Stray Bullets

Suheila Hammad held her daughter in her arms before dawn on Tuesday. Outside she heard the U.S. Special Forces and the Iraqi Army in her area just south of Fallujah.

First they raided a home two doors down, blew the doors out and went in looking for their target. The soldiers pulled the family out of the home and the second floor was destroyed, the family said. A picture shows a burned out room and shattered glass.

The soldiers progressed to the second house, searching for their target, an Al Qaida in Iraq member who was believed responsible for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

At the second house in this place, once an Al Qaida bastion, they blew the doors off and pulled the residents from the house. The Iraqi soldiers toyed with them, telling them to raise their arms up, drop their arms and raise them again.

A few soldiers walked away speaking a language the families didn't understand. It was then that a bullet pierced the window where Suheila held her daughter Hadil. The bullet pierced Hadil's neck and passed through her, embedding in the wall of the room. No one came into the house and Suheila was too afraid to call out for help, she said.

Hadil bled to death in her mother’s arms. Three men were detained, two were later released. The U.S. military said the man detained is an Al Qaida in Iraq member. There were no reports of Hadil's death, they said.

This morning Ali walked into my room. He works at the hotel where our offices are housed. We chat while he works most mornings. Today he was visibly tired.

"How's your neighborhood," I asked.

"Not good Leila, not good," he replied. He stopped his work and walked over to my desk.

"They came at 3 a.m. looking for someone from the Mahdi Army," he said, referring to the U.S. military. The Shiite militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr controls his neighborhood.

He described how the "Amerkan," the Americans, pulled him and his family from their beds and forced them against the walls, guns pointed to their backs. The U.S. soldiers had broken down the doors and taken them by surprise, looking for their target.

His daughter and son , Wafaa, 6, and Hussein, 7, shook with fear. Because I didn't understand the word shiver,  he impersonated his children quivering. The soldiers searched the home and found nothing. They told Ali he could file for compensation for the damages they caused.

"After this, why would I want their money," he said.

Last month a child and two men were killed as they rushed through a military checkpoint while the U.S. military were conducting an operation in Bayji. A U.S. military official estimated the child was about three years old. In Baghdad up to four people were killed, including three women, when a mini-bus ended up on a road meant only for car traffic. Bank employees on the bus were killed when soldiers fired warning shots that fragmented and hit the bus.

These deaths were not deliberate. But Suheila does not have her daughter, a three-year-old was shot as he huddled in the back of a car and two young people forever associate Americans with the fear they felt in the middle of the night when foreign soldiers burst into their home. 

Comments

[Linda Spurlock]

Everybody lose and no body wins. War/policing action; whatever. No body wins. Young Americans killed by IEDs and snipers. Contractors killed and prisoners taken, and yet no one is responsible. The Iraqi people have paid a tremendous price for whatever type of freedon they have since Hussien, but over 3000 soliders familes have paid a price for a country or people they have never seen. Thousands more have come home disabled, unable to support their families, with little or no help for our government. This is so sad, the loss of a child, but is there a good age to loose a child? I say never. My Lord, have mercy on us all. Amen.

[round2go]

Ms. Fadel is obviously anti-American. the blog was a very well written smear piece.

I wonder who she would call to save her neck if she ever got kidnapped by islamists and threatened with beheading...

[Susan]

The piece was well written, and it is "round2go" who is smearing someone else.

It is not true that no one wins from war - the ones who start it often profit handsomely. They don't do the fighting or dying, they just collect a lot of money. Same with this war - some people made a bunch of money.

One time on C-Span last year, I heard some American say he always voted Republican because they lower taxes and usually cause military industrial stocks to go up.

They went way up in this case.

This war is a war of aggression, against a country that never attacked or threatened the USA. This war caused fundamentalist to become more extremist and more violent - true in Iraq and the USA and other places as well.

I am very sad that anyone is killed in this war, but I wish that everyone who died could have done it right in front of the White House and Congress. Then maybe those folks would stop this evil.

[round2go]

The winner in this war will be America, and the Iraqi Shiites who Bush liberated from a tyrannical regime.

If it wasn't for Bush, the Shiites would be oppressed to this day. Obviously, Susan and her ilk of Neo-Libs couldn't care less about freeing oppressed people. Only hatred of Bush consumes her...

[billjpa]

Ms F, If this is progress, whay is failure? There isn't any doubt that two things are occuring. First, By ethnically cleansing neighborhoods and regions, open "violence" appears to be receed.
Second, as a result of the visibly lower loss statistics, the US Media can reduce the coverage and justify the lessened coverage.
Yet, when you describe such actions as you describe in the above post,it remains clear that the US is losing this occupation. What the people of the US need to understand is that they think in terms of seconds and minutes while the occupied think in terms of years, decades and even generations!

[round2go]

after taking a look at Ms. Fadel's picture, I've come to the conclusion that she's only a neophyte journalism student with absolutely no life experience...just a clueless broad who got a job for this rag b/c her rich daddy had connections... her case is just another example of how the rich, snooty left -- growing up detached from common society -- continue to mis-represent the truth in world events...

