Face That Screamed War’s Pain Looks Back, 6 Years Later

[Botany]

Source: NY Times

MOSUL, Iraq — Until the past week, Samar Hassan had never glimpsed the photograph of her that millions had seen, never knew it had
become one of the most famous images of the Iraq war.

“My brother was sick, and we were taking him to the hospital and on the way back, this happened,” Samar said. “We just heard bullets.

“My mother and father were killed, just like that.”

The image of Samar, then 5 years old, screaming and splattered in blood after American soldiers opened fire on her family’s car in the
northern town of Tal Afar in January 2005, illuminated the horror of civilian casualties and has been one of the few images from this
conflict to rise to the pantheon of classic war photography. The picture has gained renewed attention as part of a large body of work
by Chris Hondros, the Getty Images photographer recently killed on the front lines in Misurata, Libya.

Now a striking 12-year-old, Samar lives on the outskirts of Mosul in a two-story house with four other families, mostly relatives.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/world/middleeast/07photo.html?_r=1

---

The legacy of bush's war.



BTW the reporter who took this picture was removed from covering the war by the military
and after her parents were killed in front of her she was given toys by American soldiers.

I wonder how does W, Condi Rice, and on ever sleep @ night?

[msongs]

1. umm bush's war continues this very second with a new name attached. nothing has changed ntt

[Ikonoklast]

14. 'Nothing has changed' is not the truth.

The draw-down of troops is proceeding apace, there is no longer the level of sectarian violence in Iraq ( which killed the vast majority of Iraqis) and President Obama is keeping his word by ending our combat operations in that nation.

You can try to blame Mr. Obama for this all you want, but the facts will fly in your face.

Bush started that war, and President Obama is ending it.

[krabigirl]

17. You actually believe this?

[Ikonoklast]

25. Prove to me, with numbers and facts, otherwise.

Not your opinion, with reality.

Unless you think every branch of this government, the Iraqi government, and the UN are all lying, then forget it.

[TransitJohn]

22. delete

n/t

[sabrina 1]

24. And the number of mercenaries?? Have those numbers

changed? Have you been following what is going on in that tragic country? The shooting down by our puppet government of peaceful demonstrators inspired by other peaceful protestors across the Arab World? Are you aware that over 4 million, maybe more Iraqis, many of them former middle class with jobs, are still displaced, nearly half living in refugee camps outside their own country?

Are you aware of the many organizations now demanding freedom and jobs, their jobs having been given to foreign 'contractors' and demanding what they had under Saddam but no longer have, healthcare, education, security in their homes, and an end to foreign occupation.

It is growing worse by the day in that sad country that we so totally destroyed, under both parties. So please, this is not a political issue, it is a huge, tragic humanitarian crime and it needs to be addressed, but NOT by those who caused it.

The Iraqi protestors want the US military bases removed from their country, and all US troops. And mostly US Mercenaries. You really should try to follow what is going in these places whose tragic circumstances we are all somewhat responsible for, especially now since we it is our party in charge.

[indepat]

32. One wonders if the totality of all this does not constitute a monstrous war crime

:shrug: :patriot:

[dipsydoodle]

2. What's she complaining about ?

Civilians were fair game then and continue to be so now. :sarcasm:

the reporter who took this picture .... I don't recall that being reported before.

[Botany]

4. from the article

The military also set strict rules for embedded journalists that kept many graphic images from the public eye; the
military asked Mr. Hondros to leave his embed assignment after he shot the pictures of Samar.

Chris Hondros was killed 4/20/11 in Libya.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Would there be a law against putting billboards with this photo in and around

Sugarland Texas? I would imagine people would have a hard time with it.... knowing the truth I mean.

[foxtrot]

9. Probably no more law than would prevent billboards in the

Kenwood district of Chicago.

Why would you ask?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

20. I believe there is a shrub that lives there. n/t

[lunatica]

5. This story made me cry again

The children are suffering from PTSD now.

[madokie]

6. Well W passes out drunk, that one was easy

kindasleezy has Ambien (Zolpidem) as I guess a mix of alcohol and sleep aids is what helps all of them to forget long enough to get some rest. I'd bet the nightmares are tough to live with though night after night, day after day.

