Iraq: ‘Killings in Ramadi’, from Jo Wilding's Diary (Executions)

Mods, this is a new source for me and it references a story I haven't heard before, but is amazing in its content. Came up in a Google news search and it blew my socks off. Am searching now to see if I can establish the voracity of this report. If I have misjudged and you feel this is wrong for LBN, I understand.

http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1240&blz=1

December 3rd
Killings in Ramadi

Two days before the end of Ramadan, just as they were about to break their fast, the family was interrupted by two groups of US troops from the 82nd Airborne Division bursting into the house, from opposite sides. The family dived for cover and the troops fired on each other, killing three of their own. They then separated the women and girls, putting them in an outside kitchen building of the home near Ramadi.

Three men, brothers Ibrahim and Sabah Odai and their cousin, were taken outside the house, forced face down in the mud and shot dead.

The next day the military returned to the village bringing papers with them. They were sorry but they had raided the wrong house, acting on false information. Claims for compensation for any damage suffered could be submitted, along with proof of fault, photographs of damage, medical reports, death certificates, details of the amount of money claimed, and so on, to the nearest office. The women of the village were in mourning, in black, indoors, the widow and children of one man, the mother of the two brothers, a little girl with a dressing covering a shrapnel wound on her face, a young woman with her arm heavily bandaged. The house was more or less destroyed. A white car was a strainer of bullet holes. There were bloodstains on the ground where the men were executed.

I'm passing on information from an independent journalist friend. I've seen the photos but I haven't yet been able to go and take statements from the people. Ibrahim was a human rights lawyer and today there was due to be a demonstration by other lawyers in Ramadi. It hasn't been much in the news though and I thought it was too important to wait till I get to see them. I'll give you more details when I do.
<snip>
Bold and italics by me.


On edit: This is from The UN Observer at this link: http://www.unobserver.com/

Specifically, like a mini-Mai-Lai massacre.

journalists for serious confirmation. I have a sinking feeling that this may be true and if it hit the airwaves, I think it would sway a lot more Americans to call for our bringing the troops home.

is getting desensitized to the bloodshed on both sides. Sensory
overload.

The only thing that will end the U.S. involvement quickly is
a sky-high Crude Oil price. I've done the math.

http://charts3.barchart.com/chart.asp?vol=Y&jav=adv&grid=Y&org=stk&sym=CLF4&data=H&code=BSTK&evnt=adv

I noticed that the price of crude was down real low during that 'energy crisis' bush gave us in the first half of 2001. I bet some people made a lot of money.

and then summarily exicuting three Iraqi's in the mud would (I believe) hurdle over the coldness (I hope).

This is the most important report I have seen coming out of Iraq in months... since shortly after the beginning of hostilities, IMHO.

But I'm afraid you're right. It's being largely ignored even here at DU. I hope others pick up on it and read the piece.

believe me, a lot of things would change quickly.

crimes in the World Court. If this is democracy...who needs it?

to this - here is a bio from April:

Press release April 1st 17:30
www.bristolfoe.org.uk/wildfire
07979 211897

Jo Wilding, UK human rights activist back from Iraq

Anti war activist Jo Wilding landed back in the UK today at 17:00, six and a
half weeks after she travelled to Iraq as a human rights observer.
Over the past 6 weeks people all over the world have read Jo's diaries from
Baghdad at www.bristolfoe.org.uk/wildfire in which she has charted the fear
of Iraqis pre war and the devastation, pain and suffering inflicted upon
them since the commencement of the illegal US/UK attack . She has met and
interviewed many of the Iraqis who have already lost family members or been
wounded themselves in attacks on civilian targets.
Jo, who was expelled yesterday by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said,
"The US and UK Governments is killing Iraqi civilians in their homes, cars,
buses and marketplaces, in apparent breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The war must stop now"

<snip>
The next day the military returned to the village bringing papers with them. They were sorry but they had raided the wrong house, acting on false information.
<snip>

This is seriously sad, my friend.

This late beaking news comes from something called Joe Wildings Diary? Does the fact that no reputable news organization is reporting this story of the decade make you question its veracity?

with many mainstream publications and is widely published.

You might try checking your allegations before throwing stones before you come in as an arrogant newbie. Over 9,000 hits on Google.

Here's the link: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Jo+Wilding

Anyone with a website can get listed on Google. I suppose if a site is listed on Google it has to be true. I'm just surprised that I haven't seen the story on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, Fox or any major newspaper in the country. I could be wrong.

Arrogant Newbie

reported the Mai-Lai massacre at the time?

Not the US press for sure and it's happening with our tax payer dollars under the pretext of *war on drugs*.

<clips>

...Despite this appalling state of affairs, Colombia remains the third largest recipient of United States military aid in the world, with the now infamous 'Plan Colombia' alone having supplied $2 billion in military training and hardware in recent years. Although this aid was given using the pretext of the 'War on Drugs', even Washington now admits that their real target are the growing insurgencies of the FARC-EP and ELN (National Liberation Army).

