Re: innocent iraqis fear of americans

Well, hell. You snuck in with your real name. <sigh> Could you
please post right quick as Northern Raider so I can get rid of that
one, too?
Sue

On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 21:09:57 +0100, "Steve Day"
<steve.day11@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Iraqi viewpoint: Fear of US troops
Insurgents in Iraq are killing scores of people every week: foreign troops,
Iraqi security forces and ordinary civilians. But Iraqi civilians are also
dying at the hands of US soldiers.
An Iraqi from Anbar province - who wishes to remain anonymous - describes
life alongside American troop patrols.

About a year ago my town of Hit was in the terrorists' hands. Then the US
arrived and cleared them out.


For lots of people who do not share the terrorists' fundamental beliefs,
life got better.

But for these normal people also came another danger, getting killed by
accident by the Americans.

I would say nearly 100 people have died in this way over the past year.

I have lots of examples. A bomb went off near a US patrol not far from a
small shop. The shopkeeper locked himself and his two children inside.

After a while, one of the kids got thirsty. The man opened the door to get
water from a tap outside - and was shot by the Americans who were still
waiting there.

Lack of communication

A colleague of mine, a cautious man, was driving near a foot patrol. He
stopped and the patrol passed, so he started moving again.

But another three soldiers were hiding behind a wall ahead. They fired three
shots: one went through the windscreen, the other hit the bonnet and the
other went near the front tyre.

Because my friend speaks English he spoke to the soldiers. They saw he was
just a normal guy so they apologised and even offered compensation for
shooting his car.

A lot of the problems are down to lack of communication between the two
sides.

Another big problem is there is no work in Hit.

Farmers can't work properly. In the hot season the irrigation is mainly done
at night. But if you are seen outside at night you can be shot at. So a lot
of the farmers' crops are down.

Recently a family was crossing the river in a small boat. They got shot. So
now no one goes on the river to catch fish to sell.

Insurgents are recruiting

There are no new infrastructure projects being built because of the security
situation, so no one is in work.

What that really means is that insurgents with money to pump in can recruit
more easily. That is what is happening now.


The terrorists are still threatening people under the surface, but it's not
as bad as before the Americans came.

Don't forget, there isn't any local police. There is a gap.

We need someone both locals and the Americans can trust. I know this person
would be in danger, but there must be some way we can work it out.

There are always two sides to the story. It's very dangerous for the
soldiers too. They don't feel secure.

Any car coming up to them can be someone trying to blow them up, so everyone
is under suspicion.

Because of the lack of communication, the language barrier, it's difficult
to explain things.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/5038026.stm

Published: 2006/06/01 17:41:06 GMT

© BBC MMVI


.

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