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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 28th,
2006 - Iraq’s US Envoy Wants to See Cousin’s Death Report |
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Iraq’s US Envoy Wants to See
Cousin’s Death Report By Deepa Babington Reuters June 28, 2006 Houston - Iraq's U.S.
ambassador said on Wednesday he was still waiting to hear from the U.S.
military on the shooting death of his cousin last year that he once described
as "coldblooded murder" by U.S. troops. Two months after asking for
a copy, Samir Sumaidaie said he had yet to receive access to a U.S. military
report that absolved its troops of all blame in the incident. His frustration comes as the
military investigates other incidents involving civilian deaths at the hands
of American troops. Many Iraqis complain that unjustified killings of
civilians by American troops are common, although few have been confirmed
officially by investigations. "In this particular
case, all I'm asking for is a copy of the report. I'm still waiting,"
Sumaidaie told Reuters in an interview at a U.S-Arab economic forum in
Houston. "They have written to
me and said it will take time. Now, two months seems to me is more than
enough time to deliver a report." Sumaidaie said he believed
the U.S. military's conclusion it was not at fault was wrong, but found it
hard to dispute that properly until he saw the report. "That is inconsistent
with what I know happened to my family," Sumaidaie said. "I'm very
disappointed to learn that the investigation did not show any
wrongdoing." The envoy has said his
cousin, Mohammed Sumaidaie, 21, was killed last June while showing Marines
conducting house-to-house searches an old rifle without live ammunition. When
the Marines left, the young man was found in the bedroom with a bullet in his
neck, the ambassador said at the time. "All indications point
to a killing of an unarmed innocent civilian - a coldblooded murder,"
Sumaidaie said last year. During the probe, the U.S.
military interviewed family members but did not take up an offer to let
forensic experts exhume and inspect the body, Sumaidaie said on Wednesday. Still, he believes killings
of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops are an aberration, but that probes into
such incidents should be conducted as a joint effort with some
"independent element" in it, rather than by troops alone. "Clearly members of the
same platoon who have gone through life-and-death struggles, they bond, and
it's a human inclination to protect each other," he said. (Additional reporting by
Manuela Badawy and Matt Daily) External link: http://tinyurl.com/3su87p |