How did this iraqi vote in Venom's "gallup poll"?
Posted: 9/30/2003, 11:04 am
U.S. own worst foe in battle to win over people
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
SAMARA, Iraq - A LITTLE Iraqi girl - no more than eight years old - squatted beside the road with tears of humiliation streaming down her cheeks.
Twenty feet away, three American soldiers had their rifles aimed at her as she was forced to relieve herself in full view of a long line of parked cars. From inside their vehicles, the Iraqi onlookers screamed their rage at the U.S. troops. Whenever someone ventured to step out of a vehicle, an American officer bellowed, "Get back in the car, a******!" and the .50 calibre machine gun mounted on the U.S. Hummer would swing menacingly toward the protester.
The terrified little girl was weeping uncontrollably by the time she dropped her skirt and ran back to her mother. Her understandably enraged father began working his horn and other Iraqi drivers quickly took up the protest by doing the same.
The Americans laughed as they drove off, their weapons still trained on the Iraqi vehicles.
This incident took place on Sunday after a detachment of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division set up a roadblock on the Samara-Kirkuk highway. The purpose was to conduct a weapons search of all traffic.
However, without enough personnel to man the roadblock, cars and trucks were soon backed up for at least two kilometers in each direction. It was hot and there was no shade on that desert stretch of highway.
As part of their operational doctrine, the Americans did not allow anyone to step out of their vehicles until they had been searched, despite the fact that the waiting time at the roadblock was upward of four hours.
To ensure that no Iraqi ventured onto the roadway, 1st Lieut. Fisher and his detachment raced up and down the queue, pointed their weapons and hurled verbal abuse at any violator. The little girl had been sitting in a small Mazda with six other family members for over three hours before she left the car. Her older brother - no more than 10 - had bravely taken her by the hand and attempted to reach a small depression in the sand, which might have offered a modicum of privacy.
Fisher's Hummer had roared down the unpaved shoulder and braked to a halt in a cloud of dust. The young boy abandoned his sister, who had no choice but to squat where she was.
While Fisher and his men may have carried out their orders efficiently, their aggressive behaviour and lack of empathy had done little to win over the "hearts and minds" of Iraqis.
Although it has been nearly five months since U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed the war in Iraq to be over, the U.S. forces continue to come under attack on a daily basis. More alarming is the fact that the attacks are no longer limited to the central Iraq region known as the "Sunni Triangle." Last week alone, there were three ambushes in the northern city of Mosul - one of which claimed the lives of five Albanian soldiers serving with the coalition.
"It is believed that many of the Saddam loyalists have been pushed out of the Sunni Triangle by the U.S. military crackdown, so now they are plying their trade in the less protected areas," said Eddie Calis - a.k.a. Wind-talker - the head of U.S. security at the Kirkuk airfield. As one of the few Arab speaking U.S. operatives in Iraq, Wind-talker is on call 24 hours a day.
"We have no shortage of people who want to volunteer information - everything from Saddam's whereabouts, to direct knowledge about possible attacks against our base," he said.
Based on such tipoffs, U.S. military personnel have conducted numerous raids to arrest individuals suspected of being Saddam fedayeen (loyalists).
"The suspects are brought to the Kirkuk airfield where they are interrogated for a period of up to 20 days," said Calis. "At that time, they are either charged or released."
Those facing charges are then transferred to Tikrit where they are tried before a U.S. tribunal. If convicted, they are either incarcerated in Baghdad or Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, depending on the severity of the crime.
The 20-day detention period, in which outside contact is denied the accused, has also led to numerous rumours of U.S. torture and abuse.
Note: We were in the car behind the little girl - and I was one of those who attempted to protest Fisher's action. I guess that makes me an "a******."
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
SAMARA, Iraq - A LITTLE Iraqi girl - no more than eight years old - squatted beside the road with tears of humiliation streaming down her cheeks.
Twenty feet away, three American soldiers had their rifles aimed at her as she was forced to relieve herself in full view of a long line of parked cars. From inside their vehicles, the Iraqi onlookers screamed their rage at the U.S. troops. Whenever someone ventured to step out of a vehicle, an American officer bellowed, "Get back in the car, a******!" and the .50 calibre machine gun mounted on the U.S. Hummer would swing menacingly toward the protester.
The terrified little girl was weeping uncontrollably by the time she dropped her skirt and ran back to her mother. Her understandably enraged father began working his horn and other Iraqi drivers quickly took up the protest by doing the same.
The Americans laughed as they drove off, their weapons still trained on the Iraqi vehicles.
This incident took place on Sunday after a detachment of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division set up a roadblock on the Samara-Kirkuk highway. The purpose was to conduct a weapons search of all traffic.
However, without enough personnel to man the roadblock, cars and trucks were soon backed up for at least two kilometers in each direction. It was hot and there was no shade on that desert stretch of highway.
As part of their operational doctrine, the Americans did not allow anyone to step out of their vehicles until they had been searched, despite the fact that the waiting time at the roadblock was upward of four hours.
To ensure that no Iraqi ventured onto the roadway, 1st Lieut. Fisher and his detachment raced up and down the queue, pointed their weapons and hurled verbal abuse at any violator. The little girl had been sitting in a small Mazda with six other family members for over three hours before she left the car. Her older brother - no more than 10 - had bravely taken her by the hand and attempted to reach a small depression in the sand, which might have offered a modicum of privacy.
Fisher's Hummer had roared down the unpaved shoulder and braked to a halt in a cloud of dust. The young boy abandoned his sister, who had no choice but to squat where she was.
While Fisher and his men may have carried out their orders efficiently, their aggressive behaviour and lack of empathy had done little to win over the "hearts and minds" of Iraqis.
Although it has been nearly five months since U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed the war in Iraq to be over, the U.S. forces continue to come under attack on a daily basis. More alarming is the fact that the attacks are no longer limited to the central Iraq region known as the "Sunni Triangle." Last week alone, there were three ambushes in the northern city of Mosul - one of which claimed the lives of five Albanian soldiers serving with the coalition.
"It is believed that many of the Saddam loyalists have been pushed out of the Sunni Triangle by the U.S. military crackdown, so now they are plying their trade in the less protected areas," said Eddie Calis - a.k.a. Wind-talker - the head of U.S. security at the Kirkuk airfield. As one of the few Arab speaking U.S. operatives in Iraq, Wind-talker is on call 24 hours a day.
"We have no shortage of people who want to volunteer information - everything from Saddam's whereabouts, to direct knowledge about possible attacks against our base," he said.
Based on such tipoffs, U.S. military personnel have conducted numerous raids to arrest individuals suspected of being Saddam fedayeen (loyalists).
"The suspects are brought to the Kirkuk airfield where they are interrogated for a period of up to 20 days," said Calis. "At that time, they are either charged or released."
Those facing charges are then transferred to Tikrit where they are tried before a U.S. tribunal. If convicted, they are either incarcerated in Baghdad or Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, depending on the severity of the crime.
The 20-day detention period, in which outside contact is denied the accused, has also led to numerous rumours of U.S. torture and abuse.
Note: We were in the car behind the little girl - and I was one of those who attempted to protest Fisher's action. I guess that makes me an "a******."
Poor girl.