Conflicting reports from Samarra

American troops said on Monday that 54 resistance fighters had been killed in clashes on Sunday.

But our correspondent and other news agencies quoted hospital sources and Samarra residents as saying that the US fire killed eight people, all civilians.

...Hospital director Abd Tawfiq said “more than 60 people wounded by gunfire and shrapnel from US rounds are being treated at the hospital”.

Colonel Fredrick Rudesheim said the toll was 46, repeating an earlier number. He added it was not a firm toll based on a body count, but an estimate based on interviews with all the soldiers involved.article

And I read somewhere a quote from a soldier who said that many of his fellow soldiers were disappointed that they hadn't killed anybody yet - they wanted to "get one" before they left the country - doing their duty to keep America safe. I wonder if you interview soldiers how many are going to claim the same "hit". What a way to get your stats. What a joke.

AFP correspondents saw a civilian bus completely burned out 30 metres from the main entrance to the town’s hospital.

The correspondents were shown two Iranian passports said to belong to the visitors killed in the bus. Nine others, also Iranians, were wounded, said the police guard outside the hospital.

Iranian officials expressed concern over the incident and called for an immediate investigation into the attack.

Iraqis. Iranians. What's the difference?

The town’s police chief Colonel Ismail Mahmud Muhammad said about 20 of the injured sustained their injuries while worshipping at a mosque during sunset prayers.

Resistance fighters who had attacked occupation forces had withdrawn when the Americans returned fire, said Muhammad. Troops had done so indiscriminately with all weapons in their arsenal, he added.

“There was an attack and an exchange of fire between the Americans and the resistance lasting half an hour. The resistance withdrew, then bombardments started using all manner of weapons in all directions and without any discrimination,” said Muhammad.

That has become standard operating procedure - indiscriminate return fire - according to reports that follow each such incident.

Shaikh Mohammed Abd al-Karim, in charge of security on the local municipal council, cited police reports..."There were shots, and then a half-hour exchange with the assailants, who then fled," he said.

"Then there was a massive US bombardment in which buildings, including mosques and schools, were hit by the Americans."

Abd al-Karim said that Apache helicopter gunships had opened fire during the bombardment of the built-up area, although flares carried by the assault aircraft can sometimes be mistaken for cannon fire.

The impact of a rocket could be seen on one of the outer walls of the al-Shafi mosque, nearly 50 metres from the hospital. Its windows had been shattered by the blast.

Ali Abd Allah Amin, 12, who was being treated at the hospital with his five-year-old brother for wounds sustained in the mosque, said their father had been killed in the firing.

In another street in the town where a US convoy came under attack earlier in the day, a car parked outside a chemist’s shop had been completely flattened, apparently by a tank.

Yep, just lay waste to the whole place. After all, it's the only way to get rid of the terrorists and make us safe.

Support your troops. And be proud to be an American.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.