-US troops ‘shoot civilians

US troops ‘shoot civilians’

By Bob Graham, Evening Standard, in Baghdad

19 June 2003

American soldiers in Iraq today make the astonishing admission that they
regularly kill civilians.

(This is London homepage)

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/5401680?source=Evening%20Standard

In a series of disturbing interviews which throws light on the chaos
gripping the country, GIs also confess to leaving wounded Iraqi fighters to
die, and even to shooting injured enemy

soldiers. They say they are frequently confronted by fighters dressed as
civilians, including women.

Their response is often to shoot first and ask questions later, even when it
means killing genuine civilians. Yesterday, US troops killed at least one
man and injured three others during a demonstration in Baghdad by former
Iraqi soldiers protesting at not being paid for two months. US troops first
fired into the air and then into the crowd after the demonstrators began
throwing stones and bricks.

In the worsening cycle of violence, American tactics like these are feeding
the resentment of many Iraqis who object to the occupation of their country.
US troops are facing a growing number of hitandrun guerrilla attacks and
more than 40 soldiers have been killed since George Bush declared the war
over seven weeks ago.

The threat American soldiers feel was illustrated today when a coalition-run
humanitarian aid office north of Baghdad was shelled, killing one Iraqi
worker and wounded 12. The attack represents a tactical shift by the
guerillas as they target fellow Iraqis deemed to be too close to the allies.

One of the soldiers interviewed by the Evening Standard, Specialist Anthony
Castillo, of the 3/15th US Infantry, said: “When there were civilians there,
we did the mission that had to be done. When they were there, they were at
the wrong spot, so they were considered enemy.”

The soldiers are furious that their commanders have reneged on promises to
send them home as soon as the war

was won and are now forcing them into the role of peacekeepers.

The interviews will make troubling reading for US and British politicians
and senior military staff desperate to pacify the country and impose order
before a transfer to a civilian government run by Iraqis.

[full interview]

‘I just pulled the trigger’

By Bob Graham, Evening Standard, in Baghdad

19 June 2003

(This is London homepage)

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/5402104

At first glance they appear to be the archetypal Band Of Brothers of
Hollywood myth, brave and honest men united in common purpose.

But a closer look at these American GIs, sweltering in the heat of an
unwelcoming Iraq, reveals the glazed eyes and limp expressions of those who
have witnessed a war they do not understand and have begun to resent. By
their own admission these American soldiers have killed civilians without
hesitation, shot wounded fighters and left others to die in agony.

What they told me, in a series of extraordinary interviews, will make
uncomfortable reading for US and British politicians and senior military
staff desperate to prevent the liberation of Iraq turning into a quagmire of
Vietnam proportions, where the behaviour of troops feeds the hatred of an
occupied people.

Sergeant First Class John Meadows revealed the mindset that has led to
hundreds of innocent Iraqi civilians being killed alongside fighters
deliberately dressed in civilian clothes. “You can’t distinguish between
who’s trying to kill you and who’s not,” he said. “Like, the only way to get
through s*** like that was to concentrate on getting through it by killing
as many people as you can, people you know are trying to kill you. Killing
them first and getting home.”

These GIs, from Bravo Company of the 3/15th US Infantry Division, are caught
in an impossible situation. More than 40 of their number have been killed by
hostile forces since 1 May – when President Bush declared major military
operations were over – and the number of hit-and-run attacks is on the
increase. They face a resentful civilian population and, hiding among it, a
number of guerrilla fighters still loyal to the old regime. A lone Iraqi
sniper nicknamed The Hunter is believed to have claimed his sixth American
victim this week in a suburb of Baghdad.

The man, said to be a former member of the Republican Guard Special Forces,
has developed a cult status among some Iraqis. One Baghdad resident, Assad
al Amari, said: “He is fighting for Iraq on his own. There will be many more
Americans killed because they cannot stop The Hunter. He will be given the
protection of people who will let him use their homes for his shooting.”

In this hostile atmosphere the men of Bravo Company are asked to maintain
order, yet at the same time win hearts and minds. It is not a dilemma they
feel able to resolve. They spoke to me – dressed in uniforms they have worn
for the past six weeks – at their base in Fallujah. Here US troops killed 18
demonstrators at a pro-Saddam rally soon after the war and now face local
fighters bent on revenge.

Their attitude to these dangers is summed up by Specialist (Corporal)
Michael Richardson, 22. “There was no dilemma when it came to shooting
people who were not in uniform, I just pulled the trigger. It was up close
and personal the whole time, there wasn’t a big distance. If they were
there, they were enemy, whether in uniform or not. Some were, some weren’t.”

Specialist Anthony Castillo added: “When there were civilians there we did
the mission that had to be done. When they were there, they were at the
wrong spot, so they were considered enemy.” In one major battle – at the
southern end of Baghdad at the intersection of the main highways – the
soldiers estimate about 70 per cent of the enemy’s 400-or-so fighters were
dressed as civilians.

Sgt Meadows explained: “The fight lasted for about eight hours and they just
kept on coming all day from everywhere, from all sides. They were all in
plain clothes.

“We had dropped fliers a couple of days prior saying to people to get out of
the area if they didn’t want to fight, so basically anyone who was there was
a combatant. If they were dumb enough to stand in front of tanks or drive a
car

towards a tank, then they were there to fight. On that day it took away the
dilemma of who to fire at, anyone who was there was a combatant.”

Cpl Richardson added: “That day nothing went with the training. There were
females fighting; there were some that, when they saw you f****** coming,
they’d just drop their s*** and try to give up; and some guys were shot and
they’d play dead, and when you’d go by they’d reach for their weapons. That
day it was just f****** everything. When we face women or injured that try
to grab their weapons, we just finish them off. You’ve gotta, no choice.”

Such is their level of hatred they preferred to kill rather than merely
injure. Sgt Meadows, 34, said: “The worst thing is to shoot one of them,
then go help him.” Sergeant Adrian Pedro Quinones, 26, chipped in: “In that
situation you’re angry, you’re raging. They’d just been shooting at my men –
they were putting my guys in a casket and eight feet under, that’s what they
were trying to do.

“And now, they’re laying there and I have to help them, I have a
responsibility to ensure my men help them.” Cpl Richardson said: “S***, I
didn’t help any of them. I wouldn’t help the f******. There were some you
let die. And there were some you double-tapped.”

He held out his hand as if firing a gun and clucked his tongue twice. He
said: “Once you’d reached the objective, and once you’d shot them and you’re
moving through, anything there, you shoot again. You didn’t want any
prisoners of war. You hate them so bad while you’re fighting, and you’re so
terrified, you can’t really convey the feeling, but you don’t want them to
live.”

These soldiers have faced fighters from other Arab countries. “It wasn’t
even Iraqis that we was killing, it was Syrians,” said Sgt Meadows. “We
spoke to some of the people and Saddam made a call for his Arab brothers for
a holy war against us, and they said they came here to fight us. Whadda we
ever do to them?”

Cpl Richardson intervened: “S***, that didn’t really matter who they were.
They wanted to fight us so they were the enemy. We had to take over Baghdad,
period, it didn’t matter who was in there.”

The GIs spoke of shooting civilians at roadblocks. Sgt Meadows said: “When
they used white flags we were told to stop them at 400 metres out and then
strip them down naked then bring them through. Most obeyed the order. We
knew about others who had problems with [Iraqis] carrying white flags and
then opening up on our guys. We knew about every trick they were trying to
do. Then they’d use cars to try and drive at us. They were men, women and
children. That day we shot up a lot of cars.

“We’d shoot warning shots at them and they’d keep coming, so we’d kill them.
We’d fire a warning shot over the top of them or on the road. When people
criticise us killing civilians they don’t know that a lot of these civilians
were combatants, they really were . And they still are.”

The men have been traumatised by their experiences. Cpl Richardson-said: “At
night time you think about all the people you killed. It just never gets off
your head, none of this stuff does. There’s no chance to forget it, we’re
still here, we’ve been here so long. Most people leave after combat but we
haven’t.”

Sgt Meadows said men under his command had been seeking help for severe
depression: “They’ve already seen psychiatrists and the chain of command has
got letters back saying ‘these men need to be taken out of this situation’.
But nothing’s happened.” Cpl Richardson added: “Some soldiers don’t even
f****** sleep at night. They sit up all f****** night long doing s*** to
keep themselves busy – to keep their minds off this f****** stuff. It’s the
only way they can handle it. It’s not so far from being crazy but it’s their
way of coping. There’s one guy trying to build a little pool out the back,
pointless stuff but it keeps him busy.”

Sgt Meadows said: “For me, it’s like snap-shot photos. Like pictures of
maggots on tongues, babies with their heads on the ground, men with their
heads halfway off and their eyes wide open and mouths wide open. I see it
every day, every single day. The smells and the torsos burning, the entire
route up to Baghdad, from 20 March to 7 April, nothing but burned bodies.”

Specialist Bryan Barnhart, 21, joined in: “I also got the images like
snapshots in my head. There are bodies that we saw when we went back to
secure a place we’d taken. The bodies were still there and they’d been
baking in the sun. Their bodies were bloated three times the size.”

Sgt Quinones explained: “There are psychiatrists who are trying to sort out
their problems but they say it’s because of long combat environment. They
know we need to be taken away from that environment.” But the group’s tour
of duty has been extended and the men have been forced to remain as
peacekeepers. Cpl Richardson said: “Now we’re in this peacekeeping, we’re
always firing off a warning shot at people that don’t wanna listen to you.
You make up the rules as you go along.

“Like, in Fallujah we get rocks thrown at us by kids. You wanna turn round
and shoot one of the little f*****s but you know you can’t do that. Their
parents know if they came out and threw rocks we’d shoot them. So that’s why
they send the kids out.” Sgt Meadows said: “Can you imagine being a soldier
and being told ‘you’re fighting a war, then when you finish you can go
home’.

“You go and fight that war, and you win decisively, but now you have to stay
and stabilise the situation. We are having to go from a full warfighting
mindset to a peacekeeping mindset overnight. Right after shooting at people
who were trying to kill you, you now have to help them.”

The anger towards their own senior officers is obvious. Cpl Richardson said:
“We weren’t trained for this stuff now. It makes you resentful they’re
holding us on here. It pisses everyone off, we were told once the war was
over we’d leave when our replacements get here. Well, our replacements got
here and we’re still here.”

Specialist Castillo said: “We’re more angry at the generals who are making
these decisions and who never hit the ground, and who don’t get shot at or
have to look at the bloody bodies and the burnt-out bodies, and the dead
babies and all that kinda stuff.” Sgt Quinones added: “Most of these
soldiers are in their early twenties and late teens. They’ve seen, in less
than a month, more than any man should see in a whole lifetime. It’s time
for us to go home.”

On whether the war was one worth fighting, Sgt Meadows said: “I don’t care
about Iraq one way or the other. I couldn’t care less. [Saddam] could still
be in power and, to me, it wasn’t worth leaving my family for; for getting
shot at and almost dying two or three times, there’s nothing worth that to
me.” Even though no Iraqis were involved, and there is no proof Saddam was
behind it, the attack on the World Trade Center provides Cpl Richardson and
many others with the justification for invading Iraq.

“There’s a picture of the World Trade Center hanging up by my bed and I keep
one in my Kevlar [flak jacket]. Every time I feel sorry for these people I
look at that. I think, ‘They hit us at home and, now, it’s our turn.’ I
don’t want to say payback but, you know, it’s pretty much payback.”