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The
War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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The Second Gulf War/Iraq Invasion II - The Killing
of Civilians & Prisoners |
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Newest media report: Army,
Navy Records Expose Price of Training Gap on Iraq Civilians (22/8/2008/The
Public Record) Newest government report: Iraqi Civilian Casualties
Estimates (13/3/2008/CRS Report for Congress) |
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Background - The Killing of Civilians in Iraq “The allegations sound like reports of war crimes
committed by someone else's soldiers: men in black ski masks enter a house,
where three of them take turns raping a 14-year-old girl. They then kill her,
her parents, and her 5-year-old sister. It is the kind of atrocity Americans
associate with the Nazis, Serbian paramilitary commandos in Kosovo, perhaps
Russian troops in Chechnya - not U.S. soldiers. ‘One doesn’t expect the
American troops to behave the same way, because there are notions that higher
morals prevail in the U.S. armed forces,’ said Robert Rotberg, an expert on
conflict and conflict resolution at Harvard University. “But as a military tribunal in Baghdad is deciding
whether five American soldiers must stand trial in connection with the rape and
murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her parents and sister in March,
military experts and historians warn that it will become increasingly
difficult for American troops fighting against an elusive enemy in Iraq to
maintain military discipline under the intense pressures of war. Wartime
atrocities, they say, occur in most wars and are committed by most, if not
all, occupying troops - even by such a high-tech, well-trained military as
the United States’. […] “Recent allegations of atrocities by American troops
- which include the investigations into whether U.S. servicemen shot in cold
blood 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November, shot an unarmed
Iraqi man in February, executed a civilian in April and three prisoners in
May - ‘aren’t surprising at all,’ said Andrew Wiest, professor of military
history at the University of Southern Mississippi. ‘The fact that we maybe
weren’t expecting them is surprising.’ […]” [Excerpt
of a San Francisco Chronicle article
from August 13th, 2006] |
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Selected
Killings & Massacres of Iraqi Civilians &
Prisoners September 19th, 2008 - The Adwar (II) Killings June 25th, 2008 - The Baghdad Airport Road Killings May 21st, 2008 - The Baiji Killings May 16th, 2008 - The Killing of Ali Monsour Mohammed March 26th - 29th, 2008 - The Baghdad/Basra Airstrikes February 2nd/4th, 2008 - The Iskandariya/Adwar Killings October 11th, 2007 - The Thar Thar Killings (II) September 16th, 2007 - The Blackwater Killings September 6th, 2007 - The Al-Washash Killings June 24th, 2007 - The Muqdadiya Killings June 23rd, 2007 - The Al-Saheed/Kirkuk Killings June 17th, 2007 - The Thar Thar
Killings (I) April/June 2007 - The
Iskandariya Killings April/May 2007 - The
Baghdad Prisoner Killings April 7th, 2007 - The Lynching of Du'a Khalil Aswad February 2007 - The Ramadi
& Baghdad Killings December 8th, 2006 - The Jalameda Massacre November 28th/29th,
2006 - The Hamaniya/Hashimiya Killings May 9th, 2006 - The
Thar Thar Canal Killings April 26th, 2006 - The
Slaying of Hashim Al-Zobaie March 15th, 2006 - The
Abu Sifa Massacre March 12th, 2006 - The
Mahmudiya Massacre February 15th, 2006 - The Killing of Gani Zaben November 19th, 2005 - The Haditha Massacre June 25th, 2005 - The Killing of Mohammed Al-Sumaidaie January 31st, 2005 - The Camp Bucca Killings November 9th, 2004 - The Falluja Killings October 25th, 2004 - The Killing of Thaher Khalifa Ahmed September 22nd, 2004 - The Killing of Badea’a Hasan Ali August 2004 - The Sadr
City Murders August 18th, 2004 - The Murder of Qassim Hassan in Al-Thawra February 28th, 2004 - The Killing of Muhammad Hussain Kadir January 3rd, 2004 - The Killing of Naser Ismail January 3rd, 2004 - The Drowning of Zaidoun Hassoun November 26th, 2003 - The Torture Killing of Abed Hamed Mowhoush Special Features The
Falluja Killing Chronicles The U.S.
Foreign Claims Act in Iraq Database of Individual Killings of Iraqi
Civilians & Prisoners Five Killings of Iraqi Civilians by U.S. Troops
Graphic by New
York Times/Date: June 17th, 2006 Media
Reports August 22nd, 2008 - Army, Navy Records Expose
Price of Training Gap on Iraq Civilians 1 news article by
the Public Record June 24th, 2008 - The Real State of Iraq 1 news article by
RINF.com April 1st, 2008 - Iraqi Deaths Spike in March 1 news
article by CNN January 9th, 2008 - Violence-Related Mortality in
Iraq from 2002 to 2006 1
special article by the New England Journal of Medicine December 13th, 2007 - Freedom Lost 1 news article by
the Guardian November 26th, 2007 - Iraq Has Only Militants, No
Civilians 1 column by
Atlantic Free Press November 5th, 2007 - Iraqis Fleeing Homes in
Droves: Red Crescent 1 news article by
Agence France Presse October 26th, 2007 - UN Expert to Probe Killings by
US Troops 1 news article by
the Associated Press October 9th, 2007 - Pentagon is Pressed on
Killings of Iraqis 1 news article by
the Boston Globe September 4th, 2007 - Documents Show Troops
Disregarding Rules 1 news article by
the Associated Press August 25th, 2007 - Iraq Body Count Running at
Double Pace 1 news
article by the Associated Press August 24th, 2007 - More Iraqis Said to Flee
Since Troop Increase 1 news
article by New York Times August 11th, 2007 - The Resort to Indiscriminate
Killings 1
opinion by Middle East Online July 30th, 2007 - The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear
Witness 1 news
article by the Nation July 14th, 2007 - US Marine Corps Works on
Battlefield Ethics 1 news
article by the Associated Press July 11th, 2007 - Pentagon: U.S. Troops Shot
429 Iraqi Civilians at Checkpoints 1 news
article by McClatchy Newspapers June 5th, 2007 - 4.2 Million Iraqis Are Now
Displaced 1 news
article by the Associated Press May 23rd, 2007 - UNICEF Pleas for Iraq
Children 1 news
article by United Press International May 17th, 2007 - Iraq is on the Verge of
Collapse: Report 1 news
article by Reuters May 5th, 2007 - Third of US Iraq Troops Back Torture 1 news
article by Agence France Presse April 12th, 2007 - Civilian Claims on U.S.
Suggest the Toll of War 1 news article by
the New York Times April 5th, 2007 - Pity the Sick of Iraq 1 news article by
Al-Ahram March 30th, 2007 - Iraq Car Bombings up 30
Percent, U.S. General Says 1 news article by
Reuters March 11th, 2007 - Surge and Destroy 1 opinion by
TomDispatch.com February 16th, 2007 - Report: 1 Million Iraqis May
Flee in ‘07 1 news article by
the Associated Press February 5th, 2007 - U.S. Military in Iraq Admit
Airstrike Error 1 news
article by Reuters January 17th, 2007 - Iraqi Death Toll Exceeded
34,000 in ‘06, U.N. Says 1 news
article by the New York Times January 3rd, 2007 - Iraq: 12,000 Civilians Killed
in ‘06 1 news article by
the Associated Press December 22nd, 2006 - ‘Atrocity’ Cases Test US
Military Justice 1 news article by
the Christian Science Monitor December 12th, 2006 - Iraq: Cornered Military
Takes to Desperate Tactics 1 news article by
the Inter Press Service December 4th, 2006 - Kofi Annan Interview: Text 1 news article by
BBC News December 2nd, 2006 - Shorter Sentences Handed Down
in Criminal Cases Arising out of Iraq 2 news articles by
the North County Times December 1st, 2006 - Democracy Strangled at Birth 1 news article by
the Guardian/Comment is free November 22nd, 2006 - Iraqi Civilian Deaths Hit
New High 1 news article by
the Los Angeles Times November 13th, 2006 - Vets Warn War Stress will Fuel
Atrocities 1 news article by
the San Diego Union-Tribune November 12th, 2006 - Baghdad’s Morgues Working
Overtime 1 news article by
the Associated Press November 11th, 2006 - Decrepit Healthcare Adds to
Toll in Iraq 1 news article by
the Los Angeles Times November 4th, 2006 - UN Expresses Alarm at
Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq 1 news
article by the Associated Press & UNHCR Briefing Notes October 30th, 2006 - Civilian Massacres: From
Vietnam to Iraq 1 news
article by Counterpunch October 29th, 2006 - This is Baghdad. What could
be worse? 1 news
article by the Washington Post October 21st, 2006 - U.N. Says Iraq Seals Data on
the Civilian Toll 1 news
article by the New York Times October 20th, 2006 - Tougher Stance on Crimes of US
Troops? 1 news
article by the Christian Science Monitor October 11th, 2006 - 2,660 Iraqi Civilians Killed
in Sept. 2 news
articles by the Associated Press & the New York Times October 10th, 2006 - Vietnam Vets Start Legal
Defense Fund 1 news
article by the Associated Press October 1st, 2006 - U.S. is Recruiting Misfits
