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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 4th,
2008 - Civilian Deaths in U.S. Military Strike Bring Worries of Sunni
Backlash |
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Civilian
Deaths in U.S. Military Strike Bring Worries of Sunni Backlash By Kim Gamel Associated Press February 4, 2008 Baghdad – The deaths of nine
civilians, including a child, in a U.S. airstrike south of Baghdad have
raised fresh concerns about the military's ability to distinguish friend from
foe in a campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas on the capital's
doorstep. Witnesses and Iraqi police
said helicopters strafed a house Saturday after confusing U.S.-allied Sunni
fighters for extremists in the deadliest case of mistaken identity since
November. The U.S. military on Monday confirmed the civilian deaths, but gave
few other details of the Army gunship attack. The bloodshed also points to
the wider complications for U.S.-led offensives against insurgents in
populated areas: As the firepower increases so do the risks of claiming
innocent lives. And each such death potentially frays the crucial alliances
between the Pentagon and new Sunni allies, widely known as Awakening
Councils. It was one of these groups
that apparently was caught in the clash near Iskandariyah, about 30 miles
south of Baghdad – an area where U.S.-led forces stepped up an air and ground
assault last month against al-Qaeda in Iraq footholds. A farmer who lives near the
site said the Americans retaliated after a mortar attack against a U.S.
convoy as it passed a checkpoint manned by Awakening Council fighters. The soldiers apparently
thought the barrage came from the Awakening Council fighters, who fled to a
nearby house, said Issa Mahdi. “After awhile, U.S.
helicopters arrived and bombarded the house where the awakening members were
hiding,” he said. Abu Abeer, who said he was
guarding a post nearby when the attack occurred, claimed the helicopters were
targeting anybody near the house in the village of Tal al-Samar. “It was a crime and it shows
the Americans' disrespect for Iraqi blood. The U.S. apology will not bring
the dead people back to life,” he said, adding he is from the same al-Ghrir
tribe as those who were killed. The U.S. military said only that
a child and eight other Iraqi civilians were killed and three others,
including two children, were wounded as U.S. troops pursued suspected
al-Qaeda militants. Lt. Col. James Hutton, a
military spokesman in Baghdad, said the strike involved Army helicopters and
no American casualties were reported. American officers met with a
local sheik representing citizens in the area and expressed condolences to
the families of those killed, according to a brief e-mailed statement. But
the military declined to provide more details pending the results of the
investigation. Some Sunni leaders worry
about future cracks in Sunni cooperation with U.S. forces, which the Pentagon
credits as a key reason behind a sharp drop in violence in recent months
around Iraq. “Al-Qaeda could exploit such
mistrust in order to win back some Awakening Council members who defected
from it,” said Sunni lawmaker Salman al-Jumaili. “I think that the Awakening
Council members have served their country in the best way and any attempt to hurt
them, even if it is by mistake, could endanger the political process in the
country.” In November, a leader of one
of the Awakening Councils said U.S. soldiers killed dozens of his fighters
during a 12-hour battle north of Baghdad. The U.S. military admitted killing
25 men, but said they were insurgents operating “in the target area” where
al-Qaeda was believed to be hiding. The U.S. military
investigated that incident, but the two versions of events were never
reconciled. A month later, the U.S. military
said its forces accidentally killed two people during a raid in Baqouba,
northeast of Baghdad, and that one of them was later identified as an
Awakening Council member. Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government has nominally embraced the Sunni
movements, but has been slow to incorporate them into the Iraqi security
forces. It also has come under criticism for failing to draw Sunnis back into
the political process. Two Sunni parliamentary
blocs joined forces Monday to form a larger group. Its first priority was to
push to amend a new law that will allow thousands of Saddam Hussein-era
officials to return to government jobs. The measure, which was
issued a day earlier by the Iraqi presidency council, is the first of 18
U.S.-endorsed reforms to show significant progress. But Sunni leaders have
expressed concerns about a clause that calls for the dismissal of 7,000
former security agents under Saddam who still hold government jobs. Many also
fear Shiites will find a way to purge more Sunnis from government posts. In a separate development,
U.S. and Iraqi officials will meet later this month to negotiate future
relations and the long-term presence of American forces in Iraq, officials
said. President Bush and al-Maliki
signed a “declaration of principles” on Nov. 26 that set the foundation for a
potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq as part of an “enduring”
relationship. Mirembe Nantongo,
spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said “all different aspects of
the relationship and framework” would be discussed. But Nantongo said overall
American troop numbers would not be part of the upcoming talks. In northern Iraq, Turkish
warplanes attacked dozens of Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq as part of a
U.S.-backed campaign to chip away at guerrilla strength without a ground
offensive across the border. The planes hit 70 targets
that were “detected and verified by intelligence sources,” the Turkish
military said in a possible reference to the U.S. intelligence it is
receiving. The Turkish government has
fought for more than two decades against Kurdish rebels who seek autonomy in
southeastern Turkey. For years, the rebel group has launched attacks into
Turkish territory from virtual safe havens in northern Iraq. Associated Press Reporter
Yahya Barzanji contributed to this report from Irbil, Iraq. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20080204-1332-iraq.html |