Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
• latest news
• best of news
• syndication
• commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/ÃŽle-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

War in Iraq takes horrifying toll

by Susan Webb Friday, Apr. 04, 2003 at 10:13 PM
pww@pww.org 212-924-2523 235 W 23st., NYC 10011

As the war in Iraq entered its third week, reports of casualties show the mounting physical and psychological toll on the Iraqi people and on U.S. soldiers as well.



As the war in Iraq entered its third week, reports of casualties show the mounting physical and psychological toll on the Iraqi people and on U.S. soldiers as well.

Some 725 civilian Iraqi deaths were reported as the United States dropped 8,000 bombs on Iraqi cities in 13 days of war. By April 2, the toll of U.S. casualties was 46 killed, 7 captured and 16 missing. Figures on Iraqi military casualties are not available.

The Pentagon claims that civilian casualties are “unavoidable.” Stephen Zunes, a Middle East expert at the University of San Francisco, called this claim “patently false,” saying, “Civilian casualties are unavoidable only if the war is unavoidable. This war was not unavoidable.”

U.S. missiles hit a Red Crescent maternity hospital and other civilian buildings in Baghdad, killing several people and wounding at least 25 residents and three Red Crescent staff, including a doctor. A patient was also hit, requiring his leg to be amputated. Burned-out and twisted cars lay in the road, their occupants burned to death inside.

Fifteen members of a family were killed when their pickup truck was blown up by a rocket from a U.S. helicopter near Hilla, a farming town south of Baghdad. The sole survivor said he lost his wife, six children, his father, his mother, three brothers and their wives. Sitting among the 15 coffins at the local hospital, he said the family was fleeing fighting further south when they were attacked.

Wounded children lay under blankets on the hospital floor due to a shortage of beds. Dozens of homes were destroyed in the bombing, and parts of cluster bombs were scattered over a large area.

Earlier, U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqis, mostly women and children, when the soldiers fired on a civilian vehicle at a military checkpoint near the southern city of Najaf. Fifteen Iraqis were packed inside the van with their possessions. Ten, including five small children, were killed on the spot when high-explosive rounds slammed into them. One died later from severe injuries. “You just f… killed a family because you didn’t fire a warning shot soon enough!” a U.S. captain reportedly yelled at his troops.

“It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen, and I hope I never see it again,” a 26-year-old Army medic told a reporter. He said one of the wounded women sat in the vehicle holding the mangled bodies of two of her children. “She didn’t want to get out of the car,” he said.

Reporters described the soldiers as having been on edge since four American troops were blown up by a suicide bomber two days earlier at a similar checkpoint just 20 miles away.

U.S. peace activists visiting a town in Iraq’s western desert March 30 found its hospital destroyed by bombs.

“Why? Why?” a doctor demanded of them. “Why did you Americans bomb our children’s hospital?”

Thus far 65 to 100 civilian casualties have been reported in the southern city of Basra, where the U.S. air assault has included use of cluster bombs. A resident asked a reporter, “Why are they killing our children? We are innocent. The children are scared.”

Damage to the electric power grid shut Basra’s water-treatment plant immediately after the ground war started. Most of Basra’s 1.5 million people had no access to safe water for several days. After a week, only half the city had service restored. United Nations officials fear repeats of this crisis in Baghdad and other cities under attack. They warn of potential outbreaks of diarrhea, cholera and other potentially fatal diseases that will hit children and the elderly particularly hard.

Despite punishing U.S. and British artillery and aerial bombing, British troops have failed to capture Basra. Dismissing earlier British claims that citizens were rebelling against Saddam Hussein’s government, a resident told the Washington Post, “There’s been absolutely no uprising.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) assailed the U.S. use of cluster bombs and grenades. Cluster weapons have a very high failure rate that creates immediate and long-term dangers for civilians and soldiers, HRW said. When such munitions fail to explode on impact, they become like volatile, indiscriminate anti-personnel landmines, the group said.

HRW said it is evident from television images and stories from reporters “embedded” with U.S. units that artillery projectiles and rockets containing large numbers of cluster munitions are being used. These weapons have failure rates close to one in five.

“The United States should not be using these weapons,” said Steve Goose, executive director of HRW’s arms division. “Iraqi civilians will be paying the price with their lives and limbs for many years.”

The author can be reached at suewebb@pww.org

Originally published by the People’s Weekly World
www.pww.org




Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy