Crimes in Iraq "Regrettable" Statistics

By Felicity Arbuthnot

Iraqis-engulfed in an unimaginable loss throughout thirteen years of sanctions and bombings-were reviled, insulted, but attacked no one. The US’s response to the 9/11 tragedy has been little short of genocide: Two entire civil societies (with no nationals on the 9/11 flights) have been reduced to a pre-industrial state, illegally occupied by asset strippers, whose armies ensure that the dead remain uncounted and inconsequential-except to the grieving. Obviously, to the US, Iraqis’ lives have long been cheap. In 1996 Madeleine Albright, then US Ambassador to the UN, was asked if the price of half a million Iraqi children was worth it. "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price-we think the price is worth it," she replied.

The meticulous team at Iraq Body Count (IBC) is attempting to account for civilian deaths. As of July 12, 2004, 11,164 are recorded. Statistics, however, do not convey what deaths really mean and how they impact those who lose loved ones.

"In remembrance," IBC has painstakingly compiled 692 names-as of March 2004. They leap from the pages: 421 men, 106 women and 94 children. Fatima, 8, Mawra, 9, Mohammed, 6, Zainab, 5, Saif, 11, Mohammed, 2, Tabarak, 8, Noor 6 months... Eleven members of the family of Sader Hamzeb Youssa, Sahar Salhan, her husband and their unborn son...

They died from cluster bombs, missiles, rockets and shrapnel. They died engaged in normal daily activities.

They died before Fallujah’s toll-caused by the siege, before knowledge of torture and deaths in Coalition prisons, and photographs of laughter beside a pyramid of naked Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison-a scene reminiscent of the naked dead at Bergen-Belsen under the Nazis. And there are certainly worse revelations to come.

Since no one is guarding the guards (there are reports that the US General who instigated the inhuman procedures at Abu Ghraib is in charge of the investigation into the very scandal), the illegal and inhuman can go un-noticed or quickly forgotten: just another day’s "regrettable"-a word the US military is fond of using-statistic.

There are those in Iraq determined this will not be the case. Small, independent organizations like Christian Peacemaker Teams and Iraq Occupation Watch witness and record the unbearable, determined that accountability must, eventually, prevail.

It was Eman Ahmed Khammas of Iraq Occupation Watch who traveled the dangerous western road to establish the facts regarding the infamous wedding massacre at Mugrldeeb village near the Syrian border.

Alqaim, 420 kilometers west of Baghdad, has the nearest hospital to the village. Khammas talked to hospital Director Dr. Hamdi Al-Aloosi, who described the carnage resulting from a day dedicated to celebration. Iraqi weddings have a special gaiety: Guests pile into battered vehicles, play music, sing, ululate, leap off moving vehicles, dance in the road and somehow leap back on again unscathed. Weddings spell joy. Not this one.

"Early in the morning," said the doctor, "on May 19, we received . . . [many] injured, from Mugrldeeb. . . The majority. . . children and women. Those who brought them were terrified and hysterical. . . so confused that they were asking us what had happened, as if an earthquake hit the village." Forty-two of the victims were dead: 14 were children under 12 and 11 were women, he said. Nine others had severe injuries. "Many of the dead were shot in the head, chest, and abdomen."

They managed to save an eight-month baby in the hospital. Faisal (10), with severe injuries, remained in the hospital. The doctor knew the families, confirming there were no foreigners brought in (the US military claimed the attack was because they were "insurgents"). "They are from the Albo Fahad tribe, Rakaad Naif family. . . .

Whole families were killed. One of the dead women was found holding her baby by her teeth after both her hands were injured," said Dr. Al-Aloos, adding that the tiny village had about 200 inhabitants; so nearly a quarter died.

Ten-year-old Feisal Mohammed Rekaad had catheters going out of his chest and abdomen, his right foot bandaged, and shrapnel in his knee. "I was sleeping when I heard the shooting, we ran away. . . to hide." Obviously, he was shot and he lost consciousness. He did not know what happened to his brother Inad (6), his two sisters and his mother, Fatima, who were with him. They are dead.

