An innocent old man, yet they shot him

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2073534,00.html

An innocent old man, yet they shot him


So far US forces in Iraq have paid out $32m for 'wrongful deaths'. Karzan Sherabayani went back to Kirkuk to ask why his uncle had to die

Sunday May 6, 2007
The Observer

One cold London morning in January, I received a phone call from one of my brothers. Uncle Kakarash was dead, killed by American soldiers at a checkpoint. He was my mother's brother, 75, and like most Kurds had suffered greatly under Saddam and welcomed the Americans as liberators.

Civilians in Iraq face everyday hazards beyond the snipers and the insurgents' bombs - hundreds have been run over by tanks or hit by stray bullets or shot at checkpoints. There are no records kept of the numbers of civilians killed during the war or by coalition troops.

Figures released last month after a request from the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that the US army has paid out $32m to Iraqi civilians in compensation for 'wrongful deaths' and injuries. That does not include condolence payments which can be made at the discretion of commanders on the scene.

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Kakarash Ali Khalid was a family man. He had recently retired after working all his life as a lorry driver, a job which took him all over Iraq. Like most Kurds, he suffered under Saddam, with many relatives - myself included - imprisoned and tortured. He had eight children and was still helping to provide for the family by doing odd driving jobs. Sabah remembers him telling the young ones to be careful at checkpoints - although he was not hostile to the US presence.

'He was happy they took Saddam away from power, and was saying we will finally have a good life,' Sabah told me. 'Before, I too was very happy about seeing the Americans here, but not any more. Anyone submitted to this injustice will dislike them. Have they come here to save us from Saddam or to kill us?'

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Que horror! :cry:

many times. Their actions are either just or not, since when has lying been part of the training?:mad: