Iraqi response to shuttle disaster

[wrbones]

Posted on Sun, Feb. 02, 2003

Most of world shares in grief
But some Muslims see a warning from God to the U.S. and Israel
GLENN FRANKEL
Washington Post

Most of the world expressed shock, grief and condolences Saturday for the loss of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew, but some in the Islamic world saw the tragedy as divine justice against the United States and Israel.

Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, sent condolences and offered technical assistance.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote letters to President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, paying tribute to the "courageous" crew of the Columbia, which included the first Israeli in space, Col. Ilan Ramon.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed in a letter to Bush "the profound emotion and feeling of solidarity in the ordeal that all my compatriots are feeling."

Condolences also came from the leaders of Canada, the European Union, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico and Poland.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said of the astronauts: "Each one was a hero."

But in Iraq, where many are braced for U.S. military action, it was a different response.

"We are happy that it broke up," Baghdad government employee Abdul Jabbar Quraishi said. "God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans."

There was no such jubilation in the Palestinian territories, where the official response was one of condolence. "We sympathize with the families of the astronauts," said Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

When news of the shuttle disaster was broadcast on Jordanian television, one man pointed to the screen and asked whether an Israeli was aboard.

"God have mercy on them, but if there was an Israeli among them, it was God's response," said the man, Amjad Abu Nawas. "We don't want innocent people to die, but between us
and the Jews, there is enmity."


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/5086538.htm

[lurchenstein]

Bones, how do you think the same Iraqi will view the "breakup" of his country? Is he one step closer to paradise? (Stay tuned...)

[wrbones]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/03_02_03/art18.asp


Lebanese news

Region reacts to Columbia disaster
Iran hopes ‘such unfortunate events will not deter’ scientists
Compiled by Daily Star staff

Iraqi people expressed regret on Sunday at the US space shuttle disaster, but thanked “God Almighty” that the dead astronauts included an Israeli who was a fighter pilot in the 1981 air raid which destroyed their country’s embryonic nuclear reactor.
“I thank God Almighty for avenging my country,” said primary school teacher Ata Ahmed, while looking up and raising his two forefingers in the air.
“I still remember the day when he bombed our country in a hateful crime against Iraq and the Arabs,” said Ahmed, a pensioner sitting at the 120-year-old Al-Zahawi cafe in central Baghdad.
The Columbia disintegrated over the US state of Texas on Saturday, minutes before it was to land, killing all seven crew members, including Israel’s first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, and the first Indian-born woman in space.
Ramon was also a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force who fought in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Muslim and Arab countries joined other world leaders in offering condolences Sunday for the loss of the crew members.
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz led Gulf leaders in offering condolences to US President George W. Bush over the space shuttle disaster.
Prince Abdullah expressed Riyadh’s grief over the death of the crew members during a brief phone call to Bush, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) agency reported.The two leaders also discussed “bilateral ties and international developments,” the SPA added.
In Qatar, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani sent a message of condolences to Bush for the victims of the shuttle disaster, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
In Kuwait, the Cabinet released a statement after its weekly session expressing its “deepest sympathy … to the friendly American people and families of victims of this painful catastrophe.”
Iran expressed regret for the death of the six US astronauts, saying politics should not get in the way of humanitarianism, but it made no mention of Ramon.
“Iran distinguishes between the Iran-US political row, and scientific and humanitarian issues,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
He said Iran hoped that “such unfortunate events will not deter scientific centers from their attempts to explore the undiscovered secrets of Creation.” Asefi extended Iran’s condolences to the “US and Indian astronauts” aboard Columbia.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received a call of condolence from Bush.
“The president told the prime minister it was a tragic day for the families of the astronauts and a tragic day for science,” Sharon’s office said in a statement.
Israel also expressed its condolences to the families of the US victims, and to the US government and people, saying it would lower to half mast the Israeli flag flying over Sharon’s Jerusalem office Sunday as a mark of respect for the victims.
Sayed Fazel Akbar, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said: “The Afghan people are very sad for our brothers in the United States and we share their grief.”
Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali expressed shock and grief over the space shuttle’s disaster, officials said.
“I am deeply disturbed at the tragic news of the accident of space shuttle Columbia and the loss of the precious lives on board,” Musharraf said in a message to President Bush.
“Our condolences go out to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones in the bloom of their lives, and to the American people.”
Prime Minister Jamali also expressed shock and grief over the tragedy.“I am profoundly grieved at the loss of lives, so young and promising, and in their prime. I offer my deep condolences to the bereaved families, the American people and to you Mr. President, at this moment of sorrow and mourning,” Jamali said in his message.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan deemed the accident a loss to all humankind “because the exploration of space knows no national boundaries.”
French President Jacques Chirac expressed “the profound emotion and feeling of solidarity … that all my compatriots are feeling.”
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder paid tribute to the “courageous men and women” of Columbia’s crew.
In letters to Bush and Sharon, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he wished to “express the government’s sadness and offer his condolences after the death of the courageous astronauts,” his office said. * With agencies

[wrbones]

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=F0CECAD3-D83C-476D-896E-49C62E7CE2F9

Sunday, February 02, 2003
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BAGHDAD -- Immediate popular reaction in Baghdad yesterday to the loss of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew -- including the first Israeli in space -- was that it was God's retribution.

"We are happy that it broke up," government employee Abdul Jabbar al-Quraishi said. "God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans. They have encroached on our country. God is avenging us," he said.

Car mechanic Mohammed Jaber al-Tamini noted Israeli air force Colonel Ilan Ramon was among the dead when the shuttle broke up over the southwestern United States 16 minutes before its scheduled landing.

The 48-year-old Israeli astronaut was a fighter pilot in the Israeli air force. He was the youngest pilot in a team that bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.

"Israel launched an aggression on us when it raided our nuclear reactor without any reason, now time has come and God has retaliated to their aggression," Mr. Tamini said.

There were no such signs of jubilation over the shuttle disaster in any of the Palestinian territories. The official response from the Palestinians was one of condolence.

'Columbia Is Lost'

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