[Linda Spurlock]

"round2go", you should back away from your computer's keyboard immediately. The world has enough hate without you spewing more. You have the ability to discern what a person's background, education, training and experience level is looking at them? I have seen a lot of criminals in the newspapers, who looked good, had all the correct credential and were sound in educational backgrounds. I would assume you are a man. Is the persona attack because she is a woman? Did you read her article on leaving Iraq this year? Perhaps she has a slant toward the iraqi people, she lives and eats with them everyday. You completely missed the point of this article. A child died in its parents arms. America and Iraqi forces trying to find some the minority who terrorize and kill their own people. So, no one trust or believes in any thing because the pain has been too intense too long.

[Linda Spurlock]

First, "round2go", I am a christian conservative. As I have gotten older, I try to hear both sides of a situation, even if I don't agree with them. I have an opinion, and I try to hear and respect others' view points. My, my, I am a liberal dyke. I must share this information with my husband of thirty eight years, my two children and my three grandchildren. Also, I have absolutely no idea what a "neo-lib" is, and please don't waste a moment of your time trying to explain it to me. I believe you are the most angry person I have came across in a long time. Go to some church of choice and try to find some inter-peace.

[Leila]

This blog is a forum for open dialogue. It is supposed to be a place for people to express their opinions.

Please refrain from personally attacking other people who comment on the blog. We will remove all comments that contain inappropriate language.

[round2go]

ok "Liela", you should back away from your computer's keyboard immediately, and stop censoring those with whom you disagree. the world has enough left wing, Neo-Lib propaganda without you spewing out more. You are the most emotional female I came across in a long time. Go to some church of choice and get some wisdom.

[round2go]

so "Liela", are you going to delete my comment (censure) above for the simple fact that you don't like me and my idealogy? deleting my comment only, without deleting comments of others with same wording, will prove my point: that left wing, America hating "journalists" such as yourself will shut down minority voices of opposition...

[Leila]

I only deleted a comment at the request of a reader because you referred to her with inappropriate language. Feel free to re post it with out the words I'm referring to.

[round2go]

thank you, Liela. and now, I will try to re-write my 2nd posting previously deleted: "Linda Spurlock", you obviously lead a sheltered and naive life if I am the most "angry man" you ever came across...as a Christian conservative, you may know something about your religion, but don't know squat about the real world outside your kitchen. speaking of kitchen, where did you get permission to go online and start posting comments? shouldn't you be taking your shoes off and get back into that kitchen pronto?

[Susan]

This website has news videos on Iraqis - the latest on the refugees in Syria.

http://aliveinbaghdad.org/

They recently had a member of their team killed.

I want to thank McClatchy (and before them, Knight-Ridder) for the excellent work they have done and continue to do - in trying to get the story told about Iraq and Iraqis.

I know you are risking your life for the truth.

Just ignore the fools who cannot see that.

[Linda Spurlock]

Why we, as Americans, think money will solve these people problems and ease their suffering is beyond me. What will happen when we are gone? The government just okayed billions more to the Iraqi war. Who are we fighting? Where is this money going? After the elections and a new president takes office in early 2009, I believe there is a good chance we will leave Iraq. I have great concerns that the killings and suffering in Iraq have just begun, as an internal civil war is just beginning.

[Onauta]

Refreshing to hear a little about the conditions in Iraq. Since the "surge" has "succeeded" we don't hear any references to what is happening in Iraq. Attacks are down by "68%" but that still leaves a great deal of action.

Question to round2go; as Americans what have we won? The only thing I see is a casualty list of dead and injured Americans with a debt of trillions.

[round2go]

to answer "Onauta": Americans have won the battle for Iraq. Once again, we have liberated millions of oppressed civilians -- this time, Shiites -- from a Hitlerian dictator. In this century, Americans have always been the liberators, freeing others from slavery of facism in one war and from communism in another. And always sacrificing American blood to do it...and spending trillions to do it...but, this is the price for liberty. Freedom does not come cheap. America is the liberator, and the savior of the free world. We have won this responsibility which history, and now destiny, has thrust upon us...

[Daicon]

@round2go: you say that "in this century, Americans have ... [freed] others from slavery of facism [sic] in one war, and from communism in another."

What century are you referring to? Do you know what year it is? Perhaps you need to check the calendar. The events you allude to took place in the last century, not the current one.

As is so often the case, neocons know so very little, and so much of what they do know is wrong, that often they don't even know what century it is.

[round2go]

you know which century i'm referring to, "Daicon"...splitting hairs is all that Neo-Liberals like yourself can do...you've got nothing of substance to add to the argument...

[gaa]

With reference to the woman who was holding her child next to a window in the midst of a military action involving her house, how stupid can you get? If the mother had even one brain cell and a quantum of concern for her daughter, she should have known that every sniper for miles around would be focused on the windows of her house.

[Unconcerned]

Excuse me, but why are all of you replying with such sincere gusto to round2go? There's no need to waste time with him, who's either a moron beyond any redemption or simply someone who wants to stir the pot. On some motorcycle forums I have seen a very appropriate emoticon for responding to posts like his: a sleeping yellow ball emitting a string of "Zzzzz's." The message: "Yeah, whatever." That's all the attention he deserves. You shouldn't humor him by treating him as a sentient being.

[quixote]

I've lived here most of my life, but I still can't understand many people in the US. What is so hard to understand about terror? Soldiers breaking into your house, destroying your stuff, putting you up against the wall ... people in the US would be basket cases if it happened to them. ... Unless they were poor and non-white, in which case the police do similar things with some regularity.

God. Stop the world. I want to get off.