Shedding No Tears for Iraqi Civilians

by Firas Al-Atraqchi

YellowTimes.org columnist

April 3, 2003

On March 31st, ten women and children were killed near Najaf when a van they were in was riddled with fire from U.S. Marines who had tried to get it to stop at a military checkpoint. After Saturday's suicide bombing that caused the death of four U.S. Marines at another checkpoint, coalition forces are now instructed to shoot at any vehicle or person that does not stop.

U.S. Marines said they had shouted at the driver to stop but to no avail. They then fired warning shots, but the van ploughed on. The matter is still under investigation.

(According to the BBC, and quoting the Washington Post, there are conflicting reports that the warning shots were fired too late to warn off the van. "You just [expletive] killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough!" the paper quotes Captain Ronny Johnson as telling his platoon leader.)

U.S. officials are worried this incident will weigh heavily on their campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and convince them that this is a war of liberation.

(Professor Des Ball, of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of Canberra's Australian National University (ANU), believes that the coalition may already be losing the publicity war: "Saddam and his regime will go but the coalition's other war aims, I believe, are in tatters,")

Last week, embedded London Times reporter Mark Franchetti gave the following chilling account of a battle that ensued for a strategic bridge over the Euphrates river:

"Down the road, a little girl, no older than five and dressed in a pretty orange and gold dress, lay dead in a ditch next to the body of a man who may have been her father. Half his head was missing."

Franchetti reports that the U.S. Marines have become disillusioned after nearly two weeks of fierce fighting with Iraqi forces. The fight for the bridge at Nasiriyah will likely be forgotten as just another chapter in the war. However, for Franchetti it brought him face to face with the horrid facade of a war plan gone wrong:

"But it was also the turning point when the jovial band of brothers from America lost all their assumptions about the war and became jittery aggressors who talked of wanting to 'nuke' the place."

While one soldier confided to Franchetti that he was horrified at the civilian toll, other U.S. Marines have taken a different approach to liberating Iraq:

"The Iraqis are sick people and we are the chemotherapy," said Corporal Ryan Dupre. "I am starting to hate this country. Wait till I get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll just kill him."

Innocent Iraqis are being killed by the dozens every day in the current phase of the war.

Agence France Presse reported that "20 people including 11 children, were killed Saturday when a nighttime air raid hit a farm in the Al-Janabiin suburb on the edge of Baghdad."

On April 2nd, Al Jazeera news network reported that Bartallah, a predominantly Iraqi Christian town north of Mosul, suffered heavy civilian casualties after a night of intense coalition bombing. The local chief surgeon at the hospital reported that there were 120 dead and wounded civilians brought into the hospital within the past week.

Al Jazeera showed footage of an Iraqi Christian with severe injuries to his face and head. In the bed next to him lay his wife, who miscarried shortly after being brought into the hospital. Local doctors said her face required 200 stitches and will likely be disfigured. The couple did not know at press time that their three-year old daughter had died in the bombing.

By the time there is a cessation of hostilities, thousands of dead Iraqi civilians will have been liberated. Supporters of the war are echoing Madeleine Albright and stating that it is better for Iraqis to be killed and liberated than to be butchered by Saddam. A popular myth making the rounds on the internet is that Saddam butchers many more Iraqis than anyone else, therefore this war is good for the Iraqis.

The dead in Bartallah might disagree. If they could speak, that is.

comments on this article?

send them to backtalk!

[visit backtalk!]

Firas Al-Atraqchi, B.Sc (Physics), M.A. (Journalism and

Communications), is a Canadian journalist with eleven years of

experience covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry.

 

Find this article at:

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/atraqchi3.html

 

...we are there to liberate......the Oil Wells.

Diogenes, I don't see you mentioning that the Iraqi forces have been fighting while children and women are in front of them. Or do you point out the torture or killing of American POWs. I also find it strange that you say, "A popular myth making the rounds on the internet is that Saddam butchers many more Iraqis than anyone else, therefore this war is good for the Iraqis." I don't see any facts supporting that this statement is a "myth". Heres somethings from the US Department of State (http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/iraq99h.htm ), "The "Anfal" campaign in the late 1980's against the Iraqi Kurds, including the use of poison gas on cities. In one of the worst single mass killings in recent history, Iraq dropped chemical weapons on Halabja in 1988, in which as many as 5,000 people — mostly civilians — were killed." So, Saddam killed over 5,000 civilians in 1988 alone. I wonder how many he has killed over all these years? In one year he killed more people than we'll ever kill in this war. Need I need mention the American POWs again. Oh, and when the soldier said, " I am starting to hate this country. Wait till I get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll just kill him," I wonder if he said that after he saw the pictures of American soldiers with execution style bullet wounds in their foreheads.

We are on their land to liberate them and they are attacking us?

They have the right to choose their own Government and although they Hate Saddam they see us as invaders, not liberators.

In the direness of our troops situation our own government is pulling there benifits and surving that money up to individuals that have never been to an active Battlefield.

Can't you Trolls be original? Or are you just so brain dead that you have to keep repeating the same lies over and over again? Does it trouble you at all to confront the reality that this is not a "bloodless" little "Cake Walk"?

Real people are dying. While I have great respect and care about my brothers still in uniform that does not require me to believe unquestioningly the spin of the day.

The actions and lives of our Soldiers are seperate and distinct from the actions of the Chicken Hawk bastards who have put them in harms way for the benefit of a small elite. You expect people to die when you committ an act of agressive War against another Nation. Do you expect the Iraqis to grab them in a big Bear Hug?

Because one objects to needless loss of innocent life does not imply or prove that one wishes to see American Soldiers Die. To attempt to make that connection is nothing more than disinformation and a lie. The two are different quantities and are distinct. In one case you have people not party to the conflict and in the other active participants. I do not wish anyone to lose their lives. I do however hold my country to a high standard and that means that you don't invade another country and blithely kill and maim because some coward in Washington has a hard-on.

Just like the standard disinformation lie repeated ad nauseum by cowardly armchair Hussars like yourself.

The incident at Halabja is by no means clear. Our own Defense Intelligence Agency wrote a report, as recounted by former C.I.A. Middle East Analyst Stephen Pelletiere, that stated that the most likely cause of the civilian Gas Death Casualties at Halabja was by their being caught in a crossfire of Gas Barrages between Iranian and Iraqi Forces during the Iran/Iraq War. UNESCO observers who examined the bodies of some said they showed signs of Cyanosis - the result of a Blood Agent (Nerve Gas) used by the Iranians. The Iraqis used Mustard Gas a Blistering Agent - totally different symptoms.

As for the brutality of Saddam's regime that is a known quantity and I do not countenance nor support it. I did not countenance and support when Rumsfeld was shaking hands with Saddam and U.S. Type Culture Corporation was shipping him Biologic Cultures for his Bioweapons program. The shipments of which were approved and supported by Duhbya's Poppy.

The BRUTAL Realpolitik Foreign Policy pursued by the U.S. Government is a disgrace upon the Republic. Our Government has supported with money and munitions every tinhorn despot who would suck up to U.S. Government and Corporate interests. There is nothing humanitarian in the actions of the Bush Junta.

The disregard for human life and suffering evidenced by the Bush Junta is decidedly UNAMERICAN. We protect little girls - we don't kill them

The blind unthinking support of people like yourself allows evil to fluorish. You are responsible for every child that dies by your support of this inhuman campaign of conquest.

Oddly enough, you did not respond to my assertion that Iraqi soldiers hold women and children in front of them. By the way, they also use schools and mosques as headquarters for the military. You cannot deny that it is possible that some or most of these civilian deaths have been the direct responsability of the Iraqi regime because of there tactics. To say so otherwise would be ignorant and blatant lying. The Iraqi government says that 420 civilians have been killed. I have a hunch that that number includes the large number of casualties caused by Iraqi missiles. I understand that real people are dying but you must also understand that Saddam is also killing real people. You people dismiss Saddam's killing of innocents and focus only on tragic accidents which I might add, has been kept to the minimum by the United States military. You say that Bush disregards human life, but then doesn't Saddam also disregard human life? You also insinuate that we kill little girls and do not protect them. Isn't that exactly what we are doing though- protecting people? In a country where most of them would have died at the hands of Saddam, is it not reasonable that one girl killed because she was placed in harms way by the Iraqi army be the price of saving thousands of little girls? Plus, what do the mistakes of earlier Presidents have to do with the one today? Let me guess, you are trying to say that I supported the sell of biological weapons. You say that I allow evil to fluorish, but then wouldn't that mean you support Saddam if I support the removal of the bastard. If Saddam is evil then that means you allow evil to fluorish. I hate bringing in reverse agruments but I have nothing else to do when you resort to saying that I support evil and the killing of children. I hate the hypocrisy of ignorant fools like yourself. You are the type that would have allowed the genocide in Kosovo to continue. Wait, hasn't genocide happened in Iraq too? Were you also criticizing Clinton during the Kosovo campaign? The ignorance of people like you are the same type of people who support butchers like Chemical Ali.