[Plucketeer]

8. If you don't have a conscience

you're probably free from nightmares as well.

[madokie]

12. I don't know

I have nightmares from my war but I also have a conscience. I guess it would take that kind of a person to be in that position to begin with. I know I couldn't do it.

[indepat]

33. Condi et al have probably not lost a wink of sleep over this for that they couldn't care

less is indelibly etched in their every act. :patriot:

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

:(

[Trajan]

10. This is the 'six years later' picture from the story ...

[Botany]

11. The story is hard to read

That asshole killed a country based on lies.

[liberalla]

28. She's horrified to see her image from that night, and to

remember the violent killing of her mother and father, and wounding of a brother.

From the article:

"Three years after her parents were killed, her brother Rakan died when an insurgent attack badly damaged the house where she lives now. Rakan had been seriously wounded in the shooting that killed their parents, and he was sent to Boston for treatment after Mr. Hondros’s photos were published. An American aid worker, Marla Ruzicka, who helped arrange for Rakan’s treatment, was herself later killed in a car bomb in Baghdad.

Intisar’s husband, Nathir Bashir Ali, suspects his house was bombed by insurgents as retribution for sending Rakan to the United States. “When Rakan came back from America, everyone thought I was a spy,” he said.

Intisar’s husband, Nathir Bashir Ali, suspects his house was bombed by insurgents as retribution for sending Rakan to the United States. “When Rakan came back from America, everyone thought I was a spy,” he said.

snip

“I’ve taken them many times to the hospital, where they get pills” for emotional problems, Mr. Ali said. “All of them take pills.” He says Samar’s 8-year-old brother, Muhammad, talks to himself when he is alone. “When we go out and see a family, they get sad,” he said. Sometimes he finds the children in a room together, crying. “When they remember the accident, it’s like they just died.”

We have caused so much pain.

[liberalla]

29. Another photo:

Caption: Samar Hassan helps out around the house she shares with siblings and other relatives in Mosul, Iraq, but no longer attends school. Even in a traumatized country, her story is an unusual one.
_________________________________________________

"This week Samar, hugging a pillow to her chest, recalled: “He was taking pictures of me, I remember. Then he stopped, and they brought me a jacket and put me in the truck and treated the wound on my hand. And they gave me some toys.”

She had never seen the picture until this week, but she said she understood that it showed the world “the sad thing that is happening in Iraq.”

Near the end of the interview, she pointed to a family photograph on the wall. “I always dream about my father and mother and brother,” she said."


:cry:

[uppityperson]

13. Thanks for the story, had wondered what had become of her. k&r

She so reminded me of a niece and still does in her current pict.

[barbtries]

15. good article

good comments. when will we ever learn?

[KoKo]

16. So horrible. The face of war. How could people not understand what Bush

Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the NeoCons did with this invasion. Iraq is off the radar as our MSM prattles on with political wars and silly celebrity stories.

It's heartbreaking to read this and to wonder about how many thousands of others are out there who weren't photographed

[WinkyDink]

21. I'm pretty sure recent events have put Iraq back in the news.

[Arctic Dave]

18. This picture sums up the entire Iraq war crime.

I would not be surprised if it becomes the Afghanistan girl on the cover of National Geographic.

[struggle4progress]

19. ... They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast

carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made ...

-- The Great Gatsby

[Arugula Latte]

23. Oh, but it was all done for Our Freedom.

:sarcasm:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. It reminded me of this one when I saw it.

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Mohandas K. Gandhi

[kath]

27. "Now a striking 12-year-old"

What the fuckity-fuck does her appearance have to do with anything?????

[Withywindle]

30. It's good to know her name.

She's become an icon and a symbol, but she's also a real person. And the rest of her story is still sad.


People can't even begin to heal from tragedy and trauma if they STILL KEEP HAPPENING. :cry:

[slipslidingaway]

31. knr nt

[Javaman]

34. "here kid, here's your tickle me elmo"...

"now get the fuck out of here. You with the camera, get over here!!"

until the wars start fraying the edges of the zombie consumers consciousness, they will continue to shop.