Hw #31 The Amriyah Shelter Bombing

I decided to research the Amriyah shelter bombing on February 13th which is mentioned in Bagdad Burning written by Riverbend (Riverbend,46). I found this topic very interesting because she compared this bombing to the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11. This shelter was home to many Iraqi citizens during the Iran-Iraq and the Gulf war (Wikipedia). The United States was the country behind the bombing; they thought the shelter was being used as a military command site. They sent over two laser-guided also known as “smart bombs” in 1991 (Wikipedia). The attack occurred at four in the morning, the first bomb went through ten feet of concrete and the second bomb went right through the hole that the first bomb created. People located in the upper level of the shelter were incinerated by the heat, while the shelter’s water tank killed everyone in the lower level. The bombing killed 400 people, mostly women and children (Wikipedia). The men and boys over fifteen left the shelter in order to give the women some privacy. The shelter’s debris was sent flying into many other surrounding houses. This horrific event caused many families to loose their love ones. The shelter is now a memorial for the people who died in it. Their photos are located inside the shelter. This relates to the book because it shows yet again another side of a different war. It allows us Americans/ readers to see the Iraqi side of the Amriyah shelter bombing. It also lets us realize that we all feel and hurt for love ones whether we are Iraqi or American. As stated in Bagdad Burning, “Its strange how horror obliterates ethnic differences- all faces look the same when they are witnessing the death of loved ones” (Riverbend,48). I think it good to hear the other side of the bombing because it allows us to realize that we are all human and we feel pain no matter what color or religion we are.

Works Cited:
Wikipedia, Amiriyah Shelter Bombing, November 11, 2007
Wikipedia Foundation Inc.