This counter-insurgency assistance is aimed at pushing the rebels and their civilian supporters out of regions rich in natural resources. Although the Colombian army and paramilitaries are responsible for the vast majority of this forced displacement, the U.S. too is responsible for driving tens of thousands from their land through a vicious campaign of chemical warfare, similar to the use of 'Agent Orange' in Vietnam.

http://www.colombiapeace.org/

Bush I's invasion of Panama for over a year.

happened in Central America. The corporate owned press isn't printing word one about any of it and it's all about OIL--same as Iraq. Speculation is that the US is trying to create an "Israel" in this hemisphere--the US would prop it up with military aid and Colombia would look after US interests, which is already happening. (Occidental Oil pipeline is one example--they lobbied millions to congress to provide more aid to Colombia despite them having the worse human rights record in the western hemisphere. Coke is another.)

I have little doubt that these same atrocities are being carried out in Iraq. They just announced today that they would start using paramilitaries in Iraq. To me that means that the atrocities, such as the account you posted, can't be kept under wraps for much longer and they need to set up someone else (the paras) to do their dirty work. It's history repeating itself ala Central America. Dispicable.

<clips>

...Reagan released massive amounts of military aid to El Salvador, helped create the Contras, an anti-Sandinista guerrilla front, and built up the Honduran army as a firewall against the further spread of revolution in the region. Guatemala's genocidal army was given covert support in its war against its indigenous population and secret military bases were set up in pacific Costa Rica to support the war effort against Nicaragua.

Harvard Professor John Coatsworth in his study of U.S. policies in Central America wrote that: "No U.S. government has ever devoted as much of its own political capital and the nation's resources to Central America as did the Reagan administration... . None had such profoundly traumatic effects on the region. None left office with such little control over events in the region."

In El Salvador, the Reagan Administration consistently rejected a negotiated settlement between the FMLN and the government. Although ostensively trying to build a centrist majority around the Christian Democratic (PDC) regime of Jose Napoleon Duarte, Reagan's insistence that the war be decided on the battlefield and not at the negotiating table insured that support for the political center would wane. For many Salvadorans, to support the PDC was to support war without end in El Salvador.

http://www.icomm.ca/carecen/page75.html

Easy...those major news outlets theoretically wait for two and three source confirmation before airing a story. That's the presumptive ethics in journalism, right?, though it doesn't always hold true.....Jo Wilding's piece is as stated, a diary, and she states her planned trip to follow up for first person info.

One other avenue would be to look up any reported US military KIA in Ramadi two days before the end of Ramadan (don't know if that referred to Sunni or Shi'ite reckoning) and follow that lead....

I rely on them for all my REAL facts too.... :eyes:

be a little left for your tastes... One of them is even *PRAVDA* (gasp)! I'm anxious to hear your opinion of these articles to see if they are as concise as your defense of Rush and Zell in your other posts here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,924790,00.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/wilding04032003.html
http://www.bristolfoe.org.uk/wildfire/iraq/
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leeds/2003/07/274004.html
http://www.pacifica.org/programs/peacewatch/030325_peacewatch.html
http://www.peaceuk.net/archive/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=4
http://engforum.pravda.ru/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=44111

and that silly BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2908991.stm

I read the links you provided but I must say I have to agree with your earlier post. This information of American troops executing civilians face down in the mud needs to be passed on to other news organizations for verification. As Pinto said, multiple sources are required before publication to ensure accuracy. I'm sure any major news organization would be glad to break this story after they see the evidence. It would probably be a Pulitzer Prize story and you couldn't keep a reporter away from it. Like you, I await confirmation. Hopefully, it will come soon.

Arrogant Newbie

"without question" there were WMD's in Iraq?

I trust NOTHING the corporate press prints. It's bought and its evil and it has an agenda: "Pax Americana". Any truth that gets in the way of the expansion of the Israeli/American Empire is just too inconvenenient to report.

requesting any other reporting on this story or independent verification. I'll forward any response(s) I get to this thread. AI has people on the ground...they may have a lead or develop one. We'll see.

Reporters without borders as well. She's been quoted and printed in several British papers. I'm tending to believe her especially since she mentions wanting to interview the victims herself rather than depending on the reports given her.

we have become the terrorists we claim to be fighting. This illegal invasion of Iraq will be our shame for years and years to come.

light. I believe it is a reliable source. This particular article is long.

http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=2039

There is a somewhat shorter version on the Progressive site.

http://www.progressive.org/dec03/rose1203.html

(transcript of e-mail)

Hello (my name)!

Thank you for contacting us.

We expect to be posting more from Jo Wilding and hopefully, she'll be following up on these stories. No I don't know much about this particular one, at the moment.

You might also see Kathy Kelly's article, just below Jo's and visit the websites she and Jo mentioned. Kathy is with Voices in the Wilderness and they've been in Iraq quite a while.

I'm very pleased you like the website.

Best wishes,
Paul

Paul V. Rafferty
U.N. Observer & International Report
Office it the Hague


link: http://www.unobserver.com

quick, polite...
this story could well have legs.
our troops have been set up for this kind of behavior. bush and 9-11 ''git 'em'' bull shit, tearing off to an illegal war. bring 'em on -- sad, very sad if this turns out to be true.