Son of Iraq journalist shot dead by US forces

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - The son of a journalist at a popular weekly newspaper in northern Iraq was allegedly shot dead by US troops when his car appeared to veer wildly, local police said on Thursday.

American soldiers shot dead Arkan Ali al-Nuaimi, 19, on Wednesday evening as he approached a checkpoint in his car in the oil city of Kirkuk, a police official told AFP.

Iraqi police said the son of Ali Taha al-Nuaimi, editor of the US financed "The Voice of the Villages," was raked with American bullets when he lost control of his vehicle.

"He lost control near the Bahrain bakery in southern Kirkuk... then they fired on him, killing him instantly," the police official said, adding that a friend riding next to Nuaimi survived.

A US military spokesman, however, provided a different account of what appeared to be the same incident.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080724/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestusmedia_080724124800;_

[predfan]

1. What the hell are we doing?

[Benhurst]

2. Not to worry. I'm sure his family will get an official oops! and everything

will be all right.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. And some money...don't forget the money

The US gives fair market price on human life in Iraq :sarcasm:

[jayfish]

16. I Thought They Were Amenable To To Beads And Other Trinkets. -NT-

Jay

[truedelphi]

3. A bit over two years ago, the British troops took a survey and they

Overwhelmingly recited the fact that for them the single most dangerous part of being in Iraq was approaching an American run checkpoint.

And they are the willing partners of our coalition! Can you imagine what it is like to be an Iraqi if our allies are peeing their pants when they approach our checkpoints??

[Doctor_J]

4. Sounds like things are really stabilizing.

Leave the road and get a hail of bullets.

Still winning hearts & minds.

[Doctor_J]

6. Robert Novak better not drive around Kirkuk

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

I crack myself up

[elocs]

7. I realize it is difficult here, but has anybody ever given the slightest thought

of the most remote possibility that this incident could have happened other than how it was reported. Does anybody here really believe that our military at these checkpoints approach their job with the attitude of, "let's see how many innocent civilians we can kill today"? In a perfect world no innocent civilian would ever be killed in a war, but this is not a perfect world and our troops are not perfect human beings and they can only operate under the protocols they have in place regarding checkpoints otherwise they might die.


Iraq is a dangerous place. What is it about a checkpoint that is difficult to understand? The rules are pretty simple and should be well known by now. You approach it slowly and with caution and you do not try and speed through it. You don't approach it going fast and then try and stop when you get to it. I do not believe that it is the policy of the military or our troops to casually fire upon vehicles at checkpoints. I am, however, disappointed with how often I read here of those who will unquestioningly accept any story which paints our military in a bad light. Our troops at these checkpoints are just regular people who could be from any or our hometowns and when a vehicle speeds at them or behaves weirdly for whatever reason they have their orders as to what to do and I'm pretty sure that they neither want to kill innocent civilians or to die themselves (some who have hesitated or let vehicles get too close have died).

[Doctor_J]

8. On the contrary, I think our soldiers are in an untenable position

They are trained to win wars, not police entire nations. I know of no one who is blaming the soldiers. This is IMO an inevitable result of the most disastrous policy/decision in US history.

[elocs]

10. I am saying there are 2 sides to every story and we are too quick to accept

whatever story fits their scenario. There is no way around that the military is composed of "soldiers"--it is not some faceless entity. Checkpoints have and serve a purpose and are not just there for the hell of it. There are well known rules regarding them and mistakes can be made by both sides, but not always the same side. In the incident cited here it is quite likely that the soldiers at the checkpoint followed their protocol and procedures and did not casually fire upon an innocent civilian.

[jayfish]

12. Why The Lie Then?

Major John Hall told AFP in an emailed response that a group of dismounted US soldiers was attacked with small arms fire from an approaching purple sedan.

"The soldiers returned fire in self defence, killing a passenger in the car. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody," Hall said.

Jay

[elocs]

13. Is there a lie in every single case where there is an incident at a checkpoint.

I am not talking about this one specifically, but the assumption there seems to be that in every case when a civilian is killed at a checkpoint it involves a "lie" by our military.

[jayfish]

15. We'll Never Know.

Many seem to be piss-poor ROE issues. Many appear to be frivolous shootings. Both the Iraqi police and the passenger in the car are contradicting the military on this one.

Jay

[bdab1973]

19. Checkpoints in Iraq are pretty obvious

The Iraqis know what to expect, there are signs everywhere and we've been there for 5 years now...so it's not like a new thing. The ROEs have also been refined over the years, but you can't create rules to cover every situation. Troops are trained to get really nervous when someone approaches a checkpoint driving erratically. Traditionally, that means that the car is about to blow up...and kill them.

This is essentially a tragic accident. I doubt the son of a prominent local that's working with the US would turn insurgent. It's likely he lost control of the car.

As for the Iraqi's contradicting what the American's say...all I can say about that is welcome to Iraq. Iraqis don't think like we do...I won't say that they "lie", but I will say that they exaggerate the truth often to cover someone's honor, or to be polite and not be presumptuous and rude. You learn to deal with that when working with them. Take what they say with a grain of salt...it's not what they say that really matters.

[Skittles]

20. WE SHOULD NOT BE THERE

UNDERSTAND????

[blue52power]

22. You sound knowledgable

...on Iraq.

Were you serving there or on business in Iraq?

[Benhurst]

9. All the more reason to bring the troops home and send Bush and

his criminal gang to the Hague.

[elocs]

11. I am sure these same kind of incidents have happened in every type of combat situation

or war we have ever been involved with, including when Clinton sent troops to Bosnia.

[Benhurst]

14. And that justifies the illegal and immoral invansion and continued

occupation of Iraq?

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. OTOH, was this a permanent or temporary checkpoint?

Imagine you are driving along, talking on your cell, then you look up a see a pair of armored cars flanking the road 200' ahead - "THAT wasn't there YESTERDAY" as you slam on the brakes and skid a little because you KNOW you're coming in too fast - and they see the sudden, unexpected move and react appropriately, by blowing the shit out of you.

The point is, we have created the situation where such scenarios are inevitable. And for absolutely no good reason.

[blue52power]

21. Great Post Let's not blame the common soldier NT

nttt

[Ian David]

18. Ali Taha al-Nuaimi is NOT a journalist. He's working for a U.S. Psy-Ops program,

Iraqi police said the son of Ali Taha al-Nuaimi, editor of the US financed "The Voice of the Villages," was raked with American bullets when he lost control of his vehicle.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080724/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestusmedia_080724124800

It's still tragic anyway.