Some further reading on Iraq, the US and oil:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IE09Ak01.html
Some further reading on Iraq, the US and oil:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IE09Ak01.html
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Absolutely riveting read dcraig1.
As strategic analysis goes it is 100% accurate. Shame we don't see any good BBC programs or highlights on it.
I don't believe the US has given up the fight yet and I also suspect the real fight for the fields is about to start with Fuddy Duddy Kurdish referendum coming up on Kirkuk.
The master plan is to give Kirkuk to the Kurds, arm them to the teeth and use them to attack Iran - possibly drawing in Syria and Turkey into war also.
I sincerely believe it would be cheaper to buy oil in the free market in a stable world than steal it with death and destruction in an unstable one.
Rice has currently gone to Russia to talk missiles.
Also in the news is criticism of Russia selling weapons to Sudan. The Hypocrisy of it all really makes me want to throw up. Americans leave and Russians step in. Russians leave and America steps in. We just need China now to shift some muscle to see what kind of mess we all end up in.
Indeed it is a shame, but not entirely unexpected. Asia Times Online has IMHO, some of the best and most informed comment, analysis and reporting on the middle east. Some of it from their correspondents on the ground too, not the usual journalists holed up in their hotel in Baghdad and wheeled out for press conferences.
http://www.antiwar.com has a lot of good stuff too.
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How or why is it that these kind of incidents didn't take place when the UK troops were doing the job in Afghanistan but as soon as the Americans take over we have two big incidents of 19 and now 20 civilian deaths.
The 19 deaths was because a soldier in a convoy of heavy armoured vehicles heard one gun shot and they all opened up all guns blazing whilst speeding away and crashing into umpteen vehicles, businesses and civilians as well shooting anything that moved.
Here is another...
US admits Afghan civilian deaths
The US say they killed a significant amount of Taliban fighters. Civilian deaths were due to an air raid which Nato command had no knowledge of.
Here are some extracts...
Assadullah Wafa, the provincial governor, said he had no reports of Taliban casualties.
Prior to the latest casualties, scores of civilians have been killed by Western forces in the past two weeks.
Karzai has repeatedly urged foreign troops to avoid civilian casualties, to stop searching people's houses, and to co-ordinate attacks with his government.
Last week, Karzai said the patience of Afghans was running out.
On Tuesday, a US military commander apologised for the deaths of 19 civilians, killed by US troops in eastern Afghanistan in March.
Why is the BBC not reporting this piece of news. I suppose now that UK troops are out of Afghanistan it's not good material to slag off the US whilst our Queen is over there on a back slapping engagement. ( I do support our monarchy but can't bring my self round to say anything good about this visit ).
The 19 deaths was because a soldier in a convoy of heavy armoured vehicles heard one gun shot and they all opened up all guns blazing whilst speeding away and crashing into umpteen vehicles, businesses and civilians as well shooting anything that moved.
Here is another...
US admits Afghan civilian deaths
The US say they killed a significant amount of Taliban fighters. Civilian deaths were due to an air raid which Nato command had no knowledge of.
Here are some extracts...
Assadullah Wafa, the provincial governor, said he had no reports of Taliban casualties.
Prior to the latest casualties, scores of civilians have been killed by Western forces in the past two weeks.
Karzai has repeatedly urged foreign troops to avoid civilian casualties, to stop searching people's houses, and to co-ordinate attacks with his government.
Last week, Karzai said the patience of Afghans was running out.
On Tuesday, a US military commander apologised for the deaths of 19 civilians, killed by US troops in eastern Afghanistan in March.
Why is the BBC not reporting this piece of news. I suppose now that UK troops are out of Afghanistan it's not good material to slag off the US whilst our Queen is over there on a back slapping engagement. ( I do support our monarchy but can't bring my self round to say anything good about this visit ).
I think you should add Somalia to the list of Afghanistan and Iraq. The bloody signature of US intervention is written all over the unfolding tragedy.
'More than 200 FBI and CIA agents have set up camp in the Sheraton Hotel here in Ethiopia's capital and have been interrogating dozens of detainees -- including a US citizen picked up in Somalia and held without charge and without attorneys in a secret prison somewhere in this city, according to Ethiopian and U.S. officials who say the interrogations are lawful.'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200705110629.html
In a bizarre twist, the US has facilitated the supply of North Korean arms to Ethiopia, but it really should not be that surprising when oil and US hegemony is at stake.
