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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 26th,
2009 - After a U.S. Raid: 2 Iraqis Dead, Protests and Regrets News article from the Associated
Press |
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Raid Involving US Forces Kills Woman in Iraq By Hamid Ahmed Associated Press April 26, 2009 Baghdad - A pre-dawn raid
involving U.S. forces left at least one person dead in southern Iraq on
Sunday, prompting local officials to demand an investigation. The raid set off a protest
by hundreds of people who gathered outside the morgue in the Shiite city of
Kut, and the provincial council later called for an inquiry. The U.S. military said its
forces took part in the raid and that a woman was killed, but gave no other
details. The military also could not immediately confirm whether it was a
joint U.S.-Iraqi operation. Kut is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast
of Baghdad. The military said the woman
was in the area during an exchange of gunfire with one of the suspects and
stepped into the line of fire. "A coalition forces
medic treated her on site, but she died of her wounds before she could be
evacuated," the military said. Iraqi police officials say
the wife and brother of a local clan leader were killed. They also say the
clan leader, Ahmed Abdul Muneim al-Bdeir, and six others were arrested. The
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to
release the information. The provincial council
called an emergency meeting and a three-day mourning period. "We condemn this
crime," said Mahmoud al Etaibi, head of the council. The U.S. military said the
raid was in compliance with a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, which requires American
operations to be conducted in coordination with the Iraqi government and
other authorities. Kut provincial police chief,
Brig. Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat, said he was unaware a raid was conducted. Spokesmen for the ministries
of defense and interior also said they had no knowledge of the raid. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD97Q4BR04 After a U.S. Raid: 2 Iraqis Dead, Protests and Regrets By Steven Lee Myers New York Times April 26, 2009 Baghdad - American troops
killed two Iraqis on Sunday during an early morning raid in southern Iraq
that set off public protests and drew a pointed complaint from Prime Minister
Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that the operation violated a new security agreement
between Iraq and the United States. The American raid in Kut set
off protests by local residents. The raid was not the first
violent episode involving American forces to provoke a public dispute since
the security agreement took effect in January, but it quickly became the most
serious test so far of the agreement’s carefully negotiated provisions. Mr. Maliki, in a statement
read Sunday evening on the state’s television network, Al Iraqiya, criticized
the raid as a violation of the agreement and called for the American military
to “hand over those responsible for this crime to the courts.” Under the agreement,
Americans can theoretically be charged by Iraqi authorities, but only in
extremely rare cases in which they are not “on duty.” The raid nonetheless
set the stage for a potentially contentious dispute at a time when American
troops are preparing to withdraw. The operation underscored
the confusion and anger stemming from raids against people suspected of being
extremists now that the Iraqis are officially in charge of security across
the country. By the end of the day, the
raid appeared to have been a mistake in the first place, as six men arrested
in the operation by the Americans were released after being questioned in
Baghdad. The American commander in the region, Col. Richard M. Francey Jr.,
joined senior Iraqi officials on Sunday evening at a news conference in Kut,
the city south of Baghdad where the raid took place, and apologized. The American military
command in Baghdad said in a statement that it did not retract its position
that the operation was aimed at suspected Shiite militants and that it was
“fully coordinated and approved by the Iraqi government.” Regional officials and
commanders from the Ministry of Defense provided contradictory accounts on
Sunday. Hundreds of people,
including relatives and neighbors of those killed, as well as police
officers, gathered near the offices of the provincial council in Kut, the
regional capital of Wasit Province, a largely Shiite province bordering Iran.
They chanted “No, no to America,” “No, no to occupation” and “No, no to
Israel.” Latif al-Turfa, Wasit’s
governor, said that the operation violated the security agreement and added
that one of those arrested, a police captain, was “a good person in the
province.” A member of Wasit’s provincial council, Alaa Hussein Hachim,
denounced the operation as “such an ugly crime.” The Defense Ministry’s
spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, said that two Iraqi Army commanders
in the region had been detained and accused of not informing their superiors
about the operation. That suggested that some
Iraqi commanders knew of the raid in advance, though it was not immediately
clear who authorized it and whether the American troops possessed an arrest
warrant, as required under the agreement. The American military declined to
answer any questions, referring repeatedly to its initial statement. According to the American
military and witnesses, American troops arrived early Sunday at a house
belonging to a local sheik, Ahmed Abdul Sada. The military’s statement said
the troops opened fire when “an individual with a weapon came out of the
home.” “Forces assessed him to be
hostile, and they engaged the man, killing him,” the American statement said.
“During the engagement, a woman in the area moved into the line of fire and
was also struck by gunfire.” A medic treated her at the
house, but she died before being evacuated for treatment, the statement said.
The woman was Sheik Ahmed’s wife, Azhar, his relatives said. The other person
killed was the sheik’s brother Khalid, a policeman. The American statement said
that troops arrested six people, including Sheik Ahmed, suspected of
belonging to the Mahdi Army and the Promise Day Brigade, both Shiite militias
suspected of carrying out attacks against American and Iraqi forces. By late afternoon, however,
the men returned home. Sheik Ahmed said in an interview on Sunday evening
that his wife, in a panic, had picked up a rifle when the Americans burst
into their home in the middle of the night. “If the Americans had only
knocked, we would have cooperated,” he said. “Instead they came from four
corners.” He and his brother Ayad said
they had been flown by helicopter to a military base in Baghdad and
questioned before being released with an apology. “‘You are not the people we
want,’” Ayad Abdul Sada said an American told him. A delegation of American and
Iraqi officers later visited the raided house and the provincial council to
express condolences and apologies. “It is really a tragedy, and I express my
deep regret and apologies to all the families that lost victims,” Colonel
Francey said at the news conference in Kut. He added that the operation
had not been carried out by troops based in Wasit. That, and comments by
Iraqi officials, suggested that American Special Operations forces, whose
missions are shrouded in secrecy, carried out the raid. Anwar J. Ali contributed
reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Kut,
Iraq. External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html |