for Army 1 news
article by the San Fransisco Chronicle August 28th, 2006 - Homicide Charges Rare in Iraq
War 1 news article by
the Washington Post August 13th, 2006 - Atrocities are a Fact of All
Wars, Even Ours 1 news article by
the San Francisco Chronicle July 9th, 2006 - U.S. Military Braces for Flurry
of Criminal Cases in Iraq 1 news article by
the New York Times June 30th, 2006 - U.S. Servicemen Suspected of
Unlawful Killings 1 news article by
Reuters June 28th, 2006 - Murder Charges Raise Specter of Rarely
Used Military Death Sentence 1 news article by
Associated Press April 10th, 2006 - When is Killing Arab Civilians
Considered a Massacre? Article/Commentary
by ZNet October 29th, 2004 - 100,000 Civilian Deaths
Estimated in Iraq 2 news
articles by the Washington Post & the Guardian May 22nd, 2003 - Surveys Pointing to High Civilian
Death Toll in Iraq 1 news
article by the Christian Science Monitor Reports on Civilian Killings & Living Conditions of the General Population March 13th, 2008 - Iraqi Civilian Casualties
Estimates Report
by the Congressional Research Service “[…]This report presents various governmental and
nongovernmental estimates of Iraqi civilian dead and wounded. The Department
of Defense (DOD) regularly updates total U.S. military death and wounded statistics
from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as reflected in CRS Report RS21578, Iraq:
Summary of U.S. Casualties. However, no Iraqi or U.S. government office
regularly releases publically available statistics on Iraqi civilian deaths
or civilians who have been wounded. Statistics on Iraqi civilian dead and
wounded are sometimes available through alternative sources, such as
nonprofit organizations, or through statements made by officials to the
press. Because these estimates are based on varying time periods and have
been created using differing methodologies, readers should exercise caution
when using these statistics and should look on them as guideposts rather than
as statements of fact. […]” October 10th, 2007 - Human Rights Report - 1
April - 30 June 2007 Report by the U.N.
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) “[…] 1. The ongoing violence in Iraq poses enormous
challenges to the Government of Iraq in its efforts, amid continuing political
crises, to bring under control acts of violence motivated by sectarian
considerations and criminal activity. As in the past, civilians bore the
brunt of the violence, with casualties being reported on a daily basis in
Baghdad and elsewhere. Both Iraqi law enforcement personnel and MNF forces
also continued to suffer casualties as a result of attacks by insurgency
groups. While a significant number of the casualties in the reporting period
were concentrated in and around Baghdad, other cities including Mosul and
Basra witnessed similar violent attacks. The situation in governorates such
as Diyala remained dire, with devastating consequences for the civilian
population both in terms of casualties and the displacement of the civilian
population. The resurgence of insurgency attacks in the Kurdistan region also
has devastating consequences for civilians and law enforcement personnel
alike, following two attacks in the Erbil and Makhmour areas during this
reporting period. “2. Daily life for the average Iraqi civilian
remains extremely precarious. The violence remains in large part
indiscriminate, targeting public places where large numbers of people gather
to inflict maximum casualties and foment fears of further descent into chaos
and loss of any semblance of state control. The violence has affected all of
Iraq’s ethnic groups and communities, including minority groups. Targeted
assassinations, abductions for ransom or other motives, and extrajudicial
executions, continued to be reported on a regular basis. As in the past,
professional groups remained a prime target of such attacks, among them media
professionals and members of the legal profession, as highlighted in this
report. […]” April 25th, 2007 - Human Rights Report - 1
January - 31 March 2007 Report by the U.N.
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) “[…] Summary “1. The Government of Iraq continued to face immense
security challenges in the face of growing violence and armed opposition to its
authority and the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis. A number of
large-scale insurgency attacks had devastating effects on both the civilian
population and Iraqi law enforcement personnel, and continued to claim lives
among Multinational Force (MNF) personnel.
Civilian casualties of the daily violence between January and March
remained high, concentrated in and around Baghdad. Violent deaths were also a
regular feature of several other cities in the governorates of Nineveh,
Salahuddin, Diyala and Babel. The implementation of the Iraqi-led Baghdad
Security Plan (Khittat Fardh al-Qanun) on 14 February saw an increase in
Iraqi and MNF troop levels and checkpoints on the streets of Baghdad,
expanded curfew hours and intensified security operations and raids. The
challenge facing the Government of Iraq is not limited to addressing the
level of violence in the country, but the longer term maintenance of
stability and security in an environment characterized by impunity and a
breakdown in law and order. In this context, the intimidation of a large
segment of the Iraqi population, among them professional groups and law
enforcement personnel, and political interference in the affairs of the
judiciary, were rife and in need of urgent attention. “2. In its previous reports on the human rights
situation in Iraq, UNAMI regularly cited the Iraqi Government’s official
data, including the Ministry of Higher Education’s statistics on killings
among academics and the Ministry of Interior’s statistics on killings among police
officers. It is therefore a matter of regret that the Iraqi Government did
not provide UNAMI access to the Ministry of Health’s overall mortality
figures for this reporting period. UNAMI emphasizes again the utmost need for
the Iraqi Government to operate in a transparent manner, and does not accept
the government’s suggestion that UNAMI used the mortality figures in an
inappropriate fashion. “3. Evidence which cannot be numerically
substantiated in this report nonetheless show that the high level of violence
continued throughout the reporting period, attributable to largescale
indiscriminate killings and targeted assassinations perpetrated by insurgency
groups, militias and other armed groups. In February and March, sectarian
violence claimed the lives of large numbers of civilians, including women and
children, in both Shi’a and Sunni neighborhoods. One of the most devastating
attacks occurred on 3 February when a truck packed with a ton of explosives
detonated, killing an estimated 135 people and injuring 339 others in a busy
market in the predominantly Shi’a district of al-Sadriyya of Baghdad. While
government officials claimed an initial drop in the number of killings in the
latter half of February following the launch of the Baghdad Security Plan,
the number of reported casualties rose again in March. […]” March 23rd, 2007 - Iraqi Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis? CRS Report for
Congress February 11th, 2007
- Iraq Displacement 2006/Year
in Review Report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) “[…] Background “Iraq has a protracted history of displacement. Over the past four decades,
human rights abuses, expulsion of citizens from their homes, internal and
international conflict and war resulted in the displacement of hundreds of
thousands of people. The military operations that led to the fall of the
former Government in 2003 and subsequent conflict and violence augmented the
number of displaced. Almost 200,000 individuals were displaced from 2003 to
2005. “On 22 February, the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra ignited
sectarian violence and 2006 saw a spike in people fleeing their homes. Most
of those that had the means to leave the country did, but many more were
forced to find refuge within the country. Overall, there are over 1.5 million
people displaced in Iraq, according to IOM’s monitoring and assessments. “The year 2006 was especially violent, contributing to an alarming
increase in overall displacement. A rise in sectarian conflict resulted in
the forceful removal of people from certain mixed neighborhoods, where armed
groups of one religious sect or another wished to gain power. Crime and a
lack of security also contributed to displacement, as people fled the
violence to communities where they felt safer. In addition, military
operations and fighting among the Multi-National Forces in Iraq/Iraqi Forces
(MNF-I/IF), militants, and insurgents contributed to displacement. In Anbar,
for example, military operations in Ramadi and Falluja resulted in
instability, the destruction of homes, and a movement of people out of these
areas. Inter-tribal clashes also led to displacement of people in Iraq. “In general, IDPs moved from religiously and ethnically mixed
communities to homogeneous communities. Shias tended to move from the center
to the south. Sunnis tended to move from the south to the upper-center,
especially to Anbar. Both ethnicities fled from mixed communities to
homogeneous ones within the same city, especially in volatile Baghdad and
Baquba. Christians primarily fled to Ninewa, and Kurds usually were displaced
within Diyala or to Tameem/Kirkuk. “These large movements of people will have long-lasting political,
social, and economic impacts in Iraq. Gaining understanding of the situation
is the first step to addressing the displacement situation in an appropriate
manner that respects and responds to all of those involved. It also helps
prepare for 2007, a year that is predicted to be as unstable and violent, if
not more so, than 2006. […]” January 16th, 2007
- Human Rights Report: 1
November - 1 December 2006 Report by the U.N.
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) “[…] Summary | |||||||
