‘That’s me, a marine, a murderer of civilians’The following interview of U.S. Marine Jimmy Massey by Patrizio Lombroso of Il Manifesto appeared the day before Giuliana Sgrena was released and shot. It’s an interview not calculated to win love and friendship in official Washington circles.
‘Yo, un marine asesino de civiles’ (‘That’s me, a marine, a murderer of civilians’)
“I’ve seen the horror that we were causing every day in Iraq. I have been part of it. We are all just murderers.
“We kill innocent Iraqi civilians all the time. That’s the way it is. I believe they need to withdraw all foreign military troops in Iraq right away. And I say this about other soldiers: to avoid punishment or reprisals by the military, they don’t want to talk and admit that killing terrorists is not our mission. It’s to kill innocent civilians.”
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American Style Democracy in Iraq -- Arrogance?Jason N. Thelen, Veterans for Common Sense -- Guest Column
Corruption is rampant in the fledgling government. We train the leaders in ethics and their responsibilities to the people, and they understand the abstract notions. Yet, they do not see their illegal actions as “wrong”. Nepotism is the rule, rather than the exception. Taking kickbacks for awarding a government contract is expected, not unethical. If you can profit from your government job, then that is simply a fringe benefit, like free coffee at the office.
Example: Sadr City is a dank, dirty slum that was built to hold 750,000 people. It now has 2.5 million. Sewage literally flows through the streets because the underground lines are filled with dead animals, trash, and anything else that needs to be “out of sight, out of mind.” One street, dubbed “Route Silver” by the Army, typically had 18-24 inches of sewage across the road. In the winter between 2003 and 2004, each of the 100 neighborhoods in Sadr City was allocated $10,000 to spend on a project that would improve their conditions. Each of the eight neighborhood councils in Sadr City had the ability to decide where that money would be spent, and we could produce the cash to pay contractors upon their submission of a 1-2 page project proposal. The Ishbilia neighborhood council insisted that they needed ten soccer fields. Forget the sewage, ignore the lack of clean water, and the scarcity of medical supplies be damned. They wanted to spend all the money on soccer fields. I finally discovered that the standard contractor kickback system returned a much higher dollar amount back to the council if they built soccer fields, which was entirely a labor endeavor. If they bought tangible items, such as medical supplies or school books, the council received fairly little money. Hence, a soccer field on every block. When I convinced them to submit a proposal to distribute medical supplies, the doctor on the council championed the idea. He then sold the supplies out of his clinic.
Many Iraqis are strongly religious, which is not wrong in and of itself. But, their religious fervor often leads to a lack of tolerance and even hate for opposing religions and views. When leaders mock and revile those different from themselves, the democracy is unstable and devolves into violence. It also causes harsh resistance to female participation in government. I personally witnessed serious intimidation and threats aimed at women that wished to be involved in the fledgling government. Some had the courage to stay involved, but most withdrew in fear for their safety. Others were simply killed. Recently, anti-Shiite violence has become a problem, with their opponents bombing mosques and religious gatherings.
The men and women I worked with grasped the idea of democracy, but most of them were looking to increase their own personal power and advance their own agendas. For example, one council member decided that distribution of propane cylinders to his constituents could be handled more effectively if he commandeered the delivery trucks and oversaw the rationing personally. Out of his own house. At double the maximum price set by the Ministry of Oil. Of course, that extra money was “for his troubles.”
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