One Little War Crime

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Friday September 17, 2004 20:43 by David C.

The war on Iraq was illegal, fraudulent and has killed many tens of thousands of innocent people, and making this war is very probably a war crime. But the Americans commit war crimes every day in Iraq. One such war crime was the Haifa Street massacre, which occurred last week and which was televised. Jonathan Steele has courageously written a clear and insightful analysis of this massacre in today's edition of The Guardian. This posting examines Steele's position and asks why criticism of American war crimes in Iraq is so rare.

The Anglo-American war on Iraq was conducted in clear violation of the UN charter and was facilitated by fraudulent propaganda concerning WMDs and terrorist links. The illegal nature of the war (reiterated by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, yesterday), the duplicity surrounding its initiation and the death toll of 30,000-40,000 civilians and 20,000-30,000 combatants suggest that the creation of this war is itself a war crime. But in addition to the 'macro' war crime of creating unnecessary war, the Americans commit 'micro' war crimes every day - killing innocent men, women and children with little regard or basic respect for human life.

Once such 'micro' war crime was the killing of 13 people on Haifa Street in Baghdad by an American helicopter last week. This massacre was captured on film by a television crew from Al Arabiya, who's correspondent was killed in the attack. Jonathan Steele of The Guardian has courageously discussed this attack in an analysis. Although Steele's article primarily discusses the overall political situation in Iraq, his analysis of the Haifa Street massacre is an unusual discussion of the daily barbarity of the American's occupation of Iraq and is one of the first accounts to openly call for an accounting for the many daily war crimes that America has inflicted on Iraqis.

The relevant portion of Steele's article is quoted here:

. "The pilots' unarmed victims came into the street after insurgents had destroyed an American Bradley fighting vehicle, a cross between a tank and an armoured personnel carrier. The soldiers inside it were quickly rescued by comrades and withdrew. By the time the jubilant crowd gathered to gawp at the Bradley's smouldering remains, military activity had ceased".

. "Why then did the pilots shoot? The official version is that ground fire was being aimed at them. Even if true, questions remain. Why didn't the helicopters fly off to safety? Fire need not be answered, if there is a more sensible way of avoiding being hit, especially when the ground troops the helicopters were supposedly protecting had already left the scene. Secondly, did the pilots properly assess the risk to civilians from a disproportionate response? From the casualties caused, the evidence strongly suggests they did not".

. "The assumption has to be that the pilots' motive was revenge. If so, the incident would not be unique. In case after case, the behaviour of US forces in Iraq appears to be degenerating into vindictive killing, decided not only at the tactical but also at command level".

. "Lieutenant-general James Conway, who commanded US marines at Falluja in April, recently revealed he was unhappy with a higher-ranking decision to assault the town after four American contractors were killed and their bodies mutilated. He was against "attacking out of revenge", he now says".

. "His description of the offensive's primary purpose is surely right, although - as with the Haifa Street massacre - no war crimes trial is likely. Belatedly, and usually only after media exposure, abuses in US- and UK-run military prisons in Iraq have led to court proceedings. The bigger issue of crimes against civilians perpetrated in the air above Iraqi cities and from tanks and other vehicles is still taboo".

(The full article can be read in its entirety at http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1306737,00.html )

America's actions in Iraq and its blatant disregard for the lives of others must be constantly exposed, condemned and challenged. America considers 'non-American life' to be worth far, far less than 'American life', and it conducts its militarily operations in Iraq using this highly discounted value for the lives of the countless Iraqis that it kills and maims. America would gladly risk the lives of hundreds of Iraqi children to further protect even one of it's pampered, spoiled, privileged solders. Risking an American life is unacceptable to them, but risking Iraqi lives is inconsequential.