World shocked by Iraq mob violence
The international community has been shocked by the killings of four US civilian security contractors in Fallujah in Iraq.
The men were shot and burned in their car, before a mob retrieved their bodies and tore them to pieces.
Two of the men’s remains were then hung from a bridge over the River Euphrates.
Much of the incident was captured and broadcast on live television.
The US has condemned the killings as “offensive” and “despicable”.
North Carolina-based Blackwater Security Consulting has confirmed that the men were employees, but they have yet to be named. “The exact identities of the victims are not known”, the company has reported.
Earlier yesterday, five US soliders were killed in a car bomb attack in Malahma in al-Anbar province, around 20 km from Fallujah.
Three British soldiers were injured in a separate car bomb incident in Basra yesterday.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan condemned the killings, but insisted that the coalition would not be deterred.
“Democracy is taking root and we are making important progress. We will not turn back from that effort”, he declared.
However, the killings, and their broadcast, will alarm US security chiefs – who saw popular support for the intervention in Somalia in 1993 crumble after the “Black Hawk Down” incident, which subsequently led to the withdrawal of US forces, and the descent of that country into warlord-dominated lawlessness.
