian consular official Michelle Cameron, who was travelling in the vehicle at the time of the incident, told a different story.


Cameron told CTV News that the Canadian convoy was keeping a good distance and that no one in her vehicle saw any hand signals from the Americans to indicate they were too close.

She also said the three shots fired were not a warning. Cameron said one of the bullets went right through the windshield and narrowly missed a passenger. None of the four passengers or the driver were injured.

more

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060201/canada_iraq_060201/20060201?hub=TopStories

Given the US officials track record on truth telling, I have no doubt the Canadians in the car are stating the real facts.

[MrPrax]

4. Good point...

The Americans can't even secure the Green Zone...an army that incompetent and disorganized can be defeated easily, which of course, the US has little choice but 'genocidal' response to it's will.

But why exactly are any Canadians even there?

Not to take the US standpoint on this, but unless their activities have been approved, they are a potential combatant, since they are NOT coalition...in all honesty, why would the US Army give a shit...I am sure Iraq is probably teeming with spooks and diplomats...it's not really the US's job to defend them in a war zone...

[iverglas]

5. thanks

Newsworld couldn't get its sound working this morning, so I was left wondering what had happened.

Inside the Green Zone; foreign/connected people getting shot at without provocation. It doesn't take much imagination to have no doubts about what goes on outside that zone, and how many regular Iraqi people are getting shot at and killed in no less criminal ways.

Nobody seems to have been asking the US to protect them; it seems to be the US everybody needs protection from. Quelle surprise.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. "it seems to be the US everybody needs protection from" you are too polite

.
.
.

I don't feel I'm stretching your statement too much by editing it to read

"it IS the US everybody needs protection from"

they "penalized" us over the "mad cow" thing when other countries didn't,

they ignore rulings regarding our lumber

their "ambassadors" constantly insult us

etcetera, etcetera

despite the fact that they DEPEND on our petroleum resources to a humongous extent

Our "Trans-Canada" pipeline is a misnomer

It should be Trans-Country

as it goes straight down to the US on the west coast, then all the way across our country into New York state to feed their massive electrical generators which run on OUR Natural Gas

Then when we have an electrical crisis, we have to BUY BACK electricity at a premium with gas we sell them at a cheaper rate than we charge our own(Canadian) citizens. We can thank previous Canadian Governments for signing long-term contracts with the US for that scenario . . .

However, starting in 2008, many of these contracts come up for renewal -

Gawd help us if Stevie-Baby is still in power at that point . . .

[CHIMO]

7. U.S. fired on Canadian diplomats without warning, envoy says

U.S. fired on Canadian diplomats without warning, envoy says
Last Updated Wed, 01 Feb 2006 19:44:00 EST
CBC News


The incident took place after the Canadians pulled out of the British compound in the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area in the centre of Baghdad where the Iraqi government office and the U.S. military's headquarters are located.

The diplomat said the Canadian vehicle – which had a Canadian flag symbol on its dash – waited for a U.S. convoy of five Humvees to pass. Then it followed at a safe distance at about 20 to 25 km/h for about five minutes. She said Canadian officials often share the road with U.S. military vehicles and saw nothing unusual about the situation.

Unlike the version offered by the U.S. military, the Canadian diplomat told CBC News that the American convoy had pulled entirely off the road and into a staging area behind a barrier.

"Again this kind of thing has happened all the time, according to this official, so the Canadian vehicle now carried on down the road after the convoy had pulled all the way over and off to the side," Sorensen said.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/02/01/diplomats060201.html

For the record.

The rest of the story.

[Posteritatis]

8. I wonder if someone's poking Harper to see how he reacts?

After the election, a few minor slights here and there - the Arctic thing, this, prolly some other stuff I haven't noticed because I've been under a rock all week dealing with work - spaced rather closer together than the usual stream of annoyances. I'm wondering if folks aren't trying to test the PM-elect to see how he reacts to them.

Of course, the whole thing actually could just be an accident, or the Canadian vehicle actually was in the wrong, or a single soldier decided to be a moron; I'm quite open to any of those possibilities as well, since sometimes folks really do just mess up.

The other possibility's something to think about, though.

[CHIMO]

9. U.S. fired on Canadian diplomats without warning, envoy says

U.S. fired on Canadian diplomats without warning, envoy says
Last Updated Wed, 01 Feb 2006 21:58:32 EST
CBC News


Canada's incoming prime minister, Stephen Harper, also said the two countries were working together to resolve the incident.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/02/01/diplomats060201.html

Canadians dispute details of Iraq shooting
No one injured when Canadians' car shot up in Baghdad

Canada’s concerns have been relayed to U.S. authorities by Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said Harper.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1138811310177&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Anymore reading and editing for open minds around?

[Posteritatis]

10. It's ... the same article as you posted earlier in this thread. (n/t)

[CHIMO]

11. Right On

It gives some of Harper's response.

I have also included a third article.

Canadians dispute details of Iraq shooting

“Our officials are clear that they were operating within the rules,” prime minister-designate Stephen Harper said in Ottawa. “Obviously, we'd like to make sure we deal with this and avoid such a situation in the future.”

“I'm not trying to say that in the end it won't be found out that it was obvious that this was a diplomatic convoy,” said Mr. McCormack.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060201.wiraq0201/BNStory/National/

So don't provoke. Unless your interpretation is different than mine?

[iverglas]

12. the latest on this needed to be in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2081078

I checked out yesterday's thread in LBN, and there'd been a fair bit of apologistic and entirely baseless speculation about how it could have been all the Canadians' fault for doing this or that or yada yada blah blah. (Not to mention the usual all-about-us boilerplate Bush-bashing ...) The diagrams shown on CBC and CTV about how it all happened, and the Canadian eye-witness victim's account kind of put the lie to that crap.

[Spazito]

13. Agree, it seems quite clear the US military is lying through it's

teeth yet again. Thanks for putting it in LBN now that we have the facts from the victims themselves.