I just want you all to know that I have my views because I would rather see the US government spend more on my welfare check than to help Iraqis. I currently dont have a job and the only thing that I can do is work to keep my welfare check. So you see if we spend all of this money in Iraq, then how will the US government be able to give me a raise? I've worked hard for my government cheese damn it, I sit around all day and make sure others go to work. Please, we need to turn America into Welfare State so we can all sit around like commy pieces of shit like I do now. Goodbye all for I know soon I will no longer be able to afford an internet connection since my welfare check will be getting reduced.

Here is your real leader.

Please, you need to think about what you are saying! It is you who would have protested US involvement in WWII! You would have supported Nazi Germany just like you support Saddam Now! We are liberating a country not from a foreign power, but from the leadership and returnign the wealth back to the Iraqi people. You are a moron and really shouldn't be allowed to have a fucking opinion so you don't contaminate the rest of the earth with your senseless bullshit!

If you do, all the roaches will scurry around trying to

hide.

We helped finance Hitler (Bush family) we put Saddam in

Iraq (CIA) so what's the problem with the comparison?

Americans are dying to know. So are the people of Iraq.

Get your head out, 'Thats a Rediculous Comparison'.

"shouldn't be allowed to have a fucking opinion"

good to see some of that spread around the world.

"YOU ARE ALL NOW FREE. YOU ARE FREE TO AGREE WITH US. YOU ARE FREE TO COMPLY. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBEY. IF YOU DO NOT EXCERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO OBEY WE WILL EXCERCISE OUR RIGHT TO BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF. WELCOME TO FREEDOM, GOOD LUCK!"

You suck dude. I'd list off the many reasons why but i have better shit to do. You and your kind are like a god damn plague. Just die already or kill each other or whatever but do it elsewhere please.

Or.... come bring me some freedom. I'm waiting. Got a big dose of freedom waiting here for ya. Plenty for everyone.

I see what your problems are now, you people actually believe that your living under a government like Nazi Germany. I am not going to argue with you anymore, but I sure as hell can't agree with you. You have made no points whatsoever to further your cause. This picture is a perfect example of how misguided and uninformed you people are. you don't trust the media so you ignore them, I wouldn't listen to media that I believed was lying to me either. So since you don't watch Corporate Media, you pay attention to outside media. This "indy" media thing, its all a pile of bullshit. They report things that radical antiAmerican Retards like you want to hear. This website, believe it or not, is biased. It appeals to all those against Bush/Sharon/Repub/Conserv/USConstitution/ETC! I've been trying to understand this antiwar movement by visiting this site, but have found all to be just paranoid schizophrenics who suffer delusions about the media and the government. My advice to all of you is to call up a good Psychologist and set up an appointment because there is seriously somehting wrong with all of you. Or the least you could do is get the hell out of the country. Your tax dollars are funding this war retards, if you don't like it that much then you can leave.

Well, well, well, my little brainwashed conservative.

Let's address your fabled propaganda......

~1~ I don't see you mentioning that the Iraqi forces have been fighting while children and women are in front of them.

===Have you seen this? Were you there? Or does your knowledge of the war come from companies like MSNBC/ NBC- a subsidiary of GE- the worlds largest weapons maker?

===WHat about CNN?--a subsidiary of Time Warner which also owns Hughes Aircraft and Electronics (21 billion dollar defense contractor w/ raython) and they also own General Motors--mker of miltary vehicals. and Standard Oil.

~2~Or do you point out the torture or killing of American POWs.

===Again, no evidence..exept Guantanamo Bay, or the pictures of TV of iraqi prisoners and dead iraqis.

~3~ therefore this war is good for the Iraqis."

===nice doublespeak, are you retarded or somthing? War is Good ?

~4~ Heres somethings from the US Department of State (http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/iraq99h.htm ).

Department of State eh? Arent these the same folks that during the gulf war I (which i am a veteran of) said------

=iraqis amassed on the border via satellite photos?

=kuwaiti babies dropped on the floor from thier incubators?

=Saddam a threat to world peace

=Had gassed Kurds before GW1 (but we didnt get him then)

=said there was no "gulf war syndrome"

+++++ALL DETERMINED LATER TO BE LIES+++++

~5~ YES Soldiers get very mad when thier friends die at the hands of the "enemy" and yes, they crave "payback" on a most final level.

But they shouldnt have to watch thier friends die for oil companies.

They shouldnt have to see thier friends (and true patriots) die for natural resources under the guise of "iraqi liberation"

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

Bring them home.

breaking news

Where were you and your agitprop when the dead bodies of Army Rangers were being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu?

from gulf war syndrome.