Adil Rijab Mikhlif (35) has his head and arms heavily bandaged, face badly scratched. "I. . . helped in the preparations. . . built the tent. . . brought cooking gas in my pickup." At about 10:30 p.m. the guests "heard the noise of an airplane for a long time. After dinner, we stopped the music, ended the party and went to sleep. They said that the situation was not so comfortable, but we actually slept until 1 am. We were 25 men in the tent. The musicians were with us. Around 2:30 I woke up with the shooting" and went to see what was happening.

"There were bullets coming from the airplane. . . . A car. . . [caught] fire. . . then my car was shot. There were about 17 cooking gas tubes; they exploded." Badly injured with shrapnel, with a finger lost on his left hand, he dazed, "My ears and mouth were paralyzed." He ran for about five kilometers to reach other houses in the village.

Hamdan Khalaf (18) was taking care of Feisal. He, too, helped with party preparations, and also painted the bridal bedroom. Hearing the shooting, he ran with the band singer, Basim Al-Ali. All who ran, he said, were shot at, most killed. "They never left anyone moving. . . [Paratroops] searched the house, and they killed the injured. 2 helicopters came at dawn and took the soldiers. Then. . . a black airplane came and shot Rekad’s house and his son’s house with missiles. They demolished them."

Then?

"I helped putting the bodies into the truck. We were collecting parts of bodies, matching them and put them in a single piece." Hamdan thinks he "matched" 30 bodies, among them 15 women and many children. Introduction to democracy and liberation in the age of eighteen.

Mugrldeeb, a scattering of houses mostly some distance apart in Iraq’s western "moonscape" desert, is populated by huge herds of sheep and goats. Thousands, says Eman. The houses, replacing elaborate tents, belong to sheep traders. The scene that greeted Eman and her photographer and guide, Samir Jigheifi-a shepherd for the bridegroom’s father-was reminiscent of Vietnam’s "Apocalypse Now":

Two neighboring houses were largely destroyed, their roofs leveled to the ground, their glass smashed. Cracked walls "were covered with hundreds of bullet shots. . . . There were two pickups, a water tank and a big truck torn with bullets and burned. . . a broken musical double stereo. . . shoes of different sizes, many were children’s. . . [blood-stained] pieces of clothes that women wear in rural Iraq. . . toys, girls’ hair buckles, domino pieces, and camera batteries. Behind the house there were tens of pots, trays, kitchen stuff. . . [improvised] bread ovens, stoves, a sack of rice, tomato paste cans. . . [sacks filled with leftovers for] the animals-all were shot with thousands of bullets, shrapnel. We counted at least 25 holes in one dish." Everything indicated remains of preparations for a typical rural wedding party. Big parties are signs of social prestige.

"Teiseer, our camera man was shouting ’Come, come here!’" Eman Khammas remarked. There was a sheep pen and by it, a big dark red spot. "This is one of the women’s blood," said Hamid Ataalla (25), another villager and rescuer. There were, he said, many more "blood testimonies."

The next ten minutes they witnessed the unimaginable: "The ground was full of bullets holes of different sizes, spots of blood every where, some a meter wide. In some of them the remains of human flesh were drying in the sun. . . . In one of these remains there was a long black lock still attached to the flesh. I could not see any more. I ran away back to the demolished house."

Hamid, too, described the day: "It was the wedding of Azhad Rekaad Naif. The party began in the afternoon as usual. The music and dancing continued until ten. . . . [During] dinner we heard. . . an airplane. . . for a long time. We did not feel comfortable about it. The men decided to end the party after dinner. At eleven. . . guests left, only those who came from far away remained. Rekaad said it is no longer safe to stay, but. . . the women were too tired to move with the sleeping children."

