They tried lifting the curfew, and this is what happened in John McCain’s “safe” Baghdad:
The violence in central Baghdad shut down the Sunni-dominated Fadhil and Sheik Omar neighborhoods just after 7 a.m., the U.S. military said. After American and Iraqi troops came under fire during a routine search operation, helicopter gunships swooped in, engaging insurgents with machine gun fire.
Some Arab television stations reported an American helicopter was shot down in the fight, and showed video of a charred piece of mechanical wreckage that was impossible to identify. The U.S. issued a statement late Tuesday saying an attack helicopter suffered damage from small arms fire but returned to base.
Several blocks from the battle, a rocket slammed into a schoolyard basketball court, killing a 6-year-old boy. AP Television News videotape showed children’s backpacks and books still open on classroom desks, covered with shattered glass and debris. Blood was pooled on the dusty tile floor.
Police said it was a stray Katyusha rocket that dug into the asphalt playground and at least 17 were wounded  15 students and two teachers.
The resumption of violence was in stunning contrast to Monday, when a 24-hour driving ban left the capital eerily quiet on the fourth anniversary of its capture by American forces.
But just hours after the ban was lifted before dawn Tuesday, artillery fire echoed across the city. By day’s end, at least 52 people were killed or found dead nationwide in strife confined mainly to Sunni enclaves.
Wouldn’t a Katyusha rocket fired by insurgents be automatically described as an “intentional terrorist murder” of schoolchildren? Which side let this rocket “stray” away from the battle?
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