'More than 200 FBI and CIA agents have set up camp in the Sheraton Hotel here in Ethiopia's capital and have been interrogating dozens of detainees -- including a US citizen picked up in Somalia and held without charge and without attorneys in a secret prison somewhere in this city, according to Ethiopian and U.S. officials who say the interrogations are lawful.'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200705110629.html
In a bizarre twist, the US has facilitated the supply of North Korean arms to Ethiopia, but it really should not be that surprising when oil and US hegemony is at stake.
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Somalia: The Hidden War for Oil...
No surprise as they have oil. Somalia: The Hidden War for Oil...
I wasn't aware of it either. I think Africa has already risen in the stake to gain access to world resources with the Chineese and Indians investing greater levels. Only a matter of time before the US and EU countries also make plays to gain some bloody advantage.
Depresses me all this stuff. Really really does.
No surprise as they have oil. Somalia: The Hidden War for Oil...
I wasn't aware of it either. I think Africa has already risen in the stake to gain access to world resources with the Chineese and Indians investing greater levels. Only a matter of time before the US and EU countries also make plays to gain some bloody advantage.
Depresses me all this stuff. Really really does.
Lest we forget ...
"In the fall of 2000, twenty-five years after the end of the war in Indochina, Bill Clinton became the first US president since Richard Nixon to visit Vietnam. While media coverage of the trip was dominated by talk of some two thousand US soldiers still classified as missing in action, a small act of great historical importance went almost unnoticed. As a humanitarian gesture, Clinton released extensive Air Force data on all American bombings of Indochina between 1964 and 1975. Recorded using a groundbreaking IBM-designed system, the database provided extensive information on sorties conducted over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Clinton’s gift was intended to assist in the search for unexploded ordnance left behind during the carpet bombing of the region. Littering the countryside, often submerged under farmland, this ordnance remains a significant humanitarian concern. It has maimed and killed farmers, and rendered valuable land all but unusable. Development and de-mining organizations have put the Air Force data to good use over the past six years, but have done so without noting its full implications, which turn out to be staggering.
"The still-incomplete database (it has several “dark” periods) reveals that from October 4, 1965, to August 15, 1973, the United States dropped far more ordnance on Cambodia than was previously believed: 2,756,941 tons’ worth, dropped in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites. Just over 10 percent of this bombing was indiscriminate, with 3,580 of the sites listed as having “unknown” targets and another 8,238 sites having no target listed at all."
"The data released by Clinton shows the total payload dropped during these years to be nearly five times greater than the generally accepted figure. To put the revised total of 2,756,941 tons into perspective, the Allies dropped just over 2 million tons of bombs during all of World War II, including the bombs that struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 15,000 and 20,000 tons, respectively. Cambodia may well be the most heavily bombed country in history."
http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2420
All the militant Islamist groups in the world put together could not hold a candle to this scale of terror.
"In the fall of 2000, twenty-five years after the end of the war in Indochina, Bill Clinton became the first US president since Richard Nixon to visit Vietnam. While media coverage of the trip was dominated by talk of some two thousand US soldiers still classified as missing in action, a small act of great historical importance went almost unnoticed. As a humanitarian gesture, Clinton released extensive Air Force data on all American bombings of Indochina between 1964 and 1975. Recorded using a groundbreaking IBM-designed system, the database provided extensive information on sorties conducted over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Clinton’s gift was intended to assist in the search for unexploded ordnance left behind during the carpet bombing of the region. Littering the countryside, often submerged under farmland, this ordnance remains a significant humanitarian concern. It has maimed and killed farmers, and rendered valuable land all but unusable. Development and de-mining organizations have put the Air Force data to good use over the past six years, but have done so without noting its full implications, which turn out to be staggering.
"The still-incomplete database (it has several “dark” periods) reveals that from October 4, 1965, to August 15, 1973, the United States dropped far more ordnance on Cambodia than was previously believed: 2,756,941 tons’ worth, dropped in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites. Just over 10 percent of this bombing was indiscriminate, with 3,580 of the sites listed as having “unknown” targets and another 8,238 sites having no target listed at all."
"The data released by Clinton shows the total payload dropped during these years to be nearly five times greater than the generally accepted figure. To put the revised total of 2,756,941 tons into perspective, the Allies dropped just over 2 million tons of bombs during all of World War II, including the bombs that struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 15,000 and 20,000 tons, respectively. Cambodia may well be the most heavily bombed country in history."
http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2420
All the militant Islamist groups in the world put together could not hold a candle to this scale of terror.
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War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse
Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country.
It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbours more.
My view is that the US and UK by clinging to denials and maintaining this ridiculous scenario are the sole parties responsible for the continuing death and destruction.
The only conclusion one can draw is that the devide and rule policy to get Sunnis and Shias to fight each other whilst the US colonises the Kurds is the true policy objective. Please no more of this democracy, liberalism and western civilisation crap.
Also, the view to send Harry to Iraq is pathetic. Why? So he can play soldiers and see what it is like to shoot and kill a few Iraqis? What good is he going to do there?
Lift the morale of the troops? How? By having wild parties? Stupid and pathetic was the thought. Glad someone made a good decision and said NO! We should bring back all the troops and hand back control to the Iraqis.
The recent TV documentaries have suggested that the US when deciding and acting at no point consulted the UK political or military parties during this pre and post Iraq war. I'm absolutely amazed that Blair has supported the Americans through all of it. I'm sure we are now waiting for the democrats to say when to pull the troops out.
Things can only get worse.
Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country.
It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbours more.
My view is that the US and UK by clinging to denials and maintaining this ridiculous scenario are the sole parties responsible for the continuing death and destruction.
The only conclusion one can draw is that the devide and rule policy to get Sunnis and Shias to fight each other whilst the US colonises the Kurds is the true policy objective. Please no more of this democracy, liberalism and western civilisation crap.
Also, the view to send Harry to Iraq is pathetic. Why? So he can play soldiers and see what it is like to shoot and kill a few Iraqis? What good is he going to do there?
Lift the morale of the troops? How? By having wild parties? Stupid and pathetic was the thought. Glad someone made a good decision and said NO! We should bring back all the troops and hand back control to the Iraqis.
The recent TV documentaries have suggested that the US when deciding and acting at no point consulted the UK political or military parties during this pre and post Iraq war. I'm absolutely amazed that Blair has supported the Americans through all of it. I'm sure we are now waiting for the democrats to say when to pull the troops out.
Things can only get worse.
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I don't know. First US starts talking to Iran and now this...
Rice opens Iranian art show in US
When was the hostage crises and aircraft carriers and Bush talking about bombing few targets going on...? Yes approx 5 weeks ago.
What has changed?
What is going on?
Gold has dropped?
Oil has risen?
Indeces have surged?
All good news and amazing the difference few hellos and good gestures can achieve. Well done to everybody involved.
Rice opens Iranian art show in US
When was the hostage crises and aircraft carriers and Bush talking about bombing few targets going on...? Yes approx 5 weeks ago.
What has changed?
What is going on?
Gold has dropped?
Oil has risen?
Indeces have surged?
All good news and amazing the difference few hellos and good gestures can achieve. Well done to everybody involved.
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All the atrocities get forgotten so quickly.
Suffering and chaos still goes on daily.
Here is US justice being dealt out just like Bushes thanks giving Turkey - made of plastic but looks good to the media. Notice how he reads his statement too instead of talking or telling it. We don't want him saying something he shouldn't do we?
US marine says: Haditha Iraqis had guns
He goes on to explain how he killed them popping out behind doors and cocking their AK47s - but fails to explain how the elderly women and children were killed in bed.
Suffering and chaos still goes on daily.
Here is US justice being dealt out just like Bushes thanks giving Turkey - made of plastic but looks good to the media. Notice how he reads his statement too instead of talking or telling it. We don't want him saying something he shouldn't do we?
US marine says: Haditha Iraqis had guns
He goes on to explain how he killed them popping out behind doors and cocking their AK47s - but fails to explain how the elderly women and children were killed in bed.
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"The Iraqi government totally rejects U.S. military operations ... conducted without a pre-approval from the Iraqi military command,"
al-Maliki said in a statement released by his office.
"Anyone who breaches the military command orders will face investigation." I'm sure the Pentagon is shaking in it's boots...
But on a serious note - sometimes the lines between US Marines and Terrorists become hard to fathom... I appreciate this sentence may seem a little harsh on our American friends but is this a rogue unit or is the command structure and democracy failing in Iraq?
It might be harsh, but it is reality. Empires need a fairly ruthless military if challenged. It is the way of the world.
There has been some decent commentry written on this in recent times. Articles by John Pilger and Seymour Hersh have detailed the transformation of the US military. Unfortunately, I don't have links but you can probably find them fairly easily. One point they make is that the modern military promotes a self image of "warrior" rather than "soldier" with predictable consequences. One dictionary definition of warrior is a person habitually engaged in warfare. Empires need warriors.
I do not think that the US military is any more brutal today than it was in Vietnam, but it is a more professional and self aware brutality. In some cases it has been micro managed from the office of Rumsfeld.
It is not hard to see the growing militarism, increasingly unrestrained state power and attitudes to violence of the US in popular culture. For instance, compare "24 hours" to a previous era of Mash or even Hogan's Heroes. Where is the Mash of today ?
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I agree with your view DCraig, I never had or will have high regard for American marines with all their friendly fire incidents (It's a fact they that they have killed more of our troops than the Iraqis) but you have skipped or not answered the serious question that needs an answer...
Based on agreed laws and Iraqi constitution and given the elected authority in Iraq as prescribed by the White House -
"The Iraqi government totally rejects U.S. military operations ... conducted without a pre-approval from the Iraqi military command. "Anyone who breaches the military command orders will face investigation." quoted by Al-Maliki the leader of the Iraqi government.
IS/HAS THE COMMAND STRUCTURE AND DEMOCRACY FAILING/FAILED IN IRAQ?
If the answer is yes then obviously there is no real government in Iraq but only a plastic one inflated with the Bush administration.
Please don't misunderstand the strong nature of the way I reply to your blog it's not you or anybody else but purely the conduct of the US Government and it's Army.
A very pertinent response to a somewhat waffly (though true) post.
Unquestionably "democracy" or rather a government that was the creation of the US is failing. I would imagine that there has been a lot of agonizing in Washington over what to do with their creation. It's inability to sign over Iraq's oil wealth to foreign interests must be a real and ongoing irritation. It's very hard to see the current government of Iraq enduring too long unless the US manages to smooch up to Iran, and even then it has to be very problematical.
From my limited perspective, I can only see one leader who has any chance of unifying Iraq and that is Moqtada al-Sadr. He seems to be increasingly adopting a nationalist rather than sectarian Shiite posture, attempting to reign in his militia some elements of which are undoubtedly rampantly out of control and conducting serious dialog with Sunni leaders. Who knows how this might develop.
What is abundantly clear is that the US has to go. The violence will go on without end while they stay.
What is also pretty clear to me at least, is that should an Iraqi nationalist leader emerge with genuine popular support, he is far more likely to be able to effectively deal with the likes of Al Qaeda in Iraq than the Americans could ever hope to be.
A very interesting article on the growth of a nationalist coalition in opposition to the current government:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070716/dreyfuss
The US will do it's best to undermine Iraqi nationalism, for the very simple reason that Iraqi nationalists want the US out. As the article points out, they may well be doing their utmost to grind Iraq's last hope into the dirt.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070716/dreyfuss
The US will do it's best to undermine Iraqi nationalism, for the very simple reason that Iraqi nationalists want the US out. As the article points out, they may well be doing their utmost to grind Iraq's last hope into the dirt.
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Yes it's all about the oil and absolutely nothing to do with democracy or the front line on terrorism crap we are dished out with - Blairs sentence in his justification for saving the civilised world. Just as I don't understand Blair's words I have great difficulty understanding how the terrorists can think Glasgow is the front line on terrorism. I'm absolutely bewildered by the blood lust on both sides.
I concur strongly with the US undermining Iraqi nationalism. It is US policy to split and devide it up so they can better control the different factions. Anything else they tell you is BS.
Moqtdr's party pulled out of the Iraqi parliament and the very next day we are to believe the Sunni's blew up several bombs in the Shia districts killing 60+ civilians. WHY WOULD THE SUNNIS BLOW UP MOQTDR'S DISTRICT WHEN THEY ARE PRECISELY AGAINTS THE US BACKED ADMINISTRATION - (Over the signing away - 70% of Iraqi gains to foreign US/UK firms as development costs when Iraqi oil is the cheapest and the easiest to extract).
Also more recently the Sunnis faction have pulled out of the Iraqi government.
In response the US administrations blames everyone but them selves. The BBC site reports American commanders say interference from the Shia-led government was one reason their drive to restore security to Baghdad failed.
What I understand form this response is that this rogue action justifies disregarding the Iraqi government.
Perhaps the Iraqi parliament should be dissolved as it obviously is not helping with security on the ground and no doubt all the elected representitives don't want the Iraqi civilians to be any better off so they can carry on living in the secure green zone protected by nice little ol US marines. :idea:
Putin is currently having talks with Bush at the moment. Be interesting to be one of those high tech micro-fly on the wall?:|
Good post above......
However when the Iraq war was imminent, many in UK and US were all for this war but many voiced their concern about this illegal war....
At one stage Saddam was asked to toe UN line and on the other instance UK/US decided to go this war WITHOUT UN Mandate.....
We have sacrified some of our best soldiers on this war and it is a waste of life and talent that has been fittered away for no use..
Some so called 'pundits' were on TV saying that this war is a very good war experience for our soldiers....!!
Yes it is all about OIL.....All the OIL counties do not have Democracy but Monarchy with a 'Sultan' and his 'family' at top......
If UK and US are all for Democracy - and very good idea it is too - then start with MIddle East and substiture the Absolute Monarchy with a Democratic Government...
Somehow this will never happen....
However when the Iraq war was imminent, many in UK and US were all for this war but many voiced their concern about this illegal war....
At one stage Saddam was asked to toe UN line and on the other instance UK/US decided to go this war WITHOUT UN Mandate.....
We have sacrified some of our best soldiers on this war and it is a waste of life and talent that has been fittered away for no use..
Some so called 'pundits' were on TV saying that this war is a very good war experience for our soldiers....!!
Yes it is all about OIL.....All the OIL counties do not have Democracy but Monarchy with a 'Sultan' and his 'family' at top......
If UK and US are all for Democracy - and very good idea it is too - then start with MIddle East and substiture the Absolute Monarchy with a Democratic Government...
Somehow this will never happen....
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'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'
I had said before that this insurgency just didn't happen it took a lot of effort by US marines to create it. Well the Independant Newspaper lays it out clearly...
This is a must read.
'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'
Interviews with US veterans show for the first time the pattern of brutality in Iraq
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 12 July 2007
It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under trying circumstances.
That perception will take a severe knock today with the publication in The Nation magazine of a series of in-depth interviews with 50 combat veterans of the Iraq war from across the US. In the interviews, veterans have described acts of violence in which US forces have abused or killed Iraqi men, women and children with impunity.
The report steers clear of widely reported atrocities, such as the massacre in Haditha in 2005, but instead unearths a pattern of human rights abuses. "It's not individual atrocity," Specialist Garett Reppenhagen, a sniper from the 263rd Armour Battalion, said. "It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."
A number of the troops have returned home bearing mental and physical scars from fighting a war in an environment in which the insurgents are supported by the population. Many of those interviewed have come to oppose the US military presence in Iraq, joining the groundswell of public opinion across the US that views the war as futile.
This view is echoed in Washington, where increasing numbers of Democrats and Republicans are openly calling for an early withdrawal from Iraq. And the Iraq quagmire has pushed President George Bush's poll ratings to an all-time low.
Journalists and human rights groups have published numerous reports drawing attention to the killing of Iraqi civilians by US forces. The Nation's investigation presents for the first time named military witnesses who back those assertions. Some participated themselves.
Through a combination of gung-ho recklessness and criminal behaviour born of panic, a narrative emerges of an army that frequently commits acts of cold-blooded violence. A number of interviewees revealed that the military will attempt to frame innocent bystanders as insurgents, often after panicked American troops have fired into groups of unarmed Iraqis. The veterans said the troops involved would round up any survivors and accuse them of being in the resistance while planting Kalashnikov AK47 rifles beside corpses to make it appear that they had died in combat.
"It would always be an AK because they have so many of these lying around," said Joe Hatcher, 26, a scout with the 4th Calvary Regiment. He revealed the army also planted 9mm handguns and shovels to make it look like the civilians were shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb.
"Every good cop carries a throwaway," Hatcher said of weapons planted on innocent victims in incidents that occurred while he was stationed between Tikrit and Samarra, from February 2004 to March 2005. Any survivors were sent to jail for interrogation.
There were also deaths caused by the reckless behaviour of military convoys. Sgt Kelly Dougherty of the Colorado National Guard described a hit-and-run in which a military convoy ran over a 10-year-old boy and his three donkeys, killing them all. "Judging by the skid marks, they hardly even slowed down. But, I mean... your order is that you never stop."
The worst abuses seem to have been during raids on private homes when soldiers were hunting insurgents. Thousands of such raids have taken place, usually at dead of night. The veterans point out that most are futile and serve only to terrify the civilians, while generating sympathy for the resistance.
Sgt John Bruhns, 29, of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, described a typical raid. "You want to catch them off guard," he explained. "You want to catch them in their sleep ... You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall... Then you go into a room and you tear the room to shreds. You'll ask 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US propaganda?'
"Normally they'll say no, because that's normally the truth," Sgt Bruhns said. "So you'll take his sofa cushions and dump them. You'll open up his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it." And at the end, if the soldiers don't find anything, they depart with a "Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice evening".
Sgt Dougherty described her squad leader shooting an Iraqi civilian in the back in 2003. "The mentality of my squad leader was like, 'Oh, we have to kill them over here so I don't have to kill them back in Colorado'," she said. "He just seemed to view every Iraqi as a potential terrorist."
'It would always happen. We always got the wrong house...'
"People would make jokes about it, even before we'd go into a raid, like, 'Oh ****, we're gonna get the wrong house'. Cause it would always happen. We always got the wrong house."
Sergeant Jesus Bocanegra, 25, of Weslaco, Texas 4th Infantry Division. In Tikrit on year-long tour that began in March 2003
"I had to go tell this woman that her husband was actually dead. We gave her money, we gave her, like, 10 crates of water, we gave the kids, I remember, maybe it was soccer balls and toys. We just didn't really know what else to do."
Lieutenant Jonathan Morgenstein, 35, of Arlington, Virginia, Marine Corps civil affairs unit. In Ramadi from August 2004 to March 2005
"We were approaching this one house... and we're approaching, and they had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, cause it's doing its job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it... So I see this dog - I'm a huge animal lover... this dog has, like, these eyes on it and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And like, you know, what the hell is going on? The family is sitting right there, with three little children and a mom and a dad, horrified. And I'm at a loss for words."
Specialist Philip Chrystal, 23, of Reno, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Brigade. In Kirkuk and Hawija on 11-month tour beginning November 2004
"I'll tell you the point where I really turned... [there was] this little, you know, pudgy little two-year-old child with the cute little pudgy legs and she has a bullet through her leg... An IED [improvised explosive device] went off, the gun-happy soldiers just started shooting anywhere and the baby got hit. And this baby looked at me... like asking me why. You know, 'Why do I have a bullet in my leg?'... I was just like, 'This is, this is it. This is ridiculous'."
Specialist Michael Harmon, 24, of Brooklyn, 167th Armour Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. In Al-Rashidiya on 13-month tour beginning in April 2003
"I open a bag and I'm trying to get bandages out and the guys in the guard tower are yelling at me, 'Get that **** haji out of here,'... our doctor rolls up in an ambulance and from 30 to 40 meters away looks out and says, shakes his head and says, 'You know, he looks fine, he's gonna be all right,' and walks back... kind of like, 'Get your ass over here and drive me back up to the clinic'. So I'm standing there, and the whole time both this doctor and the guards are yelling at me, you know, to get rid of this guy."
Specialist Patrick Resta, 29, from Philadelphia, 252nd Armour, 1st Infantry Division. In Jalula for nine months beginning March 2004
'Every person opened fire on this kid, using the biggest weapons we could find...'
"Here's some guy, some 14-year-old kid with an AK47, decides he's going to start shooting at this convoy. It was the most obscene thing you've ever seen. Every person got out and opened fire on this kid. Using the biggest weapons we could find, we ripped him to shreds..."
Sergeant Patrick Campbell, 29, of Camarillo, California, 256th Infantry Brigade. In Abu Gharth for 11 months beginning November 2004
"Cover your own butt was the first rule of engagement. Someone could look at me the wrong way and I could claim my safety was in threat."
Lieutenant Brady Van Engelen, 26, of Washington DC, 1st Armoured Division. Eight-month tour of Baghdad beginning Sept 2003
"I guess while I was there, the general attitude was, 'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'... [Only when we got home] in... meeting other veterans, it seems like the guilt really takes place, takes root, then."
Specialist Jeff Englehart, 26, of Grand Junction, Colorado, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry. In Baquba for a year beginning February 2004
"[The photo] was very graphic... They open the body bags of these prisoners that were shot in the head and [one soldier has] got a spoon. He's reaching in to scoop out some of his brain, looking at the camera and smiling."
Specialist Aidan Delgado, 25, of Sarasota, Florida, 320th Military Police Company. Deployed to Talil air base for one year beginning April 2003
"The car was approaching what was in my opinion a very poorly marked checkpoint... and probably didn't even see the soldiers... The guys got spooked and decided it was a possible threat, so they shot up the car. And they [the bodies] literally sat in the car for the next three days while we drove by them.
Sergeant Dustin Flatt, 33, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. One-year from February 2004
"The frustration that resulted from our inability to get back at those who were attacking us led to tactics that seemed designed simply to punish the local population..."
Sergeant Camilo Mejía, 31, from Miami, National Guardsman, 1-124 Infantry Battalion, 53rd Infantry Brigade. Six-month tour beginning April 2003
"I just remember thinking, 'I just brought terror to someone under the American flag'."
Sergeant Timothy John Westphal, 31, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. In Tikrit on year-long tour beginning February 2004
"A lot of guys really supported that whole concept that if they don't speak English and they have darker skin, they're not as human as us, so we can do what we want."
Specialist Josh Middleton, 23, of New York City, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. Four-month tour in Baghdad and Mosul beginning December 2004
"I felt like there was this enormous reduction in my compassion for people. The only thing that wound up mattering is myself and the guys that I was with, and everybody else be damned."
Sergeant Ben Flanders, 28, National Guardsman from Concord, New Hampshire, 172nd Mountain Infantry. In Balad for 11 months beginning March 2004
The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness, by Chris Hedges and Laila al-Arian, appears in the 30 July issue of The Nation
I had said before that this insurgency just didn't happen it took a lot of effort by US marines to create it. Well the Independant Newspaper lays it out clearly...
This is a must read.
'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'
Interviews with US veterans show for the first time the pattern of brutality in Iraq
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 12 July 2007
It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under trying circumstances.
That perception will take a severe knock today with the publication in The Nation magazine of a series of in-depth interviews with 50 combat veterans of the Iraq war from across the US. In the interviews, veterans have described acts of violence in which US forces have abused or killed Iraqi men, women and children with impunity.
The report steers clear of widely reported atrocities, such as the massacre in Haditha in 2005, but instead unearths a pattern of human rights abuses. "It's not individual atrocity," Specialist Garett Reppenhagen, a sniper from the 263rd Armour Battalion, said. "It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."
A number of the troops have returned home bearing mental and physical scars from fighting a war in an environment in which the insurgents are supported by the population. Many of those interviewed have come to oppose the US military presence in Iraq, joining the groundswell of public opinion across the US that views the war as futile.
This view is echoed in Washington, where increasing numbers of Democrats and Republicans are openly calling for an early withdrawal from Iraq. And the Iraq quagmire has pushed President George Bush's poll ratings to an all-time low.
Journalists and human rights groups have published numerous reports drawing attention to the killing of Iraqi civilians by US forces. The Nation's investigation presents for the first time named military witnesses who back those assertions. Some participated themselves.
Through a combination of gung-ho recklessness and criminal behaviour born of panic, a narrative emerges of an army that frequently commits acts of cold-blooded violence. A number of interviewees revealed that the military will attempt to frame innocent bystanders as insurgents, often after panicked American troops have fired into groups of unarmed Iraqis. The veterans said the troops involved would round up any survivors and accuse them of being in the resistance while planting Kalashnikov AK47 rifles beside corpses to make it appear that they had died in combat.
"It would always be an AK because they have so many of these lying around," said Joe Hatcher, 26, a scout with the 4th Calvary Regiment. He revealed the army also planted 9mm handguns and shovels to make it look like the civilians were shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb.
"Every good cop carries a throwaway," Hatcher said of weapons planted on innocent victims in incidents that occurred while he was stationed between Tikrit and Samarra, from February 2004 to March 2005. Any survivors were sent to jail for interrogation.
There were also deaths caused by the reckless behaviour of military convoys. Sgt Kelly Dougherty of the Colorado National Guard described a hit-and-run in which a military convoy ran over a 10-year-old boy and his three donkeys, killing them all. "Judging by the skid marks, they hardly even slowed down. But, I mean... your order is that you never stop."
The worst abuses seem to have been during raids on private homes when soldiers were hunting insurgents. Thousands of such raids have taken place, usually at dead of night. The veterans point out that most are futile and serve only to terrify the civilians, while generating sympathy for the resistance.
Sgt John Bruhns, 29, of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, described a typical raid. "You want to catch them off guard," he explained. "You want to catch them in their sleep ... You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall... Then you go into a room and you tear the room to shreds. You'll ask 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US propaganda?'
"Normally they'll say no, because that's normally the truth," Sgt Bruhns said. "So you'll take his sofa cushions and dump them. You'll open up his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it." And at the end, if the soldiers don't find anything, they depart with a "Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice evening".
Sgt Dougherty described her squad leader shooting an Iraqi civilian in the back in 2003. "The mentality of my squad leader was like, 'Oh, we have to kill them over here so I don't have to kill them back in Colorado'," she said. "He just seemed to view every Iraqi as a potential terrorist."
'It would always happen. We always got the wrong house...'
"People would make jokes about it, even before we'd go into a raid, like, 'Oh ****, we're gonna get the wrong house'. Cause it would always happen. We always got the wrong house."
Sergeant Jesus Bocanegra, 25, of Weslaco, Texas 4th Infantry Division. In Tikrit on year-long tour that began in March 2003
"I had to go tell this woman that her husband was actually dead. We gave her money, we gave her, like, 10 crates of water, we gave the kids, I remember, maybe it was soccer balls and toys. We just didn't really know what else to do."