Hamid was sleeping in his house when he heard the shooting, around 2:30-3 a.m. "Two helicopters were. . . firing at the Rekaad houses, for more than an hour. Then around 5 am we saw many soldiers. . . going around the houses [with torches]. We heard them shooting at the injured people. . . lying on the ground. One of the injured women, her name is Iqbal, they found bullets from. . . [an] American gun in her body. They searched the house. They took. . . money and. . . gold from the dead women. They took the camera and the films. The camera man, Yaser, and his assistant Ammar were killed. I saw Rekaad’s wife, she was lying here. This is her blood. . . . Many were. . . [shot] in the head. Around six [a.m.] two. . . helicopters (Chinook) came; they took the soldiers. After few minutes a black [low-flying] fighter came. . . . It hit the two houses with missiles and [destroyed them]. . . as you can see. There were [five] armored vehicles too. . . but they did not come close."

There was a big dark red spot to which Hamid pointed: the bride’s blood. There were small golden bullets.

Khammas also met the bridegroom’s father. "Rekaad is a man in his mid sixties. He looked tired and ill. . . . [His son, the bridegroom] was covering his head and part of his face with a red shmagh. He never raised his eyes from the ground ; he never talked or paid any attention to what was going on."

Rekaad welcomed Eman. "My daughter," he told her, "I am an old poor man. I put all my sons, daughters, grandchildren under the ground. They killed every one in my family. I am very sad. But what makes me even sadder is that they are saying these lies about me. All I did was a wedding party for my son, which every one does."

An old man sitting beside Rekaad said, "Let them give us one single evidence of what they say, anything. But they are liars. They slaughtered all these women and children; they even steal their gold and money."

Eman continued, "He began to tell what happened in the night of May 18-19. It was exactly the same story we got from every one else—the helicopters (Apache), the armored vehicles, the continuous heavy shooting, the paratroops, the black fighters and the killing of the injured."

"How many people were killed in your family?" Khammas asked Rekaad’s brother
"25, many of them women and children," he replied.

Khammas asked for a list, and they gave it:

1. Mohammad Rekaad, 28

2. Ahmed Rekaad, 26

3. Talib Rekaad, 27

4. Mizhir Rekaad, 20

5. Daham Rekaad, 17

6. Saad Mohammad Rekaad

7. Marifa Obeid, Rekaad’s wife

8. Fatima Madhi, Rekaad’s daughter in law

9. Raad Ahmed, grandson, 3

10. Ra’id Ahmed, grandson, 2

11. Wa’ad Ahmed, grandson, 1 month

12. Inad Mohammad, grandson, 6

13. Anood Mohammad, granddaughter, 5

14. Amal Rekaad, daughter, 30

15. Anood Talib, granddaughter, 2

16. Kholood Talib, granddaughter, 6 months

17. Hamid Monif, son in law, 22

18. Somayia Nawaf, wife, 50

19. Siham Rekaad, daughter, 18

20. Hamda Suleiman, wife, 45

21. Rabha Rekaad daughter, 16

22. Zahra Rekaad daughter,15

23. Fatima Rekaad daughter, 4

24. Ali Rekaad son, 12

25. Hamza Rekaad, 6

Five from a family called Garaghool also died, thirteen of the band and three photographic crew-thus, the total number of victims is 46.

Kholood, 8 months, Sabha, 22, Iqbal 14, Mouza, 12, Feisal and Adil, are still in hospital.

The eyewitness reports and the police report have a compelling consistency. Further, many witnesses were visited separately, mostly by surprise visits.

The US military did not respond to Iraq Occupation Watch’s questions following their return.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, whose way with words and disregard for humanity and US homicides may mark his place in the annals of the infamous, dismissed the tragedy: "Bad people have parties too." When he was previously queried on civilian deaths at the hands of US troops aired on TV, he advised, "Change the channel."

An ancient, vital question must be asked of the behavior of this occupation force: "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?" (Who guards the guards?)

This is dedicated to those who risk so much trying to monitor and record facts about the crisis in Iraq-and above all, to the people of Iraq, their martyrs, and the children of the embargo, invasion and occupation, whose lives, for the world’s only superpower, are a price worth paying.

Felicity Arbuthnot is a journalist and activist who has visited Iraq on numerous occasions since the 1991Gulf War. She has written and broadcast widely on Iraq, her coverage of which was nominated for several awards. She was also Senior Researcher for John Pilger’s award-winning documentary Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq.