[syndicate] Iraq: The Marine's tale: "I felt we were committing genocide'

[Aliette Guibert]

It is totally incredible! Christian Bush says that he is going to make
down Abu Ghraib as the Polish state making down Auchwitz which stays as a
space...

And Polish today engage a petition with different European countries to
impose us the visions of their episcopate for an European constitution
assigned by the Christianity!!! Israelites, Atheists, Moslems - and even the
Animists, do not exist, maybe in Europe, it is not here at home while all
agree to live under the same public ? Now they would need the same church or
they would be otherness?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo at reporters.net>
To: "ed Agro" <edagro at verizon.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 4:52 PM
Subject: [syndicate] Iraq: The Marine's tale: "I felt we were committing
genocide'


> While president is talking about liberation, troops are aware of the
> genocide....
>
> President wants to raze Abu Ghraib. To remove the bad memories that
> grim place left on Iraqi population under its previous and current
> governing authorities.
>
> Those who dishonored our country and disregarded our values, of
> course, are 'the few.' Are they also 'the proud'?
>
> Pentagon banned use of video capable cell phones to the troops in
> Iraq. Geee, I wonder why.
>
> Both those decisions, however, come way too late to save president's
> face. And in 5 months we'll see whether they'll also remove his butt
> from the White House.
>
> So, the transfer of power is the smartest way to go. President will
> leave 140k of US troops in Iraq to 'help', while transfering
> sovereignty to the Iraqis - kind of like it was done in Germany and
> Japan.
>
> Only, Iraq is nothing like Germany or Japan. For beginners, the enemy
> in Iraq is obviously not defeated. Yet, the US will allow 80k of
> Iraqi men to get re-armed, hoping that the quisling army they are
> creating will deal with that enemy.
>
> But there is no guarantee that the re-armed Iraqis will not turn
> against Americans themselves, is there? Of course, Bush promises that
> all of them will be "vetted" - in a month?! What are they going to
> do? Torture them and take those who break down first? Or last?
>
> It looks like Bush is setting-up the situation in Iraq for a major
> conflict between Iraqis and Americans - one that Americans may win,
> but not withiut casualties.
>
> Which makes Bush Jr. smarter than Bush Sr. - Bush Sr. won the war,
> but lost the elections. Bush Jr. will win the elections, because he
> is losing the war - and no country will change its leader in the
> middle of the war (Milosevic stayed in power like that in Serbia for
> 12 years): he hopes that the Fall will produce some really good war
> footage so he can give some strong presidential statements like "we
> will not falter, we will not fail" to float him upwards in the polls.
> Hence the transition of power: he is creating his own enemies for the
> show that he needs to get re-elected.
>
> ivo
>
> ----Forwarded Message(s)----
> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/24/politics/25PTEX-
> FULL.html?pagewanted=all&position=
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=523992
>
> The Marine's tale: 'We killed 30 civilians in six weeks. I felt we
> were committing genocide'
>  By Natasha Saulnier
>
> 23 May 2004
>
>  During 12 years in the US Marines, including three years putting new
> recruits through boot camp, Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey hardly
> questioned his role. But what he saw in Iraq changed that.
>
>  "In a month and a half my platoon and I killed more than 30
>  civilians," Mr
> Massey said. He saw bodies being desecrated and robbed, and wounded
> civilians being dumped by the roadside without medical treatment.
> After he told his commanding officer that he felt "we were committing
> genocide", he was called a "wimp".
>
>  Mr Massey, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and
>  depression,
> left the Marines in November. Back home in the Smoky Mountains of
> North Carolina, he says the cause of the uprising in Iraq is that "we
> killed a lot of innocent people".
>
>  His 7th Marine Weapons Company, armed with machine guns and
> missiles,
>  was
> one of the first into the country in March last year. "We would take
> over villages and control checkpoints," he said. "My men and I would
> fire warning shots at oncoming vehicles. But, if they didn't stop, we
> didn't have any qualms about loading them up."
>
>  The Marines were told that Iraqis were filling ambulances with
>  explosives,
> and that soldiers were dressed as civilians, but after pouring fire
> into vehicles and hearing no explosions, they started to doubt the
> truth of these claims.
>
>  "Iraqi military compounds had nothing in them, except for dismantled
> tanks, equipment that was barely functioning, and barracks that
> looked
> like ghost towns," Mr Massey said.
>
>  The incident that haunts him most took place early in April, near an
>  Iraqi
> military compound five miles from Baghdad's airport. "There were
> approximately 10 demonstrators near a tank," he said. "We heard a
> shot
> in the distance and we started shooting at them. They all died except
> for one. We left the bodies there.
>
>  "We noticed that there were some RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]
>  about
> 200 metres away from them - they might have come from the military
> compound. The demonstrators had the ability to fire at us or at the
> tank, but they didn't. The survivor was hiding behind a column about
> 150 metres away from us. I pointed at him and waved my weapon to tell
> him to get away. Half of his foot had been cut off. He went away
> dragging his foot. We were all laughing and cheering.
>
>  "Then an 18-wheeler [truck] came speeding around. We shot at it. One
>  of
> the guys jumped out. He was on fire. The driver was dead. Then a
> Toyota Corolla came. We killed the driver, the other guy came out
> with
> his hands up. We shot him too.
>
>  "A gunny from Lima Company came running and said to us: 'Hey, you
>  just
> shot that guy, but he had his hands up.' My unit, my commander and me
> were relieved of our command for the rest of the day. Not more than
> five minutes later, the Lima Company took up our position and shot a
> car with one woman and two children. They all died."
>
>  The next day the platoon guarded a checkpoint at Baghdad Stadium. "A
>  red
> Kia Spectra sped toward us at about 45mph. We fired a warning volley
> above it but the car kept coming. Then we aimed at the car and fired
> with full force. The Kia came to a stop right in front of me, three
> of
> the four men shot dead, the fourth wounded and covered in blood. We
> called the medics, but he died before they arrived. That day we
> killed
> three more civilians in the same circumstances. I talked to my
> captain
> afterwards and told him: 'It's a bad day.' He said: 'No, it's a good
> day.'"
>
>  Mr Massey watched as badly injured Iraqis were repeatedly "tossed on
>  the
> side of the road without calling medics". His reaction to the event
> that triggered the recent siege of Fallujah - the sight of the
> blackened, mutilated bodies of four American private security men -
> was that "we did the same thing to them".
>
>  Iraqis, he said, "would see us debase their dead all the time. We
>  would be
> messing around with charred bodies, kicking them out of the vehicles
> and sticking cigarettes in their mouths. I also saw vehicles drive
> over them. It was our job to look into the pockets of dead Iraqis to
> gather intelligence. However, time and time again, I saw Marines
> steal
> gold chains, watches and wallets full of money."
>
>  Several members of his platoon expressed concern that so many
>  civilians
> were being killed, but Mr Massey says he told them: "We've got a job
> to do." Finally, however, he voiced his own doubts to his commanding
> officer. "I told him I felt like we were committing genocide in Iraq,
> that we were doing harm to a culture. He said nothing and walked
> away.
> I knew my career was over." Later, he says, his superior poured abuse
> on him, saying, "You're a poor leader. You're faking it. You're a
> conscientious objector, you're a wimp."
>
>  After being sent back to the US, Mr Massey was offered a desk job.
> "I
>  had
> seven years until retirement from the Marine Corps, but I told them I
> didn't want their money any more," he said. The Marines' slogan - "No
> better friend, no worse enemy" - now embitters the former sergeant,
> who says remorse keeps him awake at night.
>
>  "One day we would go into a city and set up roadblocks where
> civilian
> casualties would take place, and then the next morning we would
> undertake a humanitarian mission," he said. "How do we expect people
> who've seen their brothers and mothers killed to turn around and
> welcome us with open arms?
>
>     =====
>
> ----End Forwarded Message(s)----
>
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
>


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