How The U.S. Murdered a City

[Phatmasser777]

How The U.S. Murdered a City

Fallujah: The Truth at Last

Doctor Salam Ismael took aid to Fallujah last month. This is a report of his visit.

02/17/05 - - IT WAS the smell that first hit me, a smell that is difficult to describe, and one that will never leave me. It was the smell of death. Hundreds of corpses were decomposing in the houses, gardens and streets of Fallujah. Bodies were rotting where they had fallen-bodies of men, women and children, many half-eaten by wild dogs.

A wave of hate had wiped out two-thirds of the town, destroying houses and mosques, schools and clinics. This was the terrible and frightening power of the US military assault.

The accounts I heard over the next few days will live with me forever. You may think you know what happened in Fallujah. But the truth is worse than you could possibly have imagined.

In Saqlawiya, one of the makeshift refugee camps that surround Fallujah, we found a 17 year old woman. "I am Hudda Fawzi Salam Issawi from the Jolan district of Fallujah," she told me. "Five of us, including a 55 year old neighbour, were trapped together in our house in Fallujah when the siege began.

"On 9 November American marines came to our house. My father and the neighbour went to the door to meet them. We were not fighters. We thought we had nothing to fear. I ran into the kitchen to put on my veil, since men were going to enter our house and it would be wrong for them to see me with my hair uncovered. "This saved my life. As my father and neighbour approached the door, the Americans opened fire on them. They died instantly.

"Me and my 13 year old brother hid in the kitchen behind the fridge. The soldiers came into the house and caught my older sister. They beat her. Then they shot her. But they did not see me. Soon they left, but not before they had destroyed our furniture and stolen the money from my father's pocket."

Hudda told me how she comforted her dying sister by reading verses from the Koran. After four hours her sister died. For three days Hudda and her brother stayed with their murdered relatives. But they were thirsty and had only a few dates to eat. They feared the troops would return and decided to try to flee the city. But they were spotted by a US sniper.

Hudda was shot in the leg, her brother ran but was shot in the back and died instantly. "I prepared myself to die," she told me. "But I was found by an American woman soldier, and she took me to hospital." She was eventually reunited with the surviving members of her family.

I also found survivors of another family from the Jolan district. They told me that at the end of the second week of the siege the US troops swept through the Jolan. The Iraqi National Guard used loudspeakers to call on people to get out of the houses carrying white flags, bringing all their belongings with them. They were ordered to gather outside near the Jamah al-Furkan mosque in the centre of town.

On 12 November Eyad Naji Latif and eight members of his family-one of them a six month old child-gathered their belongings and walked in single file, as instructed, to the mosque.

When they reached the main road outside the mosque they heard a shout, but they could not understand what was being shouted. Eyad told me it could have been "now" in English. Then the firing began. US soldiers appeared on the roofs of surrounding houses and opened fire. Eyad's father was shot in the heart and his mother in the chest.

They died instantly. Two of Eyad's brothers were also hit, one in the chest and one in the neck. Two of the women were hit, one in the hand and one in the leg. Then the snipers killed the wife of one of Eyad's brothers. When she fell her five year old son ran to her and stood over her body. They shot him dead too. Survivors made desperate appeals to the troops to stop firing.

But Eyad told me that whenever one of them tried to raise a white flag they were shot. After several hours he tried to raise his arm with the flag. But they shot him in the arm. Finally he tried to raise his hand. So they shot him in the hand.

The five survivors, including the six month old child, lay in the street for seven hours. Then four of them crawled to the nearest home to find shelter. The next morning the brother who was shot in the neck also managed to crawl to safety. They all stayed in the house for eight days, surviving on roots and one cup of water, which they saved for the baby. On the eighth day they were discovered by some members of the Iraqi National Guard and taken to hospital in Fallujah. They heard the Americans were arresting any young men, so the family fled the hospital and finally obtained treatment in a nearby town.

They do not know in detail what happened to the other families who had gone to the mosque as instructed. But they told me the street was awash with blood. I had come to Fallujah in January as part of a humanitarian aid convoy funded by donations from Britain.

Our small convoy of trucks and vans brought 15 tons of flour, eight tons of rice, medical aid and 900 pieces of clothing for the orphans. We knew that thousands of refugees were camped in terrible conditions in four camps on the outskirts of town.

There we heard the accounts of families killed in their houses, of wounded people dragged into the streets and run over by tanks, of a container with the bodies of 481 civilians inside, of premeditated murder, looting and acts of savagery and cruelty that beggar belief.

Through the ruins That is why we decided to go into Fallujah and investigate. When we entered the town I almost did not recognise the place where I had worked as a doctor in April 2004, during the first siege.

We found people wandering like ghosts through the ruins. Some were looking for the bodies of relatives. Others were trying to recover some of their possessions from destroyed homes.

Here and there, small knots of people were queuing for fuel or food. In one queue some of the survivors were fighting over a blanket.

I remember being approached by an elderly woman, her eyes raw with tears. She grabbed my arm and told me how her house had been hit by a US bomb during an air raid. The ceiling collapsed on her 19 year old son, cutting off both his legs.

She could not get help. She could not go into the streets because the Americans had posted snipers on the roofs and were killing anyone who ventured out, even at night.

She tried her best to stop the bleeding, but it was to no avail. She stayed with him, her only son, until he died. He took four hours to die.

Fallujah's main hospital was seized by the US troops in the first days of the siege. The only other clinic, the Hey Nazzal, was hit twice by US missiles. Its medicines and medical equipment were all destroyed. There were no ambulances-the two ambulances that came to help the wounded were shot up and destroyed by US troops.

We visited houses in the Jolan district, a poor working class area in the north western part of the city that had been the centre of resistance during the April siege.

This quarter seemed to have been singled out for punishment during the second siege. We moved from house to house, discovering families dead in their beds, or cut down in living rooms or in the kitchen. House after house had furniture smashed and possessions scattered.

In some places we found bodies of fighters, dressed in black and with ammunition belts.

But in most of the houses, the bodies were of civilians. Many were dressed in housecoats, many of the women were not veiled-meaning there were no men other than family members in the house. There were no weapons, no spent cartridges.

It became clear to us that we were witnessing the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of helpless and defenceless civilians.

Nobody knows how many died. The occupation forces are now bulldozing the neighbourhoods to cover up their crime. What happened in Fallujah was an act of barbarity. The whole world must be told the truth.

Dr Salam Ismael, now 28 years old, was head of junior doctors in Baghdad before the invasion of Iraq. He was in Fallujah in April 2004 where he treated casualties of the assault on the city.

At the end of 2004 he came to Britain to collect funds for an aid convoy to Fallujah. Now the British government does not want Dr Salam Ismael’s testimony to be heard.

He was due to come here last week to speak at trade union and anti-war meetings. But he was refused entry. The reason given was that he received expenses, covering the basic costs of his trip, when he came to Britain last year and this constitutes “illegal working”.

Dr Salam Ismael merely wishes to speak the truth. Yet it seems the freedom that Bush and Blair claim to champion in Iraq does not extend to allowing its citizens to travel freely.

Legal challenges, supported by the Stop the War Coalition, were launched this week in an effort to allow Dr Salam Ismael to come to Britain.

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[b]Up the Resistence![/b]

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Go home.

[theculturewarrior]

Thanks for posting that, Phatmasser777.

I would post a graphic description of an abortion procedure to balance it out, but I don't have the strength to find a good one.

[justfran]

[quote name='thedude' date='Feb 19 2005, 12:19 AM'] Go home. [/quote]
that's exactly what a lot of Iraqis seem to be saying too. And I agree with them. I'd also be really happy if they didn't have to do any funding against Palestine, surely there could have been another way for Jews to return to their homeland without having to start any conflict.

Edited February 18, 2005 by justfran

[Dudette]

[quote name='justfran' date='Feb 18 2005, 08:27 AM'] that's exactly what a lot of Iraqis seem to be saying too. And I agree with them. I'd also be really happy if they didn't have to do any funding against Palestine, surely there could have been another way for Jews to return to their homeland without having to start any conflict. [/quote]
Ditto that.

I have so much to say on this subject though I'm not sure whether I should say it or not. It would be like 1 person going against a billion.

Maybe I'll post later.

[Kilroy the Ninja]

Just out of curiousity, what is the point of this thread?

[DonCamillo]

[quote name='Kilroy the Ninja' date='Feb 18 2005, 09:00 AM'] Just out of curiousity, what is the point of this thread? [/quote]
This thread shows a side of the war that the US news has not shown, thus providing a more balance view of the war.

This thread also shows that there are some bad americans, even some very bad ones. But this should not come as a surprise to anyone. Just look at what happened in the AbuGahid (spelling?) prison, and in Guantamo Bay.

This thread also shows how the Holy Father and Bishops were rights about the war in Iraq.

[quote]"War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity."
  Pope John Paul II

"The arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force with dialogue,
pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good."
- Pope John Paul II

Such a "war of aggresion" is crime against peace.
  - Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran speaking about the US invasion of Iraq

The military intervention is a "crime against peace that cries out vengeance before God."
  Archbishop Renato Martino

John Paul II sent his personal representative, Cardinal Pio Laghi, a friend of the Bush family,
to remonstrate with the U.S. President before the war began. The message: "God is not on your side if you invade Iraq."
[/quote]


This thread also shows how we (americans) have broken international laws.

It also shows the hypocrisy of Bush/Blair.


[quote]According to US military intelligence officers quoted
in the Red Cross report on Abu Ghraib released last
February, between 70% and 90% of the detainees at that
facility were incarcerated by mistake

"The Bush administration has flouted international standards by the treatment of prisoners in Iraq,
Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.  It is one thing to say you are on the side of freedom,
it's quite another to be a leader in promoting the rights that protect that freedom."
  Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch
[/quote]

Edited February 18, 2005 by DonCamillo

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

This thread is a worthless troll post. It is intended to incite conflict, and it is ridiculous. I am sick of these posts. I beg my fellow PMers to ignore them completely, starting with this one. I beg the trolls to please stop posting this junk.

Edited February 18, 2005 by thedude

[Dudette]

[quote name='thedude' date='Feb 18 2005, 10:12 AM'] This thread is a worthless troll post. It is intended to incite conflict, and it is ridiculous. I am sick of these posts. I beg my fellow PMers to ignore them completely, starting with this one. [/quote]
I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you there.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

[quote name='Dudette' date='Feb 18 2005, 11:15 AM'] I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you there. [/quote]
I don't care to defend or attack the war in Iraq, but did you look at his source? Haven't we seen enough of these posts? They always cause huge fights on the board and there is no point to it at all. This thread will have no political or global implications. I thought we were finally done with this junk a few weeks ago.

[Meggie]

it seems slightly credible, but why is the approximate time of death four hours?
The other day the father in law of a co-worker's sister lost his hand in a factory accident. They were able to stop control the bleeding within minutes....because he was bleeding to death...now if both legs were cut off you would think that it would bleed alot more than one hand so this guy would of died withning minutes, not four hours....
The same goes for gunshot wounds, especally at close range like they described...I am not saying its impossible, just odd.
Its almost as if they were told what to say....hmmmm

[toledo_jesus]

this account has no more weight than that of Maria Monk. I'd like to see proof of authenticity.

[Catholictothecore]

This is tragic. But the army did what it needed to do. Do you think it would be any differant if the tides were turned? Do you think the Iraqis "insurgents" would hesitate murdering thousands of Americans? We know they wouldn't. (a little showed this; it was called 9/11, I believe. And yes, those weren't iraqis but they were not our friends, and perhaps would've sided with the iraqis.)

[toledo_jesus]

don't even dignify this until it is verified with sources.

[Scofizzle]

[quote name='DonCamillo' date='Feb 18 2005, 09:19 AM'] This thread also shows that there are some bad americans, even some very bad ones. But this should not come as a surprise to anyone. Just look at what happened in the AbuGahid (spelling?) prison, and in Guantamo Bay.

This thread also shows how the Holy Father and Bishops were rights about the war in Iraq.

This thread also shows how we (americans) have broken international laws.

It also shows the hypocrisy of Bush/Blair.


[/quote]
The point of this thread is to post a fictional story......If this had ahppened you don't think it would have been all over the liberally biassed media.....Yah they would have ate it up...but the truth is not even Dan Rather has the courage to report this false story.

Nice sig phatmasser777......at what point does descent become sedition...b/c advocating the death of American Soldiers sure seems like sedition to me