"There were so many US Marine snipers, anyone leaving their house was killed..." by Dahr Jamail
Nes
regards the status of the decades old Iraq project. The killing of natives
is progressing nicely. Soon the US will have destroyed all of Iraqi civil
society and loosed social chaos on another subservient population, whose
turn it has now become to suffer the full consequences of US imperial
expansion and global hegemonic pretence.
Nes
*************************************************
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_international&Number=1440783&t=-1#Post1440783
"A horrible disaster." Report from Fallujah: [ Post 1440783 ]
Synopsis: "There were so many US Marine snipers, anyone leaving their house
was killed," he recalled.
Source: Informationclearinghouse
Published: April 24, 2004 Author: Dahr Jamail
For Education and Discussion Only. Not for Commercial Use.
April 24, 2004 "New Standard" -- Baghdad , Apr 23 - Three families of
refugees from the besieged city of Fallujah who are seeking refuge in the
Al-Adhamiya neighborhood of Baghdad, described the conditions in the
embattled city of Fallujah as "a horrible disaster." A man called Khaled Abu
Mujahed, speaking from Fallujah on behalf of the Islamic Party, stated that
while some relief supplies are getting inside the city, a great number of
families remain trapped in their homes, and the stench of dead bodies has
become overpowering.
Refugees streamed out of Fallujah when fighting began after United States
Marines placed the city under siege, cut off power supplies and began an
invasion of the city. Resistance forces referred to by locals as mujahideen
fought back, killing scores of US troops. Americans killed hundreds of Iraqi
civilians, plus an unknown number of Iraqi fighters.
Crowded inside an empty house in the Al-Adhamiya district of Baghdad, Abu
Muher, patriarch of one family that left Fallujah last Saturday, told of a
harrowing journey out of his home city. "We were nearly bombed by the
Americans when we tried to leave on Friday," he said. "Bombs fell in front
and behind us, so we had to turn back. Saturday we were lucky to escape."
Estimates of total refugees vary, but most reports suggest at least 60,000
Fallujans -- or about a quarter of the city's population -- have fled
Fallujah for Baghdad and other cities.
Abu Muher said US warplanes were bombing the city heavily last Saturday
prior to his departure, and that Marine snipers continued to take their
toll, shot after shot, on residents of the besieged city. "There were so
many snipers, anyone leaving their house was killed," he recalled.
Abu Muher, along with two other men from Fallujah who arrived in Baghdad
last weekend, said American warplanes had dropped cluster bombs on a road
behind their houses in Fallujah. One of the men was too afraid to permit his
name to be used in this article. "My neighbors saw the bomblets," he said,
"and I heard the horrible sound that only the cluster bombs make when they
are dropped on us. My home was hit by their shrapnel. I was too afraid to
leave my home to look for myself because of the snipers."
Abdul Aziz, the 15 year-old son of Abu Muher, stated, "I saw two of my
neighbors shot by US snipers when I went outside one time. I also saw some
of the small cluster bombs on the ground that were dropped by the warplanes
of the Americans. Most times, we were too afraid even to look out of our
windows."
Another refugee, speaking on condition of anonymity, angrily asked, "This is
the way the Americans are freeing Iraq? America's freedom is killing Iraqis.
Fallujah is becoming another Palestine. How long will we have to live like
this?"
The three men stated that the city remains without electricity, and although
they had running water, they used a generator most of the time.
Abu Muher's neighbor, a man named Abdel Salam, said medical relief was being
delayed or prevented from reaching the people of Fallujah. "Sunday when we
left the city, we saw an ambulance from the United Arab Emirates turned
around from the main checkpoint by the Americans. Why are they not allowing
ambulances into Fallujah?"
According to official US military statements, ambulances are being escorted
into Fallujah on a regular basis. Reached for comment earlier this week,
Christy Clemmons of the Coalition Provisional Authority press center for
Iraq's Ministry of Health insisted emergency vehicles were reaching the
city. "We are working with the Ministry of Health and have so far permitted
46 ambulances to Fallujah," she said. "The US military are escorting the
ambulances since in the past they have been commandeered by insurgents and
used to attack US soldiers."
Iraq Red Crescent Secretary General Faris Hamed told The NewStandard on
Monday that no Red Crescent ambulances had been allowed into Fallujah since
April 13, during the peak of fighting in the city. Hamed has been
unreachable for an updated report.
A resident of Al-Adhamiya willingly cleared his home for these refugees and
is housing them, free of charge. He donated food to them as well.
Speaking by phone today from inside Fallujah, Islamic Party spokesman Abu
Mujahed, who is assisting in the distribution of aid as well as negotiations
with the US military, said there is still a large number of civilians in
Fallujah who cannot get out of the besieged city.
"So many people are lacking water, electricity and medical services," he
said. "Most of the time nobody can get in or out of Fallujah."
Mujahed stated that yesterday the US military broke the supposed ceasefire
by staging an incursion into the Julan neighborhood as well as the
Industrial sector of Fallujah. He added, "This is a disaster! Only a few
people can get to the main hospital because the Americans are controlling
it. Snipers are firing into Julan and killing so many civilians."
US military reports said the assault on Julan was in response to attacks by
insurgents. Battalian commander Lt. Colonel Brennan Byrne told the
Associated Press he considered the insurgent activity to be a "major breach"
of the agreement the US military says it brokered with resistance forces.
The AP further reported that 20 Iraqis and no Americans were killed in the
overnight skirmishes.
Mujahed said that supplies from throughout Iraq were being sent to Fallujah.
He said they had even received aid shipments from the followers of the
rebellious Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, and he felt the situation was
uniting all Iraqis.
"Women are bringing their gold from Baquba, a man in a wheelchair from
Kirkuk brought his wheelchair, then used crutches to leave after he donated
it, and supplies are coming from Mosul, Adhamiya, Tikrit, Nasariyah, Baquba,
everywhere in Iraq you can think of," Mujahed said.
The party official also reported that while 50 families were allowed to
return to Fallujah Tuesday, only seven were permitted Wednesday. Many
refugees report having found nowhere suitable to go outside their hometown.
The lockdown war ordered despite reports from Fallujah residents that many
of the mujahideen have turned their weapons over to Iraqi Police as a
condition of the ceasefire edict. Lt. Col. Byrne told the AP most of the
weapons turned over in accordance with US demands were unusable and did not
comply with the Marines' insistence on acquiring all of Fallujah's heavy
weaponry.
In retaliation for the fighters' noncompliance, Byrne said the Marines would
not permit any of the hundreds of Iraqis lined up at a nearby checkpoint to
return to their homes, at least for the time being.
"We have at least 700 dead from the fighting," Mujahed reported from inside
Fallujah. "So many of them are children and women. The stench from the dead
bodies in parts of the city is unbearable."
He said US aircraft had bombed five houses in Julan the previous night, and
the mujahideen have now taken positions and are waiting for the Marines to
return for the full scale invasion the US has threatened.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said that US Marines
continue "aggressive patrols and offensive operations," in the Fallujah
area, "as well as providing humanitarian assistance to the citizens of
Fallujah." Iraqis interviewed for this story said they had only witnessed
the former aspect of the dual role.
________________________________________
Dahr Jamail is Baghdad correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an Alaskan
devoted to covering the untold stories from occupied Iraq. You can help Dahr
continue his crucial work in Iraq by making donations. For more information
or to donate to Dahr, visit http://newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches.