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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 3rd, 2006 - Iraqi Family
Tells Their Side of Story |
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Iraqi Family Tells Their Side
of Story Relatives say man was kidnapped and killed by Marines, who had asked
him to be an informant By Nancy A. Youssef Knight Ridder Posted on Sat, Jun. 03, 2006 Al Hamdania, Iraq - Before
people talked about how Hashim Ibrahim Awad was killed, his friends shared
tales about how the Americans wanted him to be an informant. U.S. Marines had approached
him several times, Awad's friends say he told them, asking him to help them
find who was planting explosives in this small village outside Baghdad. Every
time, Awad, in his 50s with a lame leg and bad eyesight, refused. His family
considered the job shameful. In an exclusive interview
with Knight Ridder on Friday, Awad's family gave their version of what
happened to him in the early morning hours of April 26. They said U.S.
Marines dragged Awad from his home, killed him and then planted an AK-47
assault rifle and a shovel next to him to make him look like a terrorist. The family members said
American investigators have since harassed them, questioning their
allegations in hours-long sessions that begin in the dead of night and last
past dawn. They said they once were taken for questioning to nearby Abu
Ghraib prison, the scene of previous allegations of American abuse. There was no way to confirm
the accounts. U.S. officials have declined to provide details of the
allegations that led them on May 25 to announce that they were investigating
the death of an Iraqi civilian and that "several service members from
3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment ... were removed from operations and have
returned to the United States." But the probe of the case
has turned up enough evidence against Marines that seven Marines and one Navy
corpsman have been jailed and four others have been told not to leave their
base at Camp Pendleton. Lt. Lawton King, a Camp
Pendleton spokesman, said Friday that 1st Marine Division commander Gen.
Richard Natonski ordered the eight into "pre-trial confinement"
after an "evaluation of the ongoing investigation." King said that all but one
had appeared before a magistrate. He said no charges have been presented,
however. Al Hamdania is on the far
western edge of Baghdad province. Insurgents are active in the area, and
kidnappings and other violence are common. The town is obscure enough that
U.S. officials incorrectly rendered its name as "Hamandiyah" in
their official announcement. The case is one of three
involving the deaths of 36 Iraqis, including children, that have drawn fresh
attention to complaints that U.S. forces in Iraq have wantonly killed unarmed
civilians. U.S. officials also are
investigating a Nov. 19 case in the western Iraqi town of Haditha in which at
least 24 civilians were killed. U.S. Marines initially said that 15 of them
and a Marine died when a roadside bomb exploded and that eight others were
killed when Marines returned insurgent fire. But a preliminary investigation
found that none of the civilians had died from the explosion, and survivors
told Knight Ridder and others that the Marines had stormed into houses and
killed the occupants. Iraqi police also have
accused U.S. troops of executing 13 people March 15 in the town of Ishaqi,
north of Balad, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old. U.S. military investigators
have concluded that there is no credible evidence to back up claims that U.S.
troops killed civilians during a raid on a suspected al Qaida hideout in
March, military officials said Friday. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell
IV, spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, said in a statement issued from
Baghdad that U.S. forces killed one suspected terrorist and captured another
during the March 15 raid in the village of Ishaqi, about 60 miles north of
Baghdad. Allegations that U.S. forces
executed a family during the raid, then covered it up by directing an
airstrike on their house "are absolutely false," Caldwell said. After the raid, Iraqi police
accused U.S. troops of herding at least 11 people into the house and executing
them. On Thursday, Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri Maliki said that American violence against Iraqi civilians had
become almost habitual. "We cannot forgive the violations of the dignity
of the Iraqi people," Maliki said. Awad's family showed Knight
Ridder a sheet of paper that appeared to be part of a report on the incident.
A Marine sergeant had written that his unit killed the man because he was
"digging on the side of the road from our ambush site. I made the call
and engaged. He was pronounced dead at the scene with only a shovel and
AK-47." The sergeant signed his
name. It was witnessed by a second Marine. Awad's family members offer
a radically different version. Awad's cousin, Farhan Ahmed Hussein, said
Americans came to his door in the early morning hours of April 26 and pounded
on it so forcefully that he knew that if he didn't open it, they would. In broken Arabic, a soldier
said, "Tefteesh," or search. The Marines asked him if he had any
weapons. An AK-47, he told them, and they took it and a shovel resting in
front of his house. They thanked him in Arabic for cooperating and left,
Hussein said. He said he did not think
much of it. "I told myself first thing in the morning, I will stop the
first patrol I see and ask them for my AK-47 and shovel back," he said. Next, the Marines knocked on
the door of Awad's brother, Awad Ibrahim Awad. The two brothers lived not far
from their cousin, in small houses on a barren field. Awad Ibrahim Awad said the
Marines knocked at around 2 a.m., but that he decided not to get out of bed.
They left. Surprised, he said he looked
outside - the area is illuminated with generator-powered lights - and saw the
Marines walking behind his brother's house toward the home of a neighbor. "The soldiers asked my
mom if there were any men in our house. When she told them no, they left
without searching the house," the neighbor, who asked to be identified
only as Mohammed, said. Awad Ibrahim Awad said the
Marines then knocked at Hashim Awad's door. When he came to the door, two
Marines grabbed each of his hands and pulled him out of the house. The
Marines took Hashim Awad and left without searching inside, Awad Ibrahim Awad
said. "They looked like
people who found what they were looking for," Awad Ibrahim Awad said. "I
told my wife, 'They took my brother, but I think he will be fine.' And I told
myself: 'What's the worse they do? Investigate him for a few days and then
release him because he is innocent.' Thirty minutes later, I heard gunshots." The next day, as Awad
Ibrahim Awad was working at a nearby gas station, Iraqi police pulled in and
asked him to identify the body of someone from his neighborhood who had been
killed by the Americans. He stared at the body, which had an AK-47 and shovel
next to it, but did not recognize his brother. "I saw a swollen face,
and signs that he had been beaten. And it was clear a bullet had been shot
into the mouth and broke part of his bottom teeth," he said. "I
told the police officers, 'I know this man,' but I cannot recognize him. He
was beaten to the point that I couldn't recognize his face." Awad Ibrahim said it never
occurred to him that the body might be his brother's. "He didn't have an
AK-47 or shovel when the Americans took him," he said. "And
besides, the Americans took him. How can he be dead and in police hands
now?" But something nagged at him,
so he went to the hospital and looked at the body again. This time, he
recognized his brother by his leg, which had been damaged in a farming
accident 15 years ago. Knight Ridder's Drew Brown
contributed to this story. © 2006 ContraCostaTimes.com
and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. External link: http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/14733159.htm |