Bodies of four Iraqis are brought to U.S.

[maddezmom]

Autopsies scheduled as part of probe of taped shooting

By Tom Bowman
Sun National Staff
Posted November 19 2004

WASHINGTON - The bodies of four Iraqi insurgents who died in the battle of Fallujah were expected to arrive last night at an Air Force base in Dover, Del., for autopsies as part of an expanding investigation into whether they were killed by U.S. forces after they stopped fighting, Defense Department officials said.

The examinations are part of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry of the videotaped shooting of an apparently wounded and unarmed insurgent by a Marine at a Fallujah mosque last week, according to three Defense Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.


The Pentagon decided to bring the bodies to the United States to take advantage of the sophisticated mortuary and forensic experts at Dover, which is also the gateway for American service personnel killed abroad, the officials said.

"All the right equipment's there, and the expertise, too," one official said.


more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.forensic19nov19,0,1835411.story?coll=sfla-newsnation-front

[xultar]

1. OK why even bother we know they are going to come up with some

bullshit answer to diss the troops but exonerate the higher ups in command.

[RivetJoint]

11. You got me on this one...

Who else is to blame other than the marine who appeared to murder the Iraqi? He's the one who pulled the damn trigger, no one above him told him to.

[bin.dare]

2. and they will find what ?

that they would have died of their wounds anyway?
that they were already dead?
that they weren't shot by marines after all?

[atreides1]

3. Or

That if they had gotten medical treatment, they would have survived?
That they were still alive, and badly wounded?
That the marines executed them for payback?

[Spike from MN]

19. Nah, c'mon. It's obvious. They were all suicides.

Even the one that was shot on camera. They'll say he was already dead and the soldier shot him in self-defense, just to be sure he was really dead.

[DrZeeLit]

21. Here's what I actually heard from the mother of a National Guard...

She was told by a trooper that the Marine shot this man because he was a human bomb. You know, a booby trap.

She was told "they" (Iraqi insurgents) all do this.
She said it was all the media's fault that this soldier is in trouble.

I was stunned.
Stunned, I tell you.

[Fridays Child]

4. And, in the meanwhile, their families are denied the opportunity to...

...bury their dead, in accordance with Muslim law and custom.

[Minimus]

16. My sentiments exactly. They are to be buried by sundown the day

they pass away aren't they? And how do Muslims feel about autopsy? Is it not customary that all of the body be buried together?

I remember seeing the documentary "Death in Gaza" and little boys were picking up as many pieces of flesh as the could, from a dead Palestinian to make sure it all got buried. It was so sad to watch.

[sr_pacifica]

23. This was my first thought too

The desecration to their bodies. I'm not sure what muslim thought is on this either---it probably depends on how conservative one is. But, yes, I bet the family members (if they, indeed, are still alive) must be tormented by the thought of their bodies being taken by the invading force to be cut into and probed.

And yes, muslims believe in burying the bodies quickly.

[grumpy old fart]

5. Geez, this is just insane.....

We're gonna have autopsies on 4 of the tens of thousands we've murdered...Geez....

[KingChicken]

6. How could you even come outside, I would be afraid I would be shot

If I were an Iraqi, it would be difficult to even be around the Marines, what if you walk to fast, or look suspicious, or maybe you are caring something, so many unarmed Iraqis have been mowed down on site. I just watched a video where Marines in a Bradley opened fire on a car that was going too fast, it turns out that the two Iraqis in the car were unarmed and posed no threat, they weren’t even near the Marines.

Think about that next time you go out, if you drive the wrong way, or too fast that you might not just get a ticket, you might be killed. Its so dangerous to even get near those troops, I would just walk around with my hands up in the air all day.

Forget the terrorists, the troops have killed 2/3 of the reported civilian casualties, I would fight back too.

[maddezmom]

7. Jane Araf was reporting live on CNN about speaking with civilians

she said one family spoke about a family being shot as they left their home. ANd of course they broke away as a tanks were rolling by. :eyes:

[cliss]

8. There's something very weird about this.

I suspect that there's something very macabre going on. I read a while back that one of the Iraqis who were killed at Abu Ghraib was 'pieced out' here and there. His aesophagus was in Washington, where it was decided that he died of asphyxiation. His lungs, in the meantime, were in Germany for observation. His bones, in the meantime, were in some other country.

I don't know if anyone else picked up on this. I find if very disturbing that they are piecing out the bodies of the victims and not allowing them to be properly buried.

Disturbingly close to Hitler's Germany.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. And this will only further inflame the Muslim world since those bodies

are supposed to be in the ground

[TahitiNut]

12. It's theft - body-snatching.

The body of a deceased person is the property of their next of kin.

[daleo]

10. It would be nice to think this was strictly for forensic investigation

I would like to think this is strictly being done to get at the truth, but one can't ignore the fact that autopsies are not the usual practice in Muslim cultures. I believe there is a great emphasis on burying the dead quickly, within 48 hours or so, and that this tradition has a basis in religious belief. I think there is also a great preference for keeping the body as intact as possible. So, this move by the U.S. military can also be seen as a subtle payback, and a warning.

Although from the military's point of view, there is a bit of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". That is the trouble with getting involved in unnecessary wars.

[Bridget Burke]

13. I've worked in a hospital....

(Just computer stuff.)

Often, relatives are asked to approve an autopsy, especially when the patient was on an experimental regimen. Generally, Muslims refuse. It is against their religion.

In this case, post mortems might serve the cause of justice. However, why could it not have been done in Iraq, quickly? If we don't have sufficient staff there, put them on the plane?

[DownNotOut]

14. The entry angle of the

bullets will definitely be conclusive evidence that our great solders were just in these MURDERS. I mourn these needless deaths as I do all of the needless deaths related to our illegal occupation.

D.N.O

[Sabriel]

15. The ultimate irony would be

if we got to see these arrive but not the bodies of our own servicepeople killed in Iraq.

[jman0]

17. i'm sure they're just trying to establish

That the iraqis were dead before the marine finished them off.
It's a whitewash, heck think about how much it costs to transport 4 bodies from the battlezone to Dover. I'm sure there'll be lots of pressure on the doctors to produce "results".

[saigon68]

18. Some time this trail of Lies must be exposed.

Who will Do this?

[damntexdem]

20. Nah, they all died of ...

heart failure: their hearts stopped beating. ;-)

[barb162]

22. autopsies, evidence;defense side will have its own forensic experts

[libpunkmom]

24. NO autopsies

my dad worked in the middle east for roughly 5 years in the 80's (Iraq & Pakistan).. Autopsies are completely against there religion. The dead are usually buried within the same day...