Once
again, trigger-happy, nervous US soldiers have gone on the rampage in Iraq killing nearly 20
innocent Iraqi civilians in less than a week.
The latest
incident occurred August 11 after a power generator blew up, plunging several Baghdad neighborhoods
into darkness, according to the Associated Press.
Within a
time span of just 45 minutes six Iraqi civilians traveling well before the 11 pm curfew, including
three children, were gunned down by heavy machine gun fire from US troops. Iraqi eyewitnesses told
reporters that US troops continued to fire into the cars despite cries from the women in the cars
that they were an innocent family. Eyewitnesses also reported parts of human skull and brain dashed
all over the interiors of the cars.
On August
8th, five Iraqis, including three children, were killed, and two others wounded when US forces fired
at a car approaching a checkpoint north of Baghdad. The mother of the children told Arab media
services that US forces fired into the car for no reason.
Another
Iraqi man was killed in Ramadi when he approached a checkpoint.
Iraqi
civilians have accused US forces of being trigger-happy and nervous, often firing sporadically into
homes and crowds especially after they come under attack.
The
US campaign in Iraq has been marred by the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians since late
March. |
|
Human
rights organizations in Iraq have made the same charge accusing the US military of excessive force
and often indiscriminate fire. Amnesty International has also strongly criticized US forces for the
manner in which they detain suspected Iraqis and the treatment during capture and detention.
“Former detainees told Amnesty International that people detained by coalition forces were held in
tents in the extreme heat and were not provided with sufficient drinking water or adequate washing
facilities. They were forced to use open trenches for toilets and were not given a change of clothes
- even after two months’ detention,” AI reported.
The US
campaign in Iraq has been marred by the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians since late March.
March 31 -
US soldiers kill 10 members, all women and children, of the same family at a checkpoint near Najaf,
Iraq.
April 1 -
US Marines kill a driver and wound his passenger as he approaches a checkpoint near Shatra, Iraq. No
weapons or explosives were found.
April 11 -
US Marines fire on two cars approaching a checkpoint in Nasiriyah killing two children and wounding
nine others. No weapons or explosives were found.
April 28 -
April 30 - US soldiers kill 20 unarmed protestors when they fire into crowds in Fallujah, Iraq.
Human Rights Watch accuses troops of excessive force. Ninety civilians wounded.
May 24 -
US soldiers kill three teenage boys celebrating a wedding in a motorcade at a checkpoint in Samarra,
north of Baghdad. No weapons or explosives were found.
May 26 -
US soldiers fire on a truck that failed to stop in time at a roadblock in Samarra, Iraq. Two
children are killed.
June 18 -
US soldiers fire into a protesting crowd of 500 outside US Civilian Authority headquarters. Two
Iraqi civilians killed.
June 26 -
US soldiers on patrol fire on a Baghdad house rooftop killing a 12-year old carrying a blanket.
June 30 -
US soldiers fire on separate cars at checkpoints. Four Iraqi civilians die. No weapons or explosives
found.
July 3 -
An Iraqi civilian tells Agence France Presse that he was handcuffed, gagged and later beaten by a US
soldier who found a handgun in his car.
July 9 -
US soldiers atop the Durah police station in Baghdad fire on an Iraqi civilian fixing a car at a
repair shop. Soldiers mistook the car’s ignition distributor for a grenade.
July 22 -
US forces fired into a crowd of 40 to 50 rock-throwing protesters gathered in Karbala seeking entry
to the Imam Hussein Mosque. One man is killed.
July 26 -
The Pentagon announces that four US soldiers will be put under investigation for beating Iraqi
prisoners at detention centers.
July 27 -
US soldiers of Task Force 20 kill 11 civilian passers-by while raiding the home of Prince Rabiah
Muhamed Al-Habib in search of Saddam Hussein. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez admitted at a Baghdad press
conference that “up to five” might have been killed, but refused to take responsibility.
Eyewitnesses tell reporters that four of the dead were cremated in the car they were riding, which
came under heavy US gunfire.
July 30 -
Two Iraqi civilians on foot shot dead by US soldiers in the Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq. No
weapons or explosives were found.
August 8 -
US forces fire on a car carrying an Iraqi family at a checkpoint north of Baghdad. Five Iraqis,
including three children, were killed, and two others wounded.
August 11
- US soldiers kill six Iraqi civilians at three different checkpoints in Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons
or explosives were found.
The above
list is by no means comprehensive. Other stories of civilians murdered in Iraq continue to go
unreported.
Hoping to
stave off the incensed anger of a threatened Iraqi population, US military officials paid $262,263
in compensation as of August 13. However, most of the money was for property damaged during botched
raids. US military personnel have refused to comment saying only that an Iraqi family has to prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt that US servicemen erred in killing an Iraqi civilian. In most cases, US
military officials said that soldiers fired because they believed they were threatened.
It remains
to be seen whether US forces have been held accountable for the above deaths, and others.
Human
rights organizations have blamed US forces, as the occupying power, for the high number of civilian
deaths. In most cases, Iraqi eyewitnesses have told this writer that soldiers just scream at
confused Iraqi drivers in English. The Iraqis, who know of the deaths at checkpoints, panic and
often do something wrong in their bid to avoid being shot or beaten.
