Slaughter in the Streets (US troops kill with indiscriminate fire)

[Barrett808]

Slaughter in the Streets
by Dahr Jamail | Posted May 27, 2004 at 06:15 AM Baghdad time

Seventeen year-old Amir is crying during much of the interview. “We were coming home from work, and were shot so many times,” he says with deep anguish and frustration, “Walid told me to leave the car because he was hurt and needed help.”

The man he speaks of, Walid Mohammed Abrahim, was a carpenter. Amir worked as his apprentice.

On May 12th, U.S. troops occupying an Iraqi Police station in the Al-Adhamiya district of Baghdad gunned down their small car as they traveled home after a long day of work.

“I still can’t believe Walid is killed,” said Amir, crying inside the home of Abrahim’s brother. “He is like my brother, was so decent and honest. So many people are killed because of their crazy, haphazard shooting.”

He is referring to the U.S. troops who riddled the car with over 25 bullets. While they were driving past an Iraqi Police station, a rebel fired upon the station from a building on nearly the opposite end of the station from where their car was. Mr. Abrahm’s car being the closest moving object, the soldiers chose it as the most convenient suspected target.

(more)

http://blog.newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches/archives/000458.html#more

[Judi Lynn]

1. This is really bad........

The police report of the incident states that his car was shot 29 times, with Mr. Abrahim suffering two gunshots in the head, along with being shot five times in the chest.

Another Iraqi Policeman who was at the station when the incident occurred, also speaking on condition of anonymity with us, says that when several men attempted to pull Abrahim from the car, U.S. troops opened fire on them. “This is the usual policy of the Americans,” he states as a matter of fact, “They always shoot first, because there is nobody to punish them for their mistakes.”

He says that Iraqi Police have no control over their station when the U.S. forces choose to occupy it. “When the Americans take over our police station, they bring us all together and tell us we are no longer in charge of anything,” he says, holding up his arms in exasperation.

The policeman says that all of them were made to stay inside the station while U.S. soldiers occupied the roof. “This is why I can say definitely yes, it was the Americans who shot Mr. Abrahim, and not Iraqi Police, because none of us were even allowed on the roof,” he says firmly.
(snip)

Sounds very similar to a lot of things we've been reading for months, and it's so damned sad that it simply continues. There is no one around who can check these people. Apparently their commanding officers give them carte blanche.

[NC_Nurse]

2. More sad news about our misadventures in Iraq

I don't think I can take much more of this....:cry:

[Amazin]

9. In defense of Bush,he did promise to liberate the Iraqi people

Uhhh.. from this life.What a guy!Take a bow(as Congress gives him a rousing ovation on Monday before his speech).Stupid is as stupid does.(I don't think God was applauding.Getting a little overcrowded up there from his dirty little war).

[Karenina]

3. This has been going on

since the invasion began.

[TNOE]

4. They just shot Jesus

... a carpenter.......

[BonjourUSA]

5. Every day our French newspapers are full up with this kind of bad stories.

But we know they will not stop tomorrow because an army of occupation will never be a police force. Our Algeria war experience is still in our collective memory.

[TahitiNut]

6. It's tragic ...

... that the "Algeria war experience" is regarded as your experience rather than our (collective human) experience.

It's no wonder that America is seen like a willful adolescent - lacking empathy and incapable of learning from the experience of others. We should be ashamed.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Good points. Insightful. n/t

[JohnOneillsMemory]

10. Nationalism is psychopathic. Self-interest at other's expense.

Just the same as corporations.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

11. My band is hired for a NAACP tribute to the military. I quit. The letter:

Dear friends,

I was horrified after looking at naacp.org and finding out what the 6/10/04 show is about in Washington, DC.

It is a celebration of murder, torture, rape, terrorism, genocide, and eugenics. And those of you who know me will understand that I find this booking beyond repugnant to every human value I hold and that I know you hold, too.

I will not be there. Consider this information I offer to you. This is terribly wrong to support.

It is the NAACP's 29th annual tribute to the US military and Air Force with a special reception by Lockheed Martin, one of the 5 largest defense contractors getting our treasury dollars instead of impoverished US civilians.

