The Iraqis pay tribute to a bloodthirsty God, exulting in the loss of the shuttle Columbia: Iraqis Call Shuttle Disaster God’s Vengeance.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Immediate popular reaction in Baghdad on Saturday 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 said the reactor was intended to develop nuclear weapons.

“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,” Tamini said.