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The
War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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The Killing of Mohammed Al-Sumaidaie |
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Background - Al
Shaikh Hadid, June 25th, 2005 “[…] The US military is to investigate the
circumstances in which a male relative of Iraq’s envoy to the United Nations
died during a search of his home. Samir Sumaidaie has accused US soldiers of
killing his 21-year-old cousin Mohammed in ‘cold blood’. […] He said
Mohammed, an engineering student, was visiting his family home when some 10
marines with an Egyptian interpreter knocked on the door […]. He opened the
door to them and was ‘happy to exercise some of his English’, said the
ambassador. When asked if there were any weapons in the house, Mohammed took
the marines to a room where there was a rifle with no live ammunition. It was
allegedly the last time the family saw him alive. […] ‘In the bedroom,
Mohammed was found dead and lying in a clotted pool of his blood - a single
bullet had penetrated his neck,’ the Iraqi envoy said. […]” Excerpt
of a BBC News article
from August 22nd, 2005. |
Al-Anbar Province in June 2005 |
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September 15th, 2006 - Iraqi Envoy Accuses US Of
Stonewalling In Cousin’s Death 1 news
article by the Associated Press July 19th, 2006 - Marine Cleared in Shooting Death
of Iraq Ambassador’s Relative 1 news article by
the Associated Press June 28th, 2006 - Iraq’s US Envoy Wants to See
Cousin’s Death Report 1 news article by
Reuters August 22nd, 2005 - US Acts after Iraq Murder
Claim 1 news
article by BBC News August 21st, 2005 - Navy to Probe Iraq
Ambassador’s Claim of Murder 1 news
article by the Associated Press July 2nd, 2005 - Iraq Envoy Accuses US of
Killing 3 news
articles by BBC News, Associated Press & Reuters |
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February 7th, 2006 - Investigative File
"G"/Report of Investigation Report by the U.S.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (8,3 MB) File Summary compiled by the ACLU: “[…] This Naval
Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) file involves the death, by a U.S.
Marine (Lima Company, 3rd Battalion 25th Marine
Regiment), of Mohammed Sumaidaie, a 21-year-old Iraqi male national who was a
university student and apparently the cousin of Ambassador Samir Shakir
al-Sumaydi. (At the time of Mohammed’s death Ambassador al-Sumaydi was the
Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations and currently he is the Iraqi
Ambassador to the United States.) “On June 25, 2005, after being briefed on their
mission and having reviewed the relevant Rules of Engagement (ROE), a five
convoy Marine unit traveled to Haditha to conduct a ‘Cordon & Knock’
operation wherein the Marines were doing house to house searches for
contraband and insurgents. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for these
Cordon & Knock operations is that Marines knock on the door, ask the head
of the household (usually the eldest male) whether the family has any weapons
(in Iraq every adult is permitted to have 1 AK-47 for protection, anything in
excess of that is confiscated by U.S. Forces) and, if so, they usually ask
the male to escort and point to where the weapon is. Sometimes they don’t
have anyone show them to the weapon. The SOPs do not state whether the head
of household is to direct the Marines to the weapon. The house is then
searched. Cordon & Knocks are a less aggressive form of ‘Cordon &
Search’ and ‘Raid or High Value Target.’ “The operations that day went smoothly and the last
home to be visited was that of Mohammed. As to what happened next, there are
inconsistencies between various witness accounts. According to several signed
sworn statements from the Marine who shot and killed Mohammed, the Marines
arrived at the Sumaidaie home at the end of their day. There, they found an
Iraqi family (mother and several children), and the Marines used the little
Arabic they knew - they did not have a translator/interpreter with them - to
ask if anyone else was in home and whether the family had any weapons. The
Marine alleged that the older woman of the family informed that her husband
was the schoolmaster of the local school and was not present, that there were
no other people in the home, and that there were no weapons in the home. The
family was then instructed to go to the courtyard of the house while the
Marines entered the home to conduct a search. “The Marine alleges that several other Marines broke
off to search other rooms of the house as he made his way toward the back
room. The Marine alleges that as he entered the backroom he was confronted by
a young Iraqi male who was pointing an AK-47 directly at the Marine. The
Marine yelled out ‘gun, gun’ and shot the young Iraqi - Mohammed - in the
neck. (The ROE is the ‘rule of two.’ If there are two strikes or the Marine’s
life is in danger then the Marines can engage in deadly force. The strikes
are being ‘out past curfew, digging on the side of the road, mortar, RPG,
weapon, shooting at us, a cell phone and binoculars on top of a roof,
escalation of force, within 50 meters, stuff like that.’) Other Marines then
entered the room and the Marine who shot Mohammad looked at Mohammed’s AK-47
and discovered that the AK-47 was empty. The Marine was then taken to one of
the Humvees as the rest of the Marines sought to deal with the situation.
Other Marines - including all the Marines who were part of the search team -
on the scene back-up this account. There is a discrepancy as to whether or
not photographs were taken of the scene. (Some Marines said no photographs
were taken because they assumed the Human Exploitative Team that arrived soon
after the shooting would be taking photographs; another stated that he’d seen
the photographs; still others were certain that there were photographs
because they’d seen flashes but hadn't seen the photographs themselves. Those
photographs - if they exist - were never recovered.) The Marines left after
an hour and went back to the base where an All-Hands Formation to welcome the
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps was taking place. At this Formation
the Marine who shot and killed Mohammed was given a Challenge Coin by the
Commandant in recognition for having killed an insurgent that day. “One Marine, however, who came on the scene within minutes
of the shooting and took part in testing Mohammed’s hands for gun power
residue (which was negative by one account and another place in the file says
it was inconclusive), signed several sworn statements that the above account
of the incident was incorrect. This Marine stated that when he saw the SPOT
report summarizing the incident he felt he had to come forward with his
recollection which was substantially different than that reported by the
other Marines. This Marine stated that within minutes of the incident he
spoke with a Marine at the home who told him that they had encountered
Mohammed in the home and that Mohammed had informed them that the family
possessed a ceremonial AK-47 which only shot blanks and that he would take
them to the AK-47. “According to this Marine, he was told that the
Marine who shot and killed Mohammed was startled at the way Mohammed showed
him the AK-47 and shot Mohammed in defense. This Marine also reported that he
was certain that someone took pictures at the scene. Initially this Marine
stated that he heard the information from a Corpsman, however the Corpsman on
duty that day submitted a sworn statement that he never had such a
conversation. The Marine then stated that he may not have spoken to the
Corpsman but was certain that he had the conversation with a member of the
search team and that the contents of the conversation were correct. This
Marine also informed that Lima Company was not as disciplined as other units
and that the unit had a ‘cowboy like attitude.’ This Marine’s account of the
incident was backed up by the family’s recollection of the events. “According to the family, when the Marines knocked
on the door Mohammed - hoping to practice some English he’d recently learned
- went to the door and informed the Marines that the family had one
ceremonial AK-47 and that he would show them to the weapon. The family waited
outside and were only informed as the Marines were leaving that Mohammed had
been shot and killed. The family also claimed that the Marines smiled at the
family after the news of Mohammed’s death was relayed to them. Some members
of the family also alleged assault. One family member, likely Mohammed's
mother, alleged that the Marines had put a headscarf on Mohammed to make him
appear to resemble a terrorist. She believes that the Marines then took
pictures of her son in that condition. “Two initial investigations - a Reportable Incident
Assessment Team Inquiry and an Army 15-6 investigation - revealed
inconsistencies. In addition, Ambassador al-Sumaydi filed a criminal
complaint with the U.S. Department of State. […] It appears that for these
reasons an NCIS ‘Special Interest’ investigation was launched. The NCIS
conducted interviews with members of the Marine search team that day, other
Marines, and Mohammed’s family members (including Mohammed's mother, father,
two younger brothers, a friend of the family on December 27, 2005). One of
the Marines - unclear from the file whether it was the Marine who shot and
killed Mohammed - took a polygraph test regarding the incident. The polygraph
examination determined that this person was not being deceptive in asserting
that he had not observed Mohammed in the residence or that Mohammed had not
led the search team down the hallway prior to the shooting. After
consultation with the NCISHQ Criminal Investigations Directorate and Forensic
Division Chief, it was determined that criminal culpability could not be
established and on January 15, 2006, the investigation was closed. […]” |
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Background 1) Al
Anbar Province from a US Army Blackhawk helicopter. Al Anbar is a governorate
of Iraq. The largest province in Iraq by area, it has one of the lowest
population densities in Iraq and shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi
Arabia. Al Anbar is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Arab. Its capital is Ar
Ramadi. The
name of the province is from the Arabic Anbār, and means granaries in
both Arabic and Persian as this region was the primary entrepot on the
western borders of Persian Sassanid Empire. The famous Sunni theologian Abu
Hanifa an-Nu‘man, who developed Hanafi, one of the Sunni Madh'habs (schools
of thought) is associated with this region. The
city of Fallujah is also in Anbar. The Iraqi resistance was widely considered
to be stronger in this province than in any other in Iraq, and hostility
toward coalition forces had been fierce. In late 2004, a series of operations
by US forces, most notably Operation Phantom Fury, was not successful in
driving insurgents from Anbar. Additionally, in early 2006, several tribes
and militias - some including insurgent groups - began an effort to root out
the remaining foreign militants. Subsequent insurgent raids against coalition
forces in the area, the increase of sectarian violence (that pushed many of the
Sunni tribes back into alliances with militants) and the continued insurgent
control of several cities in Anbar showed that fighting in the region was far
from over. Reports in March 2006 suggested that the Anbar capital Ramadi had
largely fallen under insurgent control along with most of the region, as a
result the US sent an additional 3,500 Marines to re-establish control of the
region. Following
the rise of sectarian violence in Baghdad many soldiers were transferred back
to the Iraqi capital, further strengthening the resistance’s hold on Anbar.
The Iraq war website icasualties.org/oif has reported that 220 US troops were
killed in action in Anbar province between the start of August 2006 and the
end of February 2007. Many of these died in and around Fallujah, a town which
was reportedly 'pacified' in late 2004 and early 2005. Anbar,
with Ramadi and Fallujah in particular, is known for its inhabitants' strong
tribal and religious traditions. Allegedly, former President Saddam Hussein
was constantly wary of the volatile nature of the area. Most of the
inhabitants of the province are Sunni Muslims from the Dulaim tribe. - June
14th, 2005 - Jim Gordon/ US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); |
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