[jnv] AFTER SAMARRA (Briefing 52)

[JNV]

Dear all,
New Year's Greetings from JNV! We hope you a great festive
holiday. This briefing (#52), about the recent killings in Samarra,
was written just before the Xmas break, but has only just been
uploaded to the JNV site (apologies for the delay). Online and PDF
versions are also available on the JNV site at:
http://www.j-n-v.org/AW_briefings/JNV_briefing052.htm

Wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous 2004,

Ro
JNV
http://www.j-n-v.org

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AFTER SAMARRA
Another US Massacre In The 'Sunni Triangle'
JNV Anti-War Briefing 52 (17 December 2003)

'54 AMBUSHERS KILLED' CLAIMS US
First reports were unequivocal: 'US forces killed 46 Iraqis after a
military convoy was ambushed in the town of Samarra last night
in the most deadly firefight in the seven months since President
Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.'
(Times, 1 Dec., p. 1)

'Many of the dead Iraqis wore uniforms of the Fedayeen, a militia
loyal to Saddam Hussein, Lieutenant Colonel William MacDonald of
the 4th Infantry Division said.' (Guardian, 1 Dec., p. 1) 'US officers
involved in the  battle described the ambushes as well coordinated
by up to 80 guerrillas.' (Guardian, 2 Dec., p. 2)

'The convoys were carrying new Iraqi banknotes into the town to
exchange for Saddam-era cash. American military spokesmen said
they knew of no Iraqi  civilian casualties, even though they
destroyed three buildings with tank rounds.' (Telegraph, 1 Dec., p.1)

US officials later said they had killed 54 'enemy personnel' - 22
were said to have been wounded, one captured. (FT, 2 Dec., p.11)
'Major Gordon Tate, a spokesman at the headquarters of the 4th
Infantry Division in Tikrit, insisted the US military was “confident”
about its assessment of the “battle damage”. “Soldiers and
commanders on the site counted [the dead],” he told The
Independent.' (Independent, 2 Dec., p. 2)

IRAQIS DISAGREE: EIGHT CIVILIANS DEAD
'US and Iraqi reports differed sharply. Mr Mohammed, the police
chief, said [on the first day] that only six Iraqis had been killed in
the clashes, along with one Iranian pilgrim. He accused US troops
of “firing randomly” on Iraqi civilians after they had been ambushed
“by one or two people”. He said 54 Iraqis had been injured.' (FT, 2
Dec., p.11)

' “We think that at most eight or nine people died,” said Khaled
Mohammed, an admissions clerk in the hospital's emergency ward.
Ahmed al-Samarai, a local police officer, said the day after the
shooting, “Not more than 10 people were killed and some of those
were not involved in the fighting.” ' (Guardian, 2 Dec., p.2)

British journalist Phil Reeves reports that 'Repeated visits to the
scene, interviews with Iraqi civilians and US soldiers, and close
inspection of  the battle damage by scores of correspondents have
failed to eliminate several troubling and crucial questions. Where are
the bodies? Did they exist? Or was this death toll - as some suspect -
a fabrication which was intended to generate positive headlines for
the US, after a disastrous weekend in which guerrilla attacks killed
14 foreigners?' “This is a very tribal society, in which everyone in the
area knows everyone else. It [54 deaths] just did not happen,” said
Samarra resident Yahir Mahmoud al-Abassi. (Independent, 6 Dec., p.1)

'Scepticism about the US's version of the death toll has been
expressed within upper echelons of the occupation authorities. A US
combat leader who was involved in the battle has also denounced the
military's account of the battle.' (Independent, 4 Dec., p.2)

'The US military believes the bodies of the 54 dead were swiftly
collected and buried. But [it] is questionable whether the guerrillas'
families or surviving combatants would have risked recovering known
members of the resistance in a town which is under constant US
surveillance: the Americans have a base' there. (Independent,
4 Dec., p.2)

30 NOVEMBER: THE REEVES CHRONOLOGY
Two US convoys entered Samarra at 11am. There were 100 troops
from 4th Infantry Division in six tanks, four Bradley fighting vehicles
and four Humvees, carrying new Iraqi dinars for the al-Rashid bank
in Babel Kabla St, and another branch opposite the al-Risala mosque
in Bank St. With them were two squads of military police, and four
squads of infantry.

As the two convoys entered from east and west, roadside bombs
detonated on both roads, injuring three soldiers. As the troops
Prepared to retreat from their respective banks, about 1.30pm,
ambushes were sprung on both convoys, using small arms,
rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

According to Phil Reeves' account, a mortar shell fired by the
guerrillas landed near the front gate of the Samarra Drugs factory,
killing Amira Mahdi Saleh, a worker in her mid-thirties. Later, another
mortar round wounded Hossam Shakir al-Douri, 25, who later died.
A clerk working in the front office of the factory witnessed bullets
from passing US armoured vehicles smashing into the reception area:
Phil Reeves reported, 'It [the  recepton area] bears the marks of at
least five machine-gun bullets.'

Outside a small mosque in front of the local hospital, Abdullah Amin
al-Kurdi was 'mown down', and another man, Raid Ali Fadhel, was
also killed. A few yards from the Shia mosque, a firefight took the
life of Fatah Allah Hijazi, a 71-year-old Iranian pilgrim.

As 'running battles' spread through the town, some of the shooting
was 'random', according to Phil Reeves. (Independent, 6 Dec., p.1)

According to Saadun Isawi, a police official at Samarra hospital,
the dead  included 'a 10-year-old boy'. (FT, 4 Dec., p.15)

RANDOM FIRE
Captain Andy Deponai, one of the US commanders on the ground,
'said that his men had targeted assailants shooting at them, and
denied they had fired at random.' (Times, 2 Dec., p.17) 'Jihad
Hussein, a student, said he had seen passersby running for cover.
“They were spraying the whole street,” he  said. “I don't know
who fired the first shot, the Americans or the Fedayeen, but I saw
at least one young woman hit by a bullet as she lay on the ground.” '
(Guardian, 2 Dec., p.2)

'On the main street outside the Rasheed Bank, where the main
attack was launched, a five-storey apartment block was riddled
with bullet holes from American guns, while several cars lay crushed
by the retreating tanks... Some [young men] accused the US forces
of firing on vehicles ferrying the wounded to receive treatment.'
'Imam Jumaa Mozher, 25, showed large-calibre shells he said had
been fired at the building from an Apache helicopter while the [Ali
al-Hadi] mosque was crowded for evening prayers, wounding several
worshippers.' (Times, 2 Dec., p.17)

'The attacks had left an ugly mood in the town, where locals were
unanimous in condemning indiscriminate firing by the Americans.'
(Telegraph, 2 Dec., p.14) 'Iraqi residents said that when the shooting
started outside the banks, the Americans fired randomly at houses,
mosques and even a kindergarten, prompting local people to reach for
their guns and join the running street battle.' (Times, 2 Dec., p.17)

FEDAYEEN?
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of US-UK operations, 'said
several of the dead had been wearing uniforms “consistent with”
those of Fedayeen Saddam commandos, which included a black face
scarf and a shoulder patch.' (FT, 2 Dec., p.11) Phil Reeves reported
that the clothing of the dead 'sounded like the apparel of many young
Arabs.' (Independent, 2 Dec., p.2)

REVENGE: 'THA'AR'
Dr Mohamed Badie, vice-president of Tikrit University, said, 'All the
people here are fed up and angry... There is something here that is
hidden from the American public. They call it “Tha'ar” - revenge. That
means that if anyone kills your friend, or your brother, you have to
avenge it by killing an American soldier.' (Independent, 2 Dec., p.2)
This may be the major motivation for the attacks on US forces. (See
Chapter XXII Regime Unchanged and JNV Briefing 47 After Falluja.)

DRESS REHEARSAL: BALAD
On 13 June, US forces claimed to have killed 27 Iraqi rebels in an
ambush that went wrong outside the city of Balad. A few days later,
it was quietly reported, 'It now seems that only seven men died, five
of them apparently innocent farmers.' (Guardian, 16 June 2003, p.10)

IMPUNITY
'The US military has paid out $1.5m (£907,000) to Iraqi civilians in 
response to a wave of negligence and wrongful death claims filed
against American soldiers, the Guardian has learned. Families have
come forward with accounts of how American soldiers shot dead or
seriously wounded unarmed Iraqi civilians with no apparent cause.
In many cases their stories are confirmed by Iraqi police investigations.
No American soldier has been prosecuted for illegally killing an Iraqi
civilian and commanders refuse even to count the number of civilians
killed or injured by their soldiers.' (Guardian, 26 Nov. 2003)

'Iraqi courts, because of an order issued by the US-led authority in 
Baghdad in June, are forbidden from hearing cases against American
soldiers or any other foreign troops or foreign officials in Iraq. Human
Rights Watch said, “The lack of timely and thorough investigations
into many questionable incidents has created an atmosphere of
impunity, in which many soldiers feel they can pull the trigger without
coming under review.”... In some cases relatives have spoken of their
plans to join the growing guerrilla resistance movement to avenge the
deaths of their relatives.' (Guardian, 26 Nov. 2003)

RAMADI, SAMARRA, FALLUJA
'Dramatic video footage from the city of Ramadi 75 miles west of
Baghdad showed unarmed supporters of Saddam Hussein being gunned
down in semi-darkness as they fled from American troops... An American
commander in Samarra later said 11 “insurgents” had been killed...
Fallujah [was] the scene of the other mass killing, of five Iraqi men,
pro-Saddam demonstrators.' (Robert Fisk, Independent, 17 Dec., p.1)

For more background, please see 'Regime Unchanged' by Milan Rai
(Read reviews: http://www.j-n-v.org/book_reviews.htm)

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