April 16, 2005


This horrible and very dramatic story of US abuse and killings of innocent Iraqi civilians, published at http://www.brusselstribunal.org/Articles.htm#Tarmiya and
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=11112 , has reached the military in Iraq. A major Bob Bateman is furious and tries to deny the facts. Just read his mail underneath and feel the anger of a GI. Now I understand why the Iraqi author of that article wanted to keep anonymity... It's dangerous out there, with all those wild US animals around. And this major Bateman says he "lives" there, he doesn't say he's "stationed" there. So it's obvious that he intends to stay more permanently. Poor Iraqi's.

I can assure everyone that the horrible story of this Iraqi family is true. I have no reasons whatsoever to doubt the credibility of the author, who is a well known and respected Iraqi person.

Here is some more evidence of the facts, by the way. These are pictures of "K", the one who was shot one bullet in his mouth, and the bullet went out the back of his neck. His body was thrown in the farm.









A reaction to Mr. Bateman’s hate-mail came from Felicity Arbuthnot. Felicity Arbuthnot has written and broadcast widely on Iraq and with Denis Halliday was senior researcher for John Pilger's Award winning documentary: 'Paying the Price - Killing the Children of Iraq.' < http://pilger.carlton.com/iraq > .
More about her: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/bios/Arbuthnot.htm ).

Bob Bateman:


This story is a crock of shit. It's riddled with basic errors which make it pretty clear that the writer's either have never been to Tarmiya, or that they are so disdainful of their audience that they are willing to put forth bald-faced lies on the assumption that nobody who has been there will call them on their bullshit. (Which is made much easier, obviously, by concealing their names.) "Unit 27" indeed. Marines, indeed. Amazing they even decided to pick an actual town.

The "By Line" (originally two words) started in the American Civil War for just this reason, ironically. Union general Ambrose Burnsides (for whom Sideburns are named, which is his only favorable feature in my opinion, and which is at least better than what was named after his contemporary...Hooker) grew so disgusted with the fabrications of reporters who weren't actually in the locations they claimed, but reported anonymously, that he issued a local order that any newspaper wanting to operate in his area had to at least publish who the articles were 'by' in a line at the top of each story. As this also played well for journalism (the first American media stars were created in this way), it became standard.
But the underlying causation was the same.

Concealing *sources* is valid. Making shit up and then claiming you can't use the reporter's name is a sure sign that a ton of bullshit is coming down the pipe.

There have been fuck-ups a plenty which are true, and which have been readily acknowledged (and indeed mostly initially revealed first by) the military, enough so to demonstrate that b.s. like this is just that, faked.

I am curious, however: Where did you find such tripe actually published?

Bateman (who lives 60 km south of Tarmiya)






Felicity Arbuthnot:


Dear Major Bateman,

You question the veracity of the Tarmiya account. Frankly, there have been so many 'Tarmiyas' from Mosul to Basra since this illegal invasion - coup d'etat for oil - to be more accurate, whilst a tragedy, US actions - with their British counterparts following slavishly in their footsteps - from the unimaginable in Abu Ghraib to the same in Basra - no longer even shock. After mustard gas, DU, napalm and phosphorous bombs in Falluja - and no doubt elsewhere we don't know about, shock on the Richter scale, barely registers.

However, you may be interested in the story of soldiers from their own mouth - and movie camera.

(http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=10366&s2=14: Armed with digital cameras, GIs in Iraq shoot battle footage and edit it into music videos packed with death and destruction.)

And by the way, since even the spineless Kofi Annan has declared this war illegal, why are the troops still there? Not surely because those poor, backward Iraqis cannot run their own country - it may not have been a western model, but the 'cradle of civilisation' ran OK before the invasion. Perhaps the illegal invaders are hanging around until, as put so well by Prime Minister Blair, according to an account in Robin Cook's book. 'This war' said Blair 'will not be like Afghanistan', Iraq's oil would pay for it. Sadly, the Iraqis don't quite see it like that and will, as always, continue to blow up the pipelines, as they always have when foreigners eye their only asset - apart from dates, but since the palm trees too have been largely destroyed, only the oil is left. Time to go before the Nuremburg Principals and Geneva Convention creak into action with war crimes and illegality writ large.

best, Felicity Arbuthnot

PS will soldiers be repaying the moneys, jewellery and marriage gold, they routinely steal from searched homes, replace the trashed furniture and indeed trashed homes. Just wondering.

PPS As a soldier, you will know that it was Britain's General Stanley Maude who stood in Falluja in 1917 and said 'we come as liberators, not as invaders ...' Iraqis have been here before - often - frankly, they don't like it. Time to go.






Another reaction to this soldier’s tale:

The problem is, Bob, that the international reputation of US forces is so appalling that stories like these seem more plausible than denials. The efforts to deny what is seen as systematic abuse of Iraqis and others and to blame the abuse on a few 'black sheep' has not helped. Nor have the efforts to keep real reporting out of Fallujah etc. and the apparent determination not to investigate properly the numbers of Iraqi dead. The claims for the use of illegal weapons are more credible than not and US leaders are widely regarded in the same category as Bush and Straw, almost compulsive liars.

The story came to me from a posting by Dirk Adriaensens ( dirk.adriaensens@skynet.be ) to two lists I belong to. Dirk has been involved in Iraq for years with the BRussells Tribunal, CASI, Iraq SOS etc. I have never had any problem with anything he has posted.


xxxxx

Courtesy of Dirk Adriaensens