Endless Bullshit: "So, Saddam killed over 5,000 civilians in 1988 alone. I wonder how many he has killed over all these years? In one year he killed more people than we'll ever kill in this war."



...America - "We Murdered Fewer Than Saddam"....



....you are obviously misunderestimating da Shrubs resolve...

Whenever we liberals have nothing intelligent to say or add to the conversation, which is 100% of the time, we often laugh and otherwise derive pleasure from US soldiers dieing while we chant and sing about how much we hate America and how much we hate freedom.

You've used that line before, and it's still not effective.

Where the fuck did you learn to read and write? Let us not even discuss spelling!!!! Sheesh. Isn't it bad enough that you THINK like Dubya? Do you have to write like the idiot, too?

Sheesh!!!!!!

To: Please Pass the Bullshit (Stop the Bullshit):

In response to your last tirade which, while artfully rendered, is rife with logical fallacy:

No I don’t accept that Saddam’s forces are necessarily responsible for the deaths of civilians occasioned by this War of Aggression. While I do not approve of cowardly acts like using women and children as shields to hide behind I do not accept the implied premise you camouflage in your argument that the attack by the U.S. is morally justified; it is not and I reject your premise. When the deaths occur by errant weapons used by Iraqi forces to repel the U.S. invasion then the occasion for the use of those weapons is the cause of the fatalities. The key question then becomes would it be occurring if the U.S. had not launched it’s hostile takeover? The answer is no it would not. Therefore primary responsibility lies with the actions of the American Government who launched this attack. Q.E.D.

“You say that Bush disregards human life, but then doesn't Saddam also disregard human life? You also insinuate that we kill little girls and do not protect them. Isn't that exactly what we are doing though- protecting people? In a country where most of them would have died at the hands of Saddam, is it not reasonable that one girl killed because she was placed in harms way by the Iraqi army be the price of saving thousands of little girls?”

The fallacy you propound here is as above plus that because Saddam is a vile bastard, a given, that therefore the children killed in the U.S. assaults would have been killed anyway. This is non-sequitur - your premise does not support your conclusion. It is an unknown speculation as to whether any of those killed as a result of the current combat would have been killed by Saddam - it is a reach of purest fantasy to assert such. Since he was not known to launch preemptive strikes against his own populace it is reasonable to infer that they would not have been killed.

A further fallacy implicit in your argument is that If Bush disregards human life and Saddam disregards human life therefore Bush is therefore justified in taking actions which unnecessarily endanger lives. This does not follow. If it is wrong for Saddam to do so then applying the same standard to Bush yields it is wrong for Bush to do so.

I am not arguing that Saddam was, or is, a good Ruler. The point is that were the circumstances such that a U.S. invasion was A. The only way to remedy the situation. and is therefore B. Justified. But that is not the point you made or attempted to make. And it is a point far from proven. My position is quite simply that based upon the Bush Junta’s actions of constantly shifting justifications that the real reason for this attack has not been stated. They are being dishonest in saying that this is an attack to “liberate” the Iraqi People. That was surfaced as a justification ONLY when all of the other attempts to justify an invasion had been discredited. The Bush Junta has been caught in a case of Serial Lying. This war is not about liberating the Iraqi people. My personal belief is that it is a combination of Monetary Jitters - that other Arab Countries would adopt the Euro as their Trading Currency and thus cause a massive collapse of the dollar in International Markets, that it has been pushed by Israeli Loyalists to further Israel’s dominance in Middle Eastern Affairs, and that U.S. Oil Companies, to whom the Bushes are inextricably tied, wish to have direct control over the Iraqi Oil Fields. That is not merely to have the commodity to sell but to be able to control the rate of it hitting the market and thus being able to maximize profits by maintaining an artificially high market price.

Every so-called war of liberation etc., engaged in by the U.S. government in recent years has been a resource war. Kosovo was over the Nickel Mines of the Trepka Mining Complex in Kosovo (worth an estimated 1.5 to 3.5 TRILLION DOLLARS), Afghanistan over the Pipeline to Caspian Sea Reserves, and Iraq is over Oil (at least in part).

I did not say that you supported the sale of Biologicals my statement was actually quite broader: To the degree that you and people like you support EVIL done in the name of the American Republic, and remain willfully ignorant of what your government is doing, you are responsible by not having fully worn your hat as a Citizen and condone the evil by your failure to know of it and oppose it. To the degree that you knowingly provide justification you actively support evil.

