NEWS: Iraqi Family Killed After USA Troops Open Fire On Vehicle

Five people have been killed including three small children after USA troops opened fire on a minivan. The incident occured north east of Baghdad with conflicting reports surrounding the lead up to the incident. The driver of the vehicle, Ahmed Kamel al-Sawamara, stated that he saw the US military vehicle approach and start open fire. He says he slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road but USA troops kept firing, killing his family members. USA Military spokesmen have stated that these tragedies only happen because of Zarqawi and his thugs are out there and the car was given warning shots and failed to slow down and stop. The childen were aged 1, 2 and 3 years according to Iraq police.



Well now that Zarqawi is dead again, Maybe he will stop being blamed for just about everything that happens in Iraq.

This is a sad situation.

Related News Links:
www.alertnet.org
www.islam-online.net
www.plenglish.com

[edit on 21-11-2005 by Mayet]

[edit on 21-11-2005 by Mayet]

This is such a terrible story.

My heart goes out to the Iraqi people.

My heart goes out to the soldiers who now have to live with this.

I couldn't imagine living like this

US forces, who regularly face attack by suicide car bombers trying to ram their vehicles before setting off their explosives, have repeatedly been involved in shooting incidents in which civilians have been kill

Then again I couldn't imagine living with the fear the civilians deal with.

I couldn't imagine living with the guilt that accidental killings like this put inside of a soldiers soul for a lifetime.

peace.love.now

- One Man Short

This is just terrible.

I cannot for the life of me see how Zarqawi could be responsible. Any more than any other leader involved in this tragedy that is the Iraq War.

And two sides of the story? In one, they pull over and stop. In ther other, they wouldn't slow down. Which is true?

This is but one more tragic event in an active war zone. All such events bring grief and anguish to both the surviving victims and the soldiers. Even the slightest misinterpretation of an unfolding event can bring about a deadly reaction based upon that misinterpretation . Conversely, such a misinterpretation can cause a frequently fatal delay (for the soldiers involved) in reacting to an unfolding dangerous situation. Regretfully, things of this nature happen all to frequently in an active war zone.

Does anyone else remember when the 'War in Iraq' was about 'winning the hears of minds of the Iraqi people'. From the on going news report, after news reports of such events in Iraq [and to some extend Afghanistan] it really makes me question it all.

Is it a 'War in Iraq' or a 'War on Iraq'?

Originally posted by Mayet
Five people have been killed including three small children after USA troops opened fire on a minivan. The incident occured north east of Baghdad with conflicting reports surrounding the lead up to the incident. The driver of the vehicle, Ahmed Kamel al-Sawamara, stated that he saw the US military vehicle approach and start open fire. He says he slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road but USA troops kept firing, killing his family members. USA Military spokesmen have stated that these tragedies only happen because of Zarqawi and his thugs are out there and the car was given warning shots and failed to slow down and stop. The childen were aged 1, 2 and 3 years according to Iraq police.

 

www.abc.net.au

ABC News - Relatives of The Victims

One of the survivors told Reuters the family was travelling from Balad, a town about 80 kilometres north of Baghdad, to the nearby city of Baquba for a funeral when they were shot at by a US patrol as it approached them on the road.

"As we tried to move over to one side to let them pass, they opened fire," one of the survivors said.

"The soldiers started shooting at us from all over. I slowed down and pulled off the road, but they continued firing," he told reporters.

"We felt bullets hitting the car from behind and from in front," said another survivor with blood running from a wound to his head and splattered on his shirt. "One child had his hand shot off," he said.

US troops had set up a makeshift roadblock to allow some military vehicles to turn off a highway into a base when the civilian car approached, Maj Warren said.

"The Iraqi car wouldn't slow down and warning shots were fired," he said.



Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Well now that Zarqawi is dead again, Maybe he will stop being blamed for just about everything that happens in Iraq.

This is a sad situation.

Related News Links:
www.alertnet.org
www.islam-online.net
www.plenglish.com

[edit on 21-11-2005 by Mayet]

[edit on 21-11-2005 by Mayet]

Yes, this is tragic, but hinting that the military is at fault for everything happening there is just distasteful.

My heart goes out to that family and I do hope that whatever happened, it was not intentional and if it was, those responsible will be held accountable.

We dont have enough facts on this to make ANY assumptions. We must wait until both sides are able to completely collect the stories, and I noticed there were no reports from the soldiers who were at that checkpoint.

Raid, I don't think we will hear from the troops, a few months ago new rules were made that all news had to come out of the one spot for military stuff in Iraq. I think it was to save on false reports.

I do hope Donegal that you were not accusing me of hinting anything subversive. My article stated facts from three different sources, and gave both sides of accounts. The only thing my comment contained was a dig at the blame of the incident on Zarqawi.

On one side we have the people involved and the Iraqi police.. on the other side of it we have the USA military. Who's right who is wrong... Only those that were there know but does that mean because we don't have the full story as yet it can't be reported on? Because if that is the case then not much news would make it around here.

Being discussed here -
www.abovetopsecret.com...

There were large and numerous signs to stop posted.
All Iraqis know to stop at military check points.
All Iraqis have been living with this for years.
They know what to do.
This man failed to do what he should have.
It's a tragedy that is HIS fault. No one else's.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
Being discussed here -
www.abovetopsecret.com...

There were large and numerous signs to stop posted.
All Iraqis know to stop at military check points.
All Iraqis have been living with this for years.
They know what to do.
This man failed to do what he should have.
It's a tragedy that is HIS fault. No one else's.

So...your saying it was a checkpoint, but the report says a car was approached by a Patrol....Which is it?

As for the fact kiddies died..I am spitting venom at the moment and will not post what I feel.....

Originally posted by Donegal
My heart goes out to that family and I do hope that whatever happened, it was not intentional and if it was, those responsible will be held accountable.

Why would it be intentional? Why would a young soldier fire up infants in a van? There is no sense in that, and I certainly hope there is no way it happened like that.

What is most likely is that we now have a family in Iraq that is totally devastated and a handful of American families that will be torn apart when these kids come home, totally screwed up.

I wish the Iraqi forces could get up and running faster so that we can get our kids back home. As it is, this is going to cost us for years to come, and I'm not talking about money.

Originally posted by stumason
So...your saying it was a checkpoint, but the report says
a car was approached by a Patrol....Which is it?

news.bbc.co.uk...

The BBC says 'the full story' is that it was a military check point
outside a US military facility. There were signs posted - in the
native language - firmly stating everyone needed to stop and
be checked. These signs, and these checkpoints, have been in
Iraq for years. The people knew about them. They all know what
to do when they come to them.

The people are dead due to the fact the driver of the vehicle failed
to stop at a military check point that was well marked. It is his
fault.

The title of this thread is worded in a way that makes it seem like
the US Soldiers went out and shot up a family without cause. At
least that's the way I see the title. This is NOT the case.

As for the fact kiddies died..I am spitting venom at the moment

Definately tragic. What's worse, it's the fault of the driver, a family
member, that those children are dead. That makes it even worse,
at least to me.

Originally posted by Mayet

Well now that Zarqawi is dead again, Maybe he will stop being blamed for just about everything that happens in Iraq.

This is a sad situation.

It is an extremely sad situation especially since children were killed. Anytime a child dies, my heart cries out in anger! But you must also take a realistic approach to the situation there and ask yourself why did it happen? Who or what created the atmosphere that envelopes this country
in a fog of fear. I admit the sight of Armed Soldiers from a foriegn nation
patroling your streets in armored vehicles is very intimidating to the
average Iraqi. I can only imagine how I would respond to such a sight
here on American soil. To assume that American soldiers would fire on
civilians unprovoked to me is just uncomprehensible. These are not evil
cyborgs, these are young men and women just like you or your sons and daughters. So what could possibly make them fire on that minivan? Could it possibly be that one of the favorite tactics of the insurgents is driving vehicles laden with explosives into US check points or pulling along side of US convoys? Could it possibly be that male and female insurgents tie bombs around their waste and walk into crowds for maximum collateral
damage? Could it possibly be that the tactics the insurgents are using where designed to create just such incidents at the cost of innocent lives?
Perhaps that is too abstract an idea for some. It is so much easier to tag US soldiers as baby killers, thugs and murderers. It keeps everything in a simple tidy illusion of Americas injustice to the world without having to face the ordeal of responsiblity elsewhere. The sad fact is as long as the world turns a blind eye to the immoral atrocities inflicted upon innocents by people like Zacoward, more children will die. It is truly a sad situation!

Dont mistake me for some Anti-US, Souljah clone. I can imagine what it must be like for the soldiers as well. I know I would find it hard to deal with if I killed a child and those squaddies out there are the same as you and me.

However..............

We shouldn't have gone in the first place. There are better ways to topple despots than "shooting things and blowing things up" (to quote a US Marine when asked by the BBC why he was in Iraq prior to the invasion).

Having said that, though, seeing as we are there, we have a responsibility to rebuild what we have destroyed, get Iraq back on it's feet and get out of their country as soon as we can.

Fact is we are there and have been for what, 2 years? Does this guy driving NOT know that the US is in his country? Did he not see the signs? Was there no one in the car that could read the native language? If anything, it was his pride, ignorance and lack of intelligence that put his family in a situation that led to the tragic death of those children.

Unless you have been there, you cannot imagine how hard it is to tell a friend from a foe? With the amount of car bombings that occur, I am suprised we do not hear of more deaths.

The fault of this falls directly on the father, no one else. The military did their job, as instructed, and that was to stp a suspicious vehicle, not kill children or civilians.

Tragedy by definition is A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life.

Remember our soldiers also die everyday attempting to protect the children of that nation.

Originally posted by esdad71
Unless you have been there, you cannot imagine how hard it is to tell a friend from a foe?

And unless you have been there, it's difficult to know how you might react if someone opened fire on you and your family!

The fault of this falls directly on the father, no one else. The military did their job, as instructed, and that was to stp a suspicious vehicle, not kill children or civilians.

You only say this because you're buying the military's side of the story 100%. What do you think they're going to say? Of course they're going to say they did everything right and that they didn't make any mistakes. What do you expect?

The truth is that none of us knows what happens, it's only when politics get involved that we start deciding that we know how it went down. We don't. It could very well have been a bet between 2 soldiers as to how many bullets they could unload into this van.

The truth usually lies in between.

The driver, who you have as being totally at fault, says he slowed down and pulled over, but they still kept shooting. Would you have stopped if they kept shooting with your babies in the car?

Tragedy by definition is A disastrous event, especially one involving distressing loss or injury to life.

To be technical, the meaning of the word tragedy has been warped. It is originally intended to define a series of events brought about by a character flaw, but then, if you haven't read Shakespear, you wouldn't know that.

stumason said: the word tragedy * * * a series of events brought about by a character flaw

I suppose the word would not apply if its application were limited to individuals and not extended to the governing administration of a nation. You decide which nation this might apply to.

To all those saying this was the victims fault: I really hope you find yourselves in the same position someday. Really my first reaction to this is a strong desire to go out and do the same to those that justify this kind of thing, but what would that solve?

Originally posted by dubiousone

stumason said: the word tragedy * * * a series of events brought about by a character flaw

I suppose the word would not apply if its application were limited to individuals and not extended to the governing administration of a nation. You decide which nation this might apply to.

I think I see your point.....

A character flaw indeed.....