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Dave Muller <davemull@alphalink.com.au> wrote in message news:<c5fdl4$ojl$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>...
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> 
Flight from a town where sports fields are graveyards
> 
> By Paul McGeough
> SMH April 13, 2004
> 
> In Falluja, it's the soccer field that haunts them. Ali Mohammed Nasser, 
> father of six, made himself go and look through the fence before packing 
> his family into a minibus to belt across the desert to Baghdad.
> 
> Cross-legged on a cushion in a relative's home, he stared ahead: "There 
> are many shallow graves - maybe 400. The bodies of women, old men and 
> children. Some already buried; in others, the bodies of three children 
> at a time were being cremated. A man who was burning the bodies was shot 
> as he worked - I didn't see who killed him."
> 
> I warned him of the exaggerated stories told after such intense battles; 
> that he would stand accused as a liar if his account of the aftermath of 
> the eight-day siege of Falluja was untrue. Nasser just stared ahead: "I 
> swear this is true."
> 
> There is not much dispute about the death toll at Falluja, which remains 
> a no-go zone for foreign reporters. But while townspeople say they were 
> mostly children, women and old men, US spokesmen insist that 95 per cent 
> of the dead were fighters who had met the precision shooting of the US 
> marines.
> 
> The director of Falluja's general hospital, Rafie Al-Issawi, told 
> reporters that the estimate of 600 was based on the number of bodies 
> received at four clinics in the town and reports of the dead being 
> buried at two sports fields and in people's homes.
> 
> But US marine Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne said in Falluja: "What I 
> think you will find is 95 per cent of them were military age males that 
> were killed in the fighting. The marines are trained to be precise . . . 
> the fact that there are 600 goes back to the fact that the marines are 
> very good at what they do."
> 
> Tens of thousands of refugees have fled Falluja since Saturday, as the 
> first of several shaky cease-fires takes hold. They have been pouring 
> into Baghdad, most down the highway; others, like Nasser's and two other 
> minibuses in his unarmed convoy, heading out across the desert in the 
> hope of avoiding US checkpoints where men of fighting age were being 
> pulled from vehicles.
> 
> In the Iraqi scheme of things, 55-year-old Nasser and his friend Maher 
> Isma'in Mohammed, 25, are not heroes of war.
> 
> By their account, they had their weapons, but they stuck with their 
> families, moving from their homes in outlying areas as the Americans 
> moved in, until they ended up in the chaos of 40 people sheltering in 
> one home.
> 
> Mohammed says: "We hid in our houses until the food ran out."
> 
> The women in the convoy cried when they arrived in Baghdad, overcome 
> with relief after several days without food or water and sleepless 
> nights in the dark because, they say, the city power station was bombed.
> 
> "The children were terrified," Nasser said. "My baby was sick and I 
> could not take him to the clinic because so many of the roads were 
> blocked and there was no petrol for the car.
> 
> "They had F-16s and helicopters. We could hear them bombing and the boom 
> of the tanks all the time. It felt like they wanted to destroy the whole 
> city. Our fighters only had AK-47s and RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]. 
> That's not an army."
> 
> Mohammed is on his haunches, clutching a pillow to his stomach, 
> seemingly searching for comfort. But there is none: "In our 
> neighbourhood of Al Nazar, they bombed a house with 32 people in it in 
> the night. It was 200 metres from ours. I went over the next morning - 
> bodies were lying around and the house was destroyed.
> 
> "When I first tried to get out of town, they threatened to shoot me at a 
> checkpoint; and later people said they shot up an ambulance taking the 
> injured to the emergency clinic."
> 
> Mohammed said that many houses had been damaged in the bombing. Pressed, 
> he said that he had seen an entire residential block of up to 50 homes 
> reduced to pulverised rubble.
> 
> I remind them of the Americans' stated reason for attacking Falluja - to 
> make the town give up those responsible for the murder and dismembering 
> of four US security contractors in its main street nearly two weeks ago. 
> But they make no effort to defend the mob killers.
> 
> Nasser says: "In Islam this is forbidden. We are not even sure who the 
> killers were and they have done so much damage to the reputation of 
> Islam and Falluja."
> 
> Mohammed adds: "Most people said it was wrong. We have the right to 
> kill, but not to treat the dead like that. The killers were foolish - 
> maybe they were seeking revenge for the death of others killed by the 
> Americans."
> 
> The Americans estimate that about 60,000 people have fled Falluja and 
> for marine Lieutenant Colonel Gregg Olson there was only one conclusion 
> to be drawn: "I like to think that the 60,000 people who left agree that 
> the terrorists and criminals in their city have to be eliminated."
> 
> But Nasser and Mohammed will leave their families in Baghdad, and head 
> back to Falluja as soon as they can.
> 
> The town is a Sunni stronghold which benefited greatly from the largesse 
> of the deposed Saddam Hussein, but these men are ambivalent on their 
> former leader. Nasser says: "Saddam had his good and bad points. But 
> with the Americans there is only bad. If [US administrator Paul] Bremer 
> could give us only 1 per cent of what Saddam gave us, it would be a good 
> thing."
> 
> But there is no ambivalence in their defence of Falluja or the men 
> fighting for it. Mohammed attempts to analyse the town's thinking: "In 
> the teahouses there was no debate on the occupation because everyone was 
> against it. I say that 75 per cent of men in town are fighting the 
> Americans.
> 
> "The Americans weren't interested in capturing the killers of the 
> security contractors. They had a TV video of the killing that identified 
> them all, so all they had to do was pick them up. If we could capture 
> them, we'd hand the over to the US.
> 
> "But only four Americans died and maybe 1000 Fallujans died. It just 
> proves that they have come to destroy our country, to steal our oil and 
> to protect Israel."
> 
> For now that is the extent of suffering in Iraq. And, for now, that is 
> what counts as debate in Falluja.
> 
> This story was found at: 
> http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/12/1081621902273.html
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 	
> Americans Slaughtering Civilians in Falluja
> 
> Weblog Entry by Dahr Jamail,
> 12/04/04  The NewStandard Web Version: 
> blog.newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches/archives/000162.html
> 
> I knew there was very little media coverage in Falluja, and the entire 
> city had been sealed and was suffering from collective punishment in the 
> form of no water or electricity for several days now. With only two 
> journalists there that I'd read and heard reports from, I felt pulled to 
> go and witness the atrocities that were surely being committed.
> 
> With the help of some friends, we joined a small group of internationals 
> to ride a large bus there carrying a load of humanitarian supplies, and 
> with the hopes of bringing some of the wounded out prior to the next 
> American onslaught, which was due to kick off at any time now.
> 
> Even leaving Baghdad now is dangerous. The military has shut down the 
> main highway between here and Jordan. The highway, even while just 
> outside Baghdad, is desolate and littered with destroyed fuel tanker 
> trucks  their smoldering shells littered the highway. We rolled past a 
> large M-1 Tank that was still burning under an overpass which had just 
> been hit by the resistance.
> 
> At the first U.S. checkpoint the soldiers said they'd been there for 30 
> hours straight. After being searched, we continued along bumpy dirt 
> roads, winding our way through parts of Abu Ghraib, steadily but slowly 
> making our way towards besieged Falluja. While we were passing one of 
> the small homes in Abu Ghraib, a small child yelled at the bus, "We will 
> be mujahedeen until we die!"
> 
> We slowly worked our way back onto the highway. It was strewn with 
> smoking fuel tankers, destroyed military tanks and armored personnel 
> carriers, and a lorry that had been hit that was currently being looted 
> by a nearby village, people running to and from the highway carrying 
> away boxes. It was a scene of pure devastation, with barely any other 
> cars on the road.
> 
> Once we turned off the highway, which the U.S. was perilously holding 
> onto, there was no U.S. military presence visible at all as we were in 
> mujahedeen-controlled territory. Our bus wound its way through farm 
> roads, and each time we passed someone they would yell, "God bless you 
> for going to Falluja!" Everyone we passed was flashing us the victory 
> sign, waving, and giving the thumbs-up.
> 
> As we neared Falluja, there were groups of children on the sides of the 
> road handing out water and bread to people coming into Falluja. They 
> began literally throwing stacks of flat bread into the bus. The 
> fellowship and community spirit was unbelievable. Everyone was yelling 
> for us, cheering us on, groups speckled along the road.
> 
> As we neared Falluja a huge mushroom caused by a large U.S. bomb rose 
> from the city. So much for the cease fire.
> 
> The closer we got to the city, the more mujahedeen checkpoints we passed 
>  at one, men with kefir around their faces holding Kalashnikovs began 
> shooting their guns in the air, showing their eagerness to fight.
> 
> The city itself was virtually empty, aside from groups of mujahedeen 
> standing on every other street corner. It was a city at war. We rolled 
> towards the one small clinic where we were to deliver our medical 
> supplies from INTERSOS, an Italian NGO. The small clinic is managed by 
> Mr. Maki Al-Nazzal, who was hired just 4 days ago to do so. He is not a 
> doctor.
> 
> He hadn't slept much, along with all of the doctors at the small clinic. 
> It started with just three doctors, but since the Americans bombed one 
> of the hospitals, and were currently sniping people as they attempted to 
> enter/exit the main hospital, effectively there were only 2 small 
> clinics treating all of Falluja. The other has been set up in a car garage.
> 
> As I was there, an endless stream of women and children who'd been 
> sniped by the Americans were being raced into the dirty clinic, the cars 
> speeding over the curb out front as their wailing family members carried 
> them in.
> 
> One woman and small child had been shot through the neck  the woman was 
> making breathy gurgling noises as the doctors frantically worked on her 
> amongst her muffled moaning.
> 
> The small child, his eyes glazed and staring into space, continually 
> vomited as the doctors raced to save his life.
> 
> After 30 minutes, it appeared as though neither of them would survive.
> 
> One victim of American aggression after another was brought into the 
> clinic, nearly all of them women and children.
> 
> This scene continued, off and on, into the night as the sniping 
> continued. As evening approached the nearby mosque loudspeaker announced 
> that the mujehadeen had completely destroyed a U.S. convoy. Gunfire 
> filled the streets, along with jubilant yelling. As the mosque began 
> blaring prayers, the determination and confidence of the area was palpable.
> 
> One small boy of 11, his face covered by a kefir and toting around a 
> Kalashnikov that was nearly as big as he was, patrolled areas around the 
> clinic, making sure they were secure. He was confident and very eager 
> for battle. I wondered how the U.S. soldiers would feel about fighting 
> an 11 year-old child? For the next day, on the way out of Falluja, I saw 
> several groups of children fighting as mujahedeen.
> 
> After we delivered the aid, three of my friends agreed to ride out on 
> the one functioning ambulance for the clinic to retrieve the wounded. 
> Although the ambulance already had three bullet holes from a U.S. sniper 
> through the front windshield on the driver's side, having westerners on 
> board was the only hope that soldiers would allow them to retrieve more 
> wounded Iraqis. The previous driver was wounded when one of the sniper's 
> shots grazed his head.
> 
> Bombs were heard sporadically exploding around the city, along with 
> random gunfire.
> 
> It grew dark, so we ended up spending the night with one of the local 
> men who had filmed the atrocities. He showed us footage of a dead baby 
> who he claimed was torn from his mother's chest by Marines. Other 
> horrendous footage of slain Iraqis was shown to us as well.
> 
> My entire time in Falluja there was the constant buzzing of military 
> drones. As we walked through the empty streets towards the house where 
> we would sleep, a plane flew over us and dropped several flares. We ran 
> for a nearby wall to hunker down, afraid it was dropping cluster bombs. 
> There had been reports of this, as two of the last victims that arrived 
> at the clinic were reported by the locals to have been hit by cluster 
> bombs  they were horribly burned and their bodies shredded.
> 
> It was a long night-between being sick from drinking unfiltered water 
> and the nagging concern of the full invasion beginning, I didn't sleep. 
> Each time I would begin to slip into sleep, a jet would fly over and I 
> wondered if the full scale bombing would commence. Meanwhile, the drones 
> continued to buzz throughout Falluja.
> 
> The next morning we walked back to the clinic, and the mujahedeen in the 
> area were extremely edgy, expecting the invasion anytime. They were 
> taking up positions to fight. One of my friends who'd done another 
> ambulance run to collect two bodies said that a Marine she encountered 
> had told them to leave, because the military was about to use air 
> support to begin 'clearing the city.' One of the bodies they brought to 
> the clinic was that of an old man who was shot by a sniper outside of 
> his home, while his wife and children sat wailing inside.
> 
> The family couldn't reach his body, for fear of being sniped by the 
> Americans themselves. His stiff body was carried into the clinic with 
> flies swarming above it.
> 
> The already insane situation continued to degrade, and by the time the 
> wounded from the clinic were loaded onto our bus and we prepared to 
> leave, everyone felt the invasion was looming near. American bombs 
> continued to fall not far from us, and sporadic gunfire continued. Jets 
> were circling the outskirts of the city.
> 
> We drove out, past loads of mujahedeen at their posts along the streets. 
> In a long line of vehicles loaded with families, we slowly crept out of 
> the embattled city, passing several military vehicles on the outskirts 
> town. When we took a wrong turn at one point and tried to go down a road 
> controlled by a different group of mujeheen, we were promptly surrounded 
> by men cocking their weapons and aiming them at us. The doctors and 
> patients on board explained to them we were coming from Falluja and on a 
> humanitarian aid mission, so they let us go.
> 
> The trip back to Baghdad was slow, but relatively uneventful. We passed 
> several more smoking shells of vehicles destroyed by the freedom 
> fighters; more fuel tankers, more military vehicles destroyed.
> 
> What I can report from Falluja is that there is no ceasefire, and 
> apparently there never was. Iraqi women and children are being shot by 
> American snipers. Over 600 Iraqis have now been killed by American 
> aggression, and the residents have turned two football fields into 
> graveyards. Ambulances are being shot by the Americans. And now they are 
> preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of the city.
> 
> All of which is occurring under the guise of catching the people who 
> killed the four Blackwater Security personnel and hung two of their 
> bodies from a bridge.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------
> 
> 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 
> newstandardnews.net/iraqdispatches.
> 
> The archives of South News can be found at
> http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ 
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