“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth...for my part, I am willing to know the whole truth,; to know the worst; and to provide for it.” - Patrick Henry March 23, 1775

“Ignorance, when voluntary, is criminal, and a man me be properly charged with that evil which he neglected or refused to learn how to prevent.” - Samuel Johnson

You may live in your fool’s paradise that the U.S. Government operates in the best interests of the American People. It is your privilege. I prefer to live in the real world where small and venal men do take the reigns of power to further their own petty interests and desires.

Eric

Does your brain ever react and wish to address an issue by making clear, consice points that leads to a conclusion?

What in the fuck does army rangers have to do with Iraq?

Your a "vetran" and supposedly intellegent, so why all the fluff?

See how above, I listed points to lead to an end conclusion.

If you read it, then your brain might understand the context of the argument I was trying to make.

Are you sure the images your getting from the "free press" arent tainted by those corporate warmongers (whom I know you admire) that might want to lead a "open minded" (yeah right) public to support a war for all the wrong reasons?

You have the internet, use it.

Make up your own mind

ps

TO the "boring" AND total failure above, I DID NOT WRITE THE POST WITH THE LIVE NEWS BREAK FROM INDYMEDIA"

try reading all the posts and then if you see one that is totally contradictory,..use your brain and figure(maybe someone else wrote this)

pss

to my "alter ego" fake ass lying stupid fucking waste of time oxygen thief...

Thanks for hating me so much that you would take time out of your boring ass life to hate on me on this "open forum"

loser.

Man, Eric, shut you mouth. You are looking worse and worse with every mesage you post. What an asshole you are. I didn't think there was anyone dumber than GW Bush. You proved me wrong. Wow. No wonder you must have voted for him. Birds of a feather, man.

They love me!

Systemdumbass, can it with the Laurel and Hardy routine. It's not working. You can't control the flow of the discussion when I'm involved. I say whatever I want, whenever I want, Where ever I want, However I want, to whoever I want. If you don't like it, toughshit. Don't respond.

But just by virtue of your responses (and the hundreds of other responses from all of these liberals chirping my name) I can guage that I'm doing my job rather well. I'm succeeding in pushing your buttons. Any idiot can see that is my intention, and I'm doing a great job. And the funny thing is that because your minds are so incredibly simplistic, I can even tell you that and STILL continue to do it.

Because I OWN you. And all of your silly little insignificant liberal buddies.

Muuuhhhhahahahahahahahhahaha!

"Every so-called war of liberation etc., engaged in by the U.S. government in recent years has been a resource war. Kosovo was over the Nickel Mines of the Trepka Mining Complex in Kosovo (worth an estimated 1.5 to 3.5 TRILLION DOLLARS), Afghanistan over the Pipeline to Caspian Sea Reserves, and Iraq is over Oil (at least in part). "

It gets so tiring reading your rantings in order to find the inevitable bits off half=baked fantasies and outright lies that you knowingly and willingly throw out. You know damn well that your statement above is ludicrous. You have absolutely no evidence of any of this (although I'm sure you'll post a link to some site).

And by the way, you and you're murder would do well to realize that just because someone out there typed some text into an HTML page and FTP'd it, it doesn't mean it's gospel. You spend alot of time disparaging those who would get any info from "corporate media" while NEVER questioning some of the more inane sites that you regularly cite (rench.com, whatreallyhappened.com). You'd do well to open your mind and really think about the theories that you stumble upon and take to heart without any critical analysis.

Your kneejerk reaction to see a nefarious motive behind every global development is, frankly, childish.

And spare me the predictable charges of my being either a psyops agent or a shill. It's a waste of time and no one believes it, least of all you.

Fascist Fresca,

Maybe if you picked up a book once in a while and did some multi-logic thinking, you would understand the arguments that are presented to you.

Diogenes is referring to a book called "Resource Wars: The landscape of global conflict".

It was written by Michael T Klare. It is widely available on-line.

Michael T Klare is the director of the Five College Program (in peace/world security studies) at Hampshire College in Amherst Mass.

Check it out....

As for you Dummy "Eric"

The only reason why I come to this site is to bag on illegal morons such as yourself.

It provides me with a good laugh about how ignorant some citizen are about current events.

ps.

Why do you have so much porn on your computer?

As for ownership................

I wouldnt want to be a __________ and give your personal info online.....]

(so who owns who now?)

%@!~`Ha+C#K*eD")**^

you soooo stupid (chinese accent)

Oh, the FIVE college program in peace studies! Yeah, he's the guy we should all be listening to. You lefties are priceless. The Five College program, nigga please.

You whats ironic, the pro-war musicians dont have any rhythm. I wonder why?

AMERICANS ARE MOTHER FUCKER,BUSTARDS

Not BUSTARDS. Anythings but BUSTARDS!