Lieutenant Jonathan Morgenstein, 35, of Arlington, Virginia, Marine Corps civil affairs unit. In Ramadi from August 2004 to March 2005
"We were approaching this one house... and we're approaching, and they had a family dog. And it was barking ferociously, cause it's doing its job. And my squad leader, just out of nowhere, just shoots it... So I see this dog - I'm a huge animal lover... this dog has, like, these eyes on it and he's running around spraying blood all over the place. And like, you know, what the hell is going on? The family is sitting right there, with three little children and a mom and a dad, horrified. And I'm at a loss for words."
Specialist Philip Chrystal, 23, of Reno, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Brigade. In Kirkuk and Hawija on 11-month tour beginning November 2004
"I'll tell you the point where I really turned... [there was] this little, you know, pudgy little two-year-old child with the cute little pudgy legs and she has a bullet through her leg... An IED [improvised explosive device] went off, the gun-happy soldiers just started shooting anywhere and the baby got hit. And this baby looked at me... like asking me why. You know, 'Why do I have a bullet in my leg?'... I was just like, 'This is, this is it. This is ridiculous'."
Specialist Michael Harmon, 24, of Brooklyn, 167th Armour Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. In Al-Rashidiya on 13-month tour beginning in April 2003
"I open a bag and I'm trying to get bandages out and the guys in the guard tower are yelling at me, 'Get that **** haji out of here,'... our doctor rolls up in an ambulance and from 30 to 40 meters away looks out and says, shakes his head and says, 'You know, he looks fine, he's gonna be all right,' and walks back... kind of like, 'Get your ass over here and drive me back up to the clinic'. So I'm standing there, and the whole time both this doctor and the guards are yelling at me, you know, to get rid of this guy."
Specialist Patrick Resta, 29, from Philadelphia, 252nd Armour, 1st Infantry Division. In Jalula for nine months beginning March 2004
'Every person opened fire on this kid, using the biggest weapons we could find...'
"Here's some guy, some 14-year-old kid with an AK47, decides he's going to start shooting at this convoy. It was the most obscene thing you've ever seen. Every person got out and opened fire on this kid. Using the biggest weapons we could find, we ripped him to shreds..."
Sergeant Patrick Campbell, 29, of Camarillo, California, 256th Infantry Brigade. In Abu Gharth for 11 months beginning November 2004
"Cover your own butt was the first rule of engagement. Someone could look at me the wrong way and I could claim my safety was in threat."
Lieutenant Brady Van Engelen, 26, of Washington DC, 1st Armoured Division. Eight-month tour of Baghdad beginning Sept 2003
"I guess while I was there, the general attitude was, 'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'... [Only when we got home] in... meeting other veterans, it seems like the guilt really takes place, takes root, then."
Specialist Jeff Englehart, 26, of Grand Junction, Colorado, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry. In Baquba for a year beginning February 2004
"[The photo] was very graphic... They open the body bags of these prisoners that were shot in the head and [one soldier has] got a spoon. He's reaching in to scoop out some of his brain, looking at the camera and smiling."
Specialist Aidan Delgado, 25, of Sarasota, Florida, 320th Military Police Company. Deployed to Talil air base for one year beginning April 2003
"The car was approaching what was in my opinion a very poorly marked checkpoint... and probably didn't even see the soldiers... The guys got spooked and decided it was a possible threat, so they shot up the car. And they [the bodies] literally sat in the car for the next three days while we drove by them.
Sergeant Dustin Flatt, 33, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. One-year from February 2004
"The frustration that resulted from our inability to get back at those who were attacking us led to tactics that seemed designed simply to punish the local population..."
Sergeant Camilo Mejía, 31, from Miami, National Guardsman, 1-124 Infantry Battalion, 53rd Infantry Brigade. Six-month tour beginning April 2003
"I just remember thinking, 'I just brought terror to someone under the American flag'."
Sergeant Timothy John Westphal, 31, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. In Tikrit on year-long tour beginning February 2004
"A lot of guys really supported that whole concept that if they don't speak English and they have darker skin, they're not as human as us, so we can do what we want."
Specialist Josh Middleton, 23, of New York City, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. Four-month tour in Baghdad and Mosul beginning December 2004
"I felt like there was this enormous reduction in my compassion for people. The only thing that wound up mattering is myself and the guys that I was with, and everybody else be damned."
Sergeant Ben Flanders, 28, National Guardsman from Concord, New Hampshire, 172nd Mountain Infantry. In Balad for 11 months beginning March 2004
The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness, by Chris Hedges and Laila al-Arian, appears in the 30 July issue of The Nation
