This is liberation?
As the Iraqi resistance to the U.S.-British invasion and
occupation has intensified, so have the indiscriminate attacks
on Iraqi civilians. The March 30 Times of London carried the
following information in an article by Mark Franchetti from
Nasiriyah:
"Some 15 vehicles, including a minivan and couple of trucks,
blocked the road. They were riddled with bullet holes.
"Amid the wreckage I counted 12 dead civilians ... all had
been trying to leave this southern town.
"One man's body was still in flames. ... Down the road, a
little girl, no older than five and dressed in a pretty orange
and gold dress, lay dead in a ditch next to the body of a man
who may have been her father. Half his head was missing."
On March 31, 10 women and children were killed inside a
civilian vehicle by U.S. Army forces at Najaf.
On April 1, the French Press Agency reported that 33 people
had been killed and 310 wounded by U.S. bombing raids on the
outskirts of Hilla, 50 miles south of Baghdad. The day before,
15 members of a family were killed, with only one survivor, in
an Apache helicopter rocket attack.
The massacre at Nasiriyah reported in the London Times has
been little covered in the U.S. media. Even less attention has
been given in the big business press to the racist attitudes
inculcated in U.S. troops, reminiscent of the Vietnam War.
Franchetti noted the "bitter satisfaction" of some of the
Marines looking out over the 15 destroyed vehicles in
Nasariyah. He quoted a U.S. army corporal, Ryan Dupre, as
saying: "The Iraqis are sick people and we are the
chemotherapy. I am starting to hate this country. Wait till I
get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll
just kill him."
On March 31, the Guardian reported that three British
soldiers were being sent home and faced possible court martial
for protesting against the killing of Iraqi civilians.
The Times of London reported on the same day that three
other British soldiers had been wounded and a fourth killed by
a U.S. A-10 fighter plane. Lance Corporal Steven Gerrard
described how the plane attacked in two separate runs while the
British troops were amidst civilians: "There was a boy of about
12 years old. He was no more than 20 meters away when the Yank
opened up. There were all these civilians around. He had
absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a
cowboy." Lt. Alex MacEwen said he was glad to be going home.
His friends and family had joked: "Don't worry about the
Iraqis, it's the Americans you want to watch."
--R.B.
Reprinted from the April 10, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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