"The NAACP salutes all branches of United States military in an awards ceremony highlighting the U.S. Air Force.
The awards dinner is acknowledged in the 2003 Congressional Record for its long-standing tradition of honoring Department of Defense, military and civilian, men and women who continue to serve the Nation proudly in the War on Terrorism. The evening’s highlighted entertainment will be provided by (my band's name deleted)"

NAACP Tribute to the Armed Services - (link deleted)

Yes, applauding the same US military that has:
killed over 11,000 civilians in Iraq alone.
has thousand of people in torture prisons around the world and kills prisoners.
invaded Iraq in an illegal war that got Nazis hung at Nuremberg.
is working with thousands of mercenaries including SOUTH AFRICAN DEATH SQUADS in Iraq.
overthrew democratically elected Aristide in a US coup against Haiti in 2/04 after the PENTAGON PROVIDED 20,000 NEW M16s TO THE TERRORISTS WHO KILLED MANY POOR STARVING HAITIANS. THE US MARINES KIDNAPPED ARISTIDE AND FLEW HIM AND HIS US-CITIZEN WIFE TO CENTRAL AFRICA.
trains and arms terrorists around the world for decades to overthrow governments.
slaughtered hundreds of women and children in Fallujah alone in 4/04.
as been PREVENTING DEMOCRACY around the world for sixty years.

Maybe you've been busy lately and don't know what the US gov't and military is doing to the world around you. It's called mass murder, rape, and torture.

Look at the photos of the thousands of dead children the US military has killed in Iraq and Afghanistan alone and pay tribute to the US military.

Since the obvious apparently needs to be stated, I will not work on shows that you might do paying tribute to:
the Klu Klux Klan
the Nazi Party
the Hezbollah
the al Queda
the Mafia

If you should take engagements with any of these murderous organizations, please know well in advance that you will need another audio engineer.

I can give you all the information on this topic you can bear to look at but, as you might already know, it is difficult to look at the shattered bodies of women and children, old folks, and men who are the victims of the US military. It is nauseating and heart-rending. But I do it every day to know what 'my government' is doing in my name and to bear witness to injustice. It is the only way I can live with myself.

Some of you may choose to look away in denial as your own coping strategy. We all do only what we are able to handle in these tragic times.

peace,
(my name deleted)

Amnesty Lashes Out at War on Terrorism in Annual Rights Report

Wednesday, 26 May 2004

World: Amnesty Lashes Out Against War On Terrorism In Annual Rights Report

By Kathleen Knox

A “war on global values.” That's how Amnesty International is summing up the past year in human rights. In its annual report released today, the London-based human rights watchdog says governments and armed groups have produced the most sustained attack on human rights and international humanitarian law in 50 years. And it says the policies pursued by governments in the U.S.-led war on terrorism have actually made the world a more dangerous place.

Prague, 26 May 2004 (RFE/RL) -- In its annual report, Amnesty International says human rights came under sustained attack during the past year.

The human rights watchdog blames the armed groups who were behind such deadly attacks as the Madrid train bombings in March and the destruction of the United Nations' headquarters in Baghdad last summer.

But it also says governments around the world continued to undermine human rights protections in the name of security and the U.S.-led war on terrorism."We have seen the United States and the United Kingdom and their allies fight a war in the name of destroying weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."


Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general, said the global security agenda promoted by the U.S. administration of President George W. Bush is "bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle.”

Speaking in an audio news release, she said, "Looking back over the past 12 months, what I see is a war on global values -- a war that is being fought on the one hand by armed groups that are ready to go to any extremes of inhumanity to attack ordinary people, and on the other side we see governments which have shown an equal zeal in attacking human rights and global principles. In between, ordinary people are paying a heavy price in terms of their human rights and in terms of their lives."

Specifically, the Amnesty report criticizes Washington for the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and possibly Afghanistan, and for its opposition to the International Criminal Court.

And it says the Iraq war "virtually paralyzed" efforts by the United Nations to hold states to account on human rights.

Khan says the war in Iraq also diverted attention from other human rights hot spots, such as Chechnya and Congo -- and from other pressing problems, like poverty or the proliferation of small arms.

"We have seen the United States and the United Kingdom and their allies fight a war in the name of destroying weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But the real weapons of mass destruction are small arms and light weapons, not nuclear weapons, not chemical, not biological weapons. These small arms and these conventional weapons kill 500,000 people every year," Khan said.

The report makes grim reading, cataloging rights abuses around the world.

[Eloriel]

23. Wow. Way to walk the talk.

Good for you! I salute you.

[Bandit]

13. We should be ashamed. ~ I for one am ashamed

Very very ashamed and my head is hung low.

[ze_dscherman]

18. I am proud of you admitting to be ashamed

But, please, don't let THEM drag YOU down.

[Eloriel]

22. Oh, I think we've gone beyond the willful adolescent stage and

straight to "psychopathic fascist thug" stage -- at least re the people who are in power and those who support them.

[liarliartieonfire]

12. As Americans, we must go to the foreign press for

news of george Bush's actions. I envy your freedoms.

[nomaco-10]

7. What a waste. If bush* really wanted to ....

hunt down and punish "evildoers and thugs", he could have stayed right here in this country and started with our own military.

The carnage and loss of life has gone on for far too long. Everyday must be like living in a nightmare for the Iraqi people and a few decent soldiers who are stranded there and bogged down in this quagmire. god, what a mess.

[TahitiNut]

14. Well, the Busholinis DID hunt down the 'evildoers' in the military ...

... and promoted them! A fish rots from the head ... as does any authoritarian culture.


Here're the promotions to Lieutenant General and above just during this Congress (since January 2003). Do you notice any familiar names???

Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill, 4203, to be General
Lt. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., 1204, to be General
Lt. Gen. Teed M. Moseley, 1516, to be General
Lt. Gen. Bryan D. Brown, 2565, to be General
Lt. Gen. John P. Abizaid, 6229, to be General
Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, 1960, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Baptiste, 1125, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Donald J. Wetekam, 0322, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. William Welser III, 4623, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Larry J. Dodgen, 5373, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. John M. Curran, 6656, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Robert T. Clark, 7273, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., 0278, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Charles L. Johnson II, 5967, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, 3956, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Joseph L. Yakovac Jr., 1273, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Garry R. Trexler, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. David W. Barno, 9794, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Jan C. Huly, 6184, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Claude V. Christianson, 1982, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Robert M. Shea, 3652, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Roger A. Brady, 6581, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Michael M. Dunn, 3491, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, 9763, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Daniel P. Leaf, 9223, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt, 1246, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Walter E. L. Buchanan III, 7387, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. William G. Boykin, 5846, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Robert R. Blackman Jr., 0141, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., 3351, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Jerry L. Sinn, 7044, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Steven W. Boutelle, 1030, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, 9260, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Anthony R. Jones, 7571, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. John R. Vines, 5345, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Henry P. Osman, 9358, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. James J. Lovelace Jr., 0304, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. H. Steven Blum, 9926, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. John D.W. Corley, 9553, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, 4862, to be Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, 5686, to be Lieutenant General

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/noms_confn.htm

[Lou_C]

15. They need to be charged with War Crimes

That's it the whole Bush gang and the soldiers that have killed people need to be charged with War Crimes.

I can't take it anymore I am so sick of them killing people and I am embarrassed of being an American.

[gratuitous]

16. There is not even the consolation of being right

I used the word "indiscriminate" on another website after the massacre at Kama Aido (google it). Boy, did I take a lot of heat for that!

But it keeps happening. Over and over again. Perhaps "indiscriminate" no longer applies, containing as it does an element of randomness or chance. These murders seem more and more deliberate, calculated and premeditated.

[Rex]

17. The Army mouthpiece will insist that Mr. Abrahm

was a terrorist and hauling weapons in the trunk of his car. No evidence is needed because they got away with the wedding massacre, so they will get away with this one too.

[enough]

19. And how many times is this being repeated every day?

What a horror. To no end.

[saigon68]

20. It will continue as long as these Evil men are in power

And no one stands up to them.

[keithyboy]

21. The world needs to call for war crimes against the US

One way to make us pay attention would be to stop doing business with us and sanction our bank accounts that are off shore to avoid taxes.