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The
War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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The Massacre of Abu Sifa (Isahaqi) |
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Background - Isahaqi, March
15th, 2006 “The villagers of Abu Sifa near the Iraqi town of Balad had become
used to the sound of explosions at night as American forces searched the area
for suspected insurgents. But one night two weeks ago Issa Harat Khalaf heard
a different sound that chilled him to the bone. “Khalaf, a 33-year-old security officer guarding oil pipelines, saw a
US helicopter land near his home. American soldiers stormed out of the
Chinook and advanced on a house owned by Khalaf’s brother Fayez, firing as
they went. “Khalaf ran from his own house and hid in a nearby grove of trees. He
saw the soldiers enter his brother’s home and then heard the sound of women
and children screaming. “‘Then there was a lot of machinegun fire,’ he said last week. After
that there was the most frightening sound of all - silence, followed by
explosions as the soldiers left the house. “Once the troops were gone, Khalaf and his fellow villagers began a
frantic search through the ruins of his brother’s home. Abu Sifa was about to
join a lengthening list of Iraqi communities claiming to have suffered from
American atrocities. “According to Iraqi police, 11 bodies were pulled from the wreckage of
the house, among them four women and five children aged between six months
and five years. An official police report obtained by a US reporter for
Knight Ridder newspapers said: ‘The American forces gathered the family
members in one room and executed 11 people.’ […]” Excerpt of a
Sunday Times article
from March 26th, 2006 |
Victims of the Abu Sifa massacre |
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Video: BBC
Documentary on Abu Sifa/Isahaqi Massacre - Short television documentary from June 2nd, 2006 |
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June 3rd, 2006 - Troops Cleared of Iraq
Wrongdoing 1 news article by
the BBC News June 2nd, 2006 - New ‘Iraq Massacre’ Tape
Emerges 1 news article by
BBC News March 26th, 2006 - Iraqis Killed by US Troops ‘on
Rampage’ 1 news article by
the Sunday Times March 20th, 2006 - Iraqi Police Report Details
Civilians’ Deaths at Hands of U.S. Troops 1 news article by
Knight Ridder March 16th, 2006 - US Raid on Home Killed 11
Family Members 1 news article by Reuters |
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June 3rd, 2006 - Probe Clears Coalition
Forces of Wrongdoing in March 15 Raid News article by
the American Forces Press Service “[…] An investigation has concluded that coalition forces ‘operated in
accordance with the rules of engagement governing our combat forces in Iraq’
during a March 15 raid in which Iraqi civilians died, a coalition spokesman
said early today in Baghdad. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV,
Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said that in response to claims that as
many as 13 civilians were killed in the raid near Ishaqi, south of Samarra,
officials launched an investigation the next day. ‘The investigation revealed
the ground force commander, while capturing and killing terrorists, operated
in accordance with the rules of engagement governing our combat forces in
Iraq,’ Caldwell said. “When ground forces arrived at a house that intelligence reports said
was being used as an insurgent safe house, they came under fire from the
building, the general said. ‘As the enemy fire persisted, the ground force
commander appropriately reacted by incrementally escalating the use of force
from small arms fire to rotary wing aviation, and then to close air support,
ultimately eliminating the threat,’ he said. ‘Allegations that the troops
executed a family living in this safe house, and then hid the alleged crimes
by directing an air strike, are absolutely false,’ the coalition spokesman
added. “In the subsequent search, the general said, coalition forces
documented the discovery Abu Ahmed's body and those of three noncombatants.
‘The investigating officer concluded that possibly up to nine collateral
deaths resulted from this engagement, but could not determine the precise
number due to collapsed walls and heavy debris,’ Caldwell said, repeating
that the investigating officer ascertained the ground force commander
properly followed the rules of engagement as he ‘necessarily escalated the
use of force until the threat was eliminated.’ […]” |
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War Scenes from Isahaqi |
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House in Isahaqi after U.S. air raid |
Local citizens carry the dead |
Religious ceremony for the dead |
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Background 1) Dead children
of Isahaqi - March 15th, 2006 - Sabah Al-Bazee/Reuters; 2) Man with dead
child - March 15th, 2006 - Sabah Al-Bazee/Reuters; War Scenes from Isahaqi 1) Destroyed house
- March 15th, 2006 - Sabah Al-Bazee/Reuters; 2) Men carrying
dead children - March 15th, 2006 - Sabah Al-Bazee/Reuters; 3) Ceremony for the dead - March 15th,
2006 - Sabah Al-Bazee/Reuters; |
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Back to the Second
Gulf War/Iraq Invasion II Back to U.S.
Department of Defense |
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