'This one's faking he's dead'
'He's dead now'
Fallujah: Video shows US soldier killing wounded
insurgent in cold blood
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
16 November 2004

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=583322

The US Marine Corps launched an investigation into
possible war crimes last night after video footage
taken inside a mosque in Fallujah apparently showed a
Marine shooting dead an unarmed Iraqi insurgent who
had been taken prisoner.

The footage showed several Marines with a group of
prisoners who were either lying on the floor or
propped against a wall of the bombed-out building. One
Marine can be heard declaring that one of the
prisoners was faking his injuries.

"He's fucking faking he's dead. He faking he's fucking
dead," says the Marine. At that point a clatter of
gunfire can be heard as one of the Marines shoots the
prisoner. Another voice can then be heard saying:
"He's dead now."

The footage was obtained by a team from the American
NBC network that was embedded with the Marine Corps
during last week's seven-day battle to capture the
city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, which military
commanders say has been a focus of Iraqi resistance.
The film was then pooled and made available to other
media.

On the footage that was broadcast last night, NBC
correspondent Kevin Sites said that the five wounded
Iraqi fighters had been left in the mosque after
Marines had fought their way into that part of the
city on Friday and Saturday. Ten other Iraqis had been
killed in the battle for the mosque. Instead of being
passed to the rear lines for treatment the wounded
Iraqis were left in the mosque until a second group of
Marines entered the building on Saturday, following
reports that the building may have been reoccupied.
Sites said that at this point one of the five Iraqis
was dead and that three of the others appeared to be
close to death.

In his report accompanying the images, Sites said that
one of the Marines noticed that one of the wounded men
was still breathing before shouting that he was
"faking it".

"The Marine then raises his rifle and fires into the
man's head. The pictures are too graphic for us to
broadcast," said Sites. He added: "The prisoner did
not appear to be armed or threatening in any way".
Major Doug Powell, a spokesman for the Marine Corps in
Washington, told The Independent: "It's being
investigated - I can't say much more than that. It's
being investigated for possible law of war violations.
A naval criminal investigation team is looking into
it."

The footage - some of the first to show the situation
inside Fallujah and the bloody nature of the
street-by-street battle that has taken place there -
is the latest to emerge from Iraq to contain possible
evidence of war crimes perpetrated by the US military.

Other footage has shown troops shooting wounded
fighters lying in open ground as well as attacks on
Iraqis - some said to be civilians - by US aircraft
and helicopters. This latest footage is among the most
shocking given that it apparently shows without
obstruction the Marine shooting the prisoner in the
head at close range.

Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices
in the Wilderness, said last night that such images
would "recruit more terrorists faster than they are
being killed".

"I don't think the US is paying much attention to the
Geneva Conventions any more - that is the problem.
This must be investigated," she said.

NBC said in its report that the Marine who had shot
the insurgent had apparently been shot in the face the
day before and that one of his comrades had been
killed the previous day by a booby-trap bomb that had
been placed on the body of a dead insurgent. He has
been withdrawn from the field and his unit removed
from the front lines, officials said.

Military experts said last night that rules of
engagement prevented US troops from shooting an enemy
where there was no threat being posed.

Yesterday, the Marines said they had taken more than
1,000 prisoners in the battle for Fallujah. Colonel
Michael Regner, operations officer for the 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force at Fallujah, said at least 1,052
prisoners had been captured in the battle. No more
than about two dozen of them were "foreign fighters",
he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marines Killed Four Wounded Iraqi Prisoners: US
Reporter

http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2004-11/17/article01.shtml

BAGHDAD, November 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies)
– The US pool reporter, who broke to the world the
killing of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi prisoner by a
marine, further revealed that more prisoners were shot
dead though they did not appear threatening in any
way.

NBC correspondent Kevin Sites was quoted by the
Associated Press Wednesday, November 17, as saying
that US Marines killed three more unarmed and wounded
Iraqi prisoners in a Fallujah mosque Saturday,
November 12.

He added the wounded had been left in the mosque for
others to pick up and move to the rear for treatment.
No reason was given why that had not happened.

The shooting in the Fallujah mosque became public
Tuesday, November 16, with the airing of the footage
taken Saturday by Sites.

In his report, Sites said the man who was killed
didn't appear to be armed or threatening in any way,
with no weapons visible in the mosque.

Sites said he saw the marine raise his rifle and fire
point blank at the head of a man, who was slumped
against a wall in a mosque.

US networks and television channels in other countries
have widely shown Sites’ footage, taken Saturday, but
halted it in the second before the shot was fired.

The incident could cause major political problems for
the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his
US backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are
seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the
Fallujah offensive.

Rumsfeld in the Dark

The US military promised a thorough investigation into
the incident with the First Marine Division saying in
a statement released in Iraq that the marine “has been
withdrawn from the battlefield pending the results of
the investigation.”

The military said it wanted to determine whether the
marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or
failed to comply with the international Law of Armed
Conflict.

“We follow the Law of Armed Conflict and hold
ourselves to a high standard of accountability,” the
marine commander in Fallujah, Lieutenant General John
Sattler, said in a statement.

“The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to
make an informed decision and to protect the rights of
all persons involved,” he said.

Hawkish Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in
Ecuador for meetings with his Latin American
counterparts, had little to say about the incident.

“I've not seen that,” said Rumsfeld. “I've been told
that an American general has addressed the subject and
any discussion of what may or may not have taken place
which I'm not knowledgeable about would clearly be
handled by the military forces and the leadership
there in Iraq.”

Some 10,000 US marines and army forces, alongside some
2,000 Iraqi national guard soldiers unleashed a long
expected onslaught on the resistance hub on November
8, capping long nights of massive US raids.

The successive raids have caused massive damage in the
city, with dead bodies still littering the streets.

The current offensive looked set to come at a heavy
price for the US military as at least 39 American
troops have been killed and up to 250 others evacuated
to the US military hospital in the German city of
Landstuhl so far, according to US military estimates.

The US military also said about 1,200 resistance
fighters have been killed in the bloody incursion.

The killing of wounded Iraqi prisoners come as a grim
reminder of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal where US
troops harassed, in all forms and types of the word,
Iraqi detainees.

Washington also said it would investigate the horrible
scenes, deemed by law experts as gross human rights
violations, but only few soldiers were sentenced to
jail terms and others are still on trial.

Maysoun Hirmiz, 36, a Christian Iraqi merchant in
Baghdad, told the AP she was not satisfied by an
announcement by the US military that it had removed
the Marine from the battlefield and will investigate
whether he acted in self defense.

“They will say or do the same thing they did with the
soldiers who committed the abuses against Iraqis
detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, and they are still
free, enjoying their lives while they destroyed other
peoples' lives,” Hirmiz said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Children pay a price for assault on Falluja

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1353065,00.html

Evidence began to emerge yesterday of civilians,
including children, who were seriously injured in the
US assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja. As American
troops sought to consolidate their control over the
city, patients in a hospital in Baghdad described how
they had been hurt during US bombing raids before the
ground assault began last week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What drives the fighters in flip-flops

Falluja is not unique. Collective punishment is
escalating in Iraq

Haifa Zangana
Wednesday November 17, 2004
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1352924,00.html

In a statement that directly echoed George Bush, Qasim
Daoud, Iraq's interim minister of state for national
security, told a news conference at the weekend:
"Mission accomplished ... Falluja has been liberated".
He proudly recited the list of the dead - 1,400
terrorists, foreigners and Saddamists. And what about
civilians, the women and children trapped in the
fighting zone. Any casualties? He avoided the
question.
At the same time, thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in
Baghdad, Basra and Heet in support of the people of
Falluja. Many were arrested, some were beaten. The
US-appointed Allawi regime responded by imposing new
curfews. The US military is still struggling to
contain a spreading wave of resistance, in Najaf and
now Mosul. Around Falluja, camps have been erected to
receive displaced women and children. Men aged 15-50
were not allowed to leave the city, so 150,000 wait in
anguish for news of fathers, husbands and sons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rules of engagement

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1352831,00.html

Dramatic news footage from Falluja which appears to
show an American marine shooting a prone Iraqi has
caused outrage here and in the US. But Falklands
veteran Quintin Wright says that this is just what
soldiers are trained to do
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

List of American war crimes worldwide
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/American/






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