US CONTINUES DOWN THE PATH OF DESTRUCTION UNDER BUSH.....talk about VIETNAM!!!!
News & Analysis
82nd Airborne Vs. An Elderly Couple: A Case Study of
Excessive Force
Ben Granby, Electronic Iraq
16 February 2004
Falluja, Iraq -- It began with the rockets. Fired from distant jets, as the
residents claim, several missiles began falling upon various homes around
the dusty and remote village of Amiriyah at 1am on February 16th. They
landed almost simultaneous upon the homes of Sheikh Mohammed
As-Soueed and Mishaan Abid Saleh, almost a mile apart as US ground
forces closed in. The American objective, according to the residents were
three Syrians suspected of having taken refuge in the area.
The Saleh farm lies at the end of a gravel road, several hundred meters
from their nearest neighbor. The modest one-story mud brick house is
home to a large extended family of almost forty people, the vast majority
being Mishaan's many grand-children. Mishaan, 70, who is nearly blind,
relied on his wife to recount what happened in the early morning hours.
"We woke up to the missiles hitting our home," she explains, almost
trembling from beneath her hejab. "Then the soldiers came and blew up
one of our trucks and attacked our sheep. They then came into the house
and took everyone out." Four of her children were hooded, bound and
taken away. Afterwards, even though the Americans had the complete
compliance of the family, she claims they ransacked the house, confiscating
the family's two rifles, their jewelry and their life savings of 25 million Iraqi
Dinars (about US$18,000). Some of the soldiers outside came across the
three other vehicles owned by various family members, a large truck used
for moving produce, a small sedan and a new pickup truck. Each had ever
tire systematically shot out, and several bullets squarely placed in the
engine blocks in an unmistakably intentional manner.
Mishaan himself begins wailing, while holding one of his youngest relatives,
a small boy who simply stares off in a glass-eyed gaze. "What do they
want with us? We are just farmers here! they have taken everything we
have, destroyed the rest and I don't know where my children are." Dead
sheep lay scattered around the side of the house, some splayed out infront
of craters caused by the rockets. About 50m down the driveway an
unexploded rocket remains burrowed into the sandy soil.
The Saleh family, however, received a far more lenient treatment that
morning. On the other side of the village, past large farms of budding
cucumber and tomato plants, the Soueed home is in total ruin. According
to the neighbors, right from the start the house was under constant
bombardment by airplanes, helicopters, tanks and other armored vehicles.
The shooting did not stop for almost two hours. Of the small home's only
two inhabitants, Mohammed lay dead and his mortally wounded wife had
managed to crawl out the back. He was burried in the nearby cemetary at
one that day, with most of the village coming out in mourning.
The roof of Mohammed's building shows the marks of at least thirteen
blast holes left by rocket impacts. The concrete ceiling has been blown
away revealing an iron frame and dropping rubble everywhere. Although
the neighbors insist that the 70-year old Mohammed never fired a shot, nor
even owned a gun, the home resembles a WWII-era battle ground on the
inside. Not a single wall, corner, crevice or walkway stands without at
least several bullet holes. Several outer walls have been blown apart
completely and one of the side windows shows evidence of where the
metal grate cover was cut away with a torch. Mohammed's wife had made
it out the back window and neighbors took her to a hospital, however
word came that she passed away in the middle of the day.
No knock on the front door or call to surrender was ever made, according
to witnesses and relatives. Instead spatterings of dark red and
bloody-handprints reveal where Mohammed spent his final moments near
the front of the home. It is evident that he was long dead before the
American soldiers finished blasting paths clear through the home.
Fragments of concrete cover everything: the floors, the stairs, the few
pieces of furniture the couple owned. In one of the few furnished rooms,
where the Soueed's slept, cabinets and boxes had been ripped open. The
only appliance, a small old television, had been blasted to pieces. Most
walls seemed to be barely able to stand, having been punctured by
everything from small arms fire to tank shells.
"This is a sin. This is a sin," repeats Ali (real name withheld), who can do
nothing but curse the incident. As the house was under attack, other
American soldiers in the squadron rounded up some fifteen young men
from nearby homes and took them away. Although subjected to raids,
none of the other homes were attacked to any degree, let alone the almost
incomprehensible ferocity the Soueen household withstood.
Ahmed (real name withheld) holds tight to one of his two young boys. "Just
think what this boy has seen. Imagine what he thinks," Ahmed seethes with
anger. "Before now, there were no problems, but now my son will grow up
to hate Americans forever for what they did today." He believes that some
one with a personal grudge must have tipped off Mohammed Soueed as a
resistance supporter to warrent this enormous onslaught. "If I just now go
and tell the Americans some one I dont like is a terrorist, they will go and
kill him for me - no questions asked! Is this real? Is this American justice?"
Ali wanders past, kicking pieces of shattered glass and concrete as he
shakes his head. "This is a sin," he continues to repeat.
Neither the US Centcom nor the 82nd Airborne Infantry division have yet
issued statements on this incident and the public affairs officer for the
division has not yet replied to queries on the matter.
Ben Granby is a freelance writer with several years of experience
writing from Palestine and Iraq.
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