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Everyone,
Since November, the New York Times[1], Washington Post[2], Los Angeles Times[3],
and the Guardian[4] have all published reports from Falluja, Iraq, examining the
motivations of anti-Coalition violence there. All the reports omitted
significant causative background, and it's depressing to see journalism wherein
recent history is so strenuously, and consistently, ignored.
The rancor goes back a decade. On February 14, 1991, an RAF Tornado bombed
Falluja's shopping area, killing perhaps 200 civilians and wounding hundreds
more. Britain "very much regretted" the losses[5]. As CASI's Felicity Arbuthnot
wrote of her pre-war experiences in the town[6,7]: "To visit Fallujah is to be
shamed - and stoned. The only place in Iraq I have ever experienced hostility.
It is a hostility easy to understand. A tour of the re-established market - or
anywhere else, reveals traders with amputated limbs who survived the attack -
and not a person, seemingly, who has not lost one or more of their family."
More recently:
- On April 28, 2003, U.S. troops used excessive force against demonstrators near
a school in Falluja. Most sources report 13 or more civilian deaths in the
confrontation. The protesters likely posed no threat, and American actions
have been criticized by both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. HRW's
findings were based on ballistic evidence gathered at the scene.[8,9]
- American troops engaged Fallujan police on Sep. 12 in a confused firefight,
and U.S. forces killed eight police officers at a checkpoint. An American
statement later said, "We deeply regret this incident".[10]
- Witnesses said six civilians traveling to work in a minivan were killed on
Oct. 27 when U.S. soldiers sprayed the street with bullets after a bomb exploded
near their convoy.[2]
- Iraq Body Count's database lists many additional incidents near Falluja.[11]
Of the newspapers above, the NYTimes mentions only the school incident (and that
in passing). The Post report (lengthiest and perhaps the best) notes the school
and van tragedies (though deep in the story). The LATimes includes annecdotes
only, as does the Guardian.
Fear and frustration are felt on both sides, as the violence cycles. Attacks on
occupation forces include the downing of a Chinook that killed 16.
Reconstruction faces frustration of a different sort. One annecdote: "Military
engineers recently cleared garbage from a field in Fallujah, resurfaced it with
dirt and put up goal posts to create an instant soccer field. A day later, the
goal posts were stolen and all the dirt had been scraped from the field. A
Captain from the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion wondered, 'Is this animosity,
crime or both? What kind of people loot dirt?'"
This criticism isn't directed at frontline reporters making the dangerous trip
to Falluja (and who aren't, after all, traveling with Google and a research
staff). But back at the home office, there are editors within walking distance
of the archives. These editors consistently fail to provide historical balance
and detail to stories that cried out for both.
Ironically, reporter Tracy Wilkinson of the LATimes visited Falluja safely [3]
only to be wounded in the Baghdad restaurant terror blast last week.
Regards,
Drew Hamre
Golden Valley, MN USA
===
[1]
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/international/middleeast/04FALL.html?pagewanted=print&position=
November 4, 2003
OCCUPATION
In Die-Hard City, G.I.'s Are Enemy
By DEXTER FILKINS
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59891-2003Nov3?language=printer
'The Battlefield for All Iraq'
Intense Resistance Mounted in Fallujah
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page A01
[3]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-resist30dec30,1,7833551.story?coll=la-headlines-world
In Sunni Bastion, They Are Ready for a Fight
Even with Hussein in custody, anti-American sentiment fuels Iraqi midsection's
insurgency.
By Tracy Wilkinson
Times Staff Writer
[4] http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=7380
Yesterday's attack created jubilation in Falluja, the pro-Saddam city where
attacks on US forces are increasingly frequent and deadly
Michael Howard in Falluja Monday November 3, 2003 The Guardian
[5] HRW's report on the 1991 RAF incident
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/gulfwar/CHAP3.htm
[6] http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0429-11.htm
Fallujah - A Shooting Too Far?
by Felicity Arbuthnot
[7] http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1201-04.htm
Samarra - Another Falluja?
by Felicity Arbuthnot
[8] HRW report on 2003 school incident
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/06/iraq061703.htm
[9] Amnesty concern on 2003 school incident
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE141032003
[10] AP report on friendly fire police incident
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/14/1063341827952.html
[11] Compilation of Falluja entries from http://www.iraqbodycount.net
Incident Date Time Location Target Weapons Reported Minimum
Reported Maximum Sources
code
x214 11 Nov 9:00 PM entrance to Fallujah chicken-farmer's truck; 8-year-old boy
among the dead gunfire 5 5 REU 12 Nov
AP 12 Nov
AFP 12 Nov
AFP 13 Nov
KR 13 Nov
x208 31 Oct - municipal offices, Fallujah local resident shot by police during
protest 'when brawl broke out' gunfire 1 1 AFP 31 Oct
AAP 01 Nov
x204 02 Nov - near Fallujah 11-year-old boy caught in
crossfire gunfire 1 1 REU 03 Nov
DT(AU) 04 Nov
x202 28 Oct - outside power station, Fallujah - car bomb 5 6
AFP 28 Oct
AP 28 Oct
LAT 29 Oct
REU 28 Oct
x200 27 Oct 7:30 AM just west of Fallujah civilian vehicles passing by during
bomb attack on US convoy gunfire 6 6 NYT 29 Oct
OBS 09 Nov
x182 19 Oct 3:00 PM eastern Fallujah - gunfire and/or ammunition truck
explosion 1 1 AFP 19 Oct
AP 19 Oct
x181 20 Oct - Fallujah Syrian truck driver and handcuffed
Iraqi gunfire 2 2 REU 20 Oct
AP 21 Oct
x164 26 Sep 10:45 PM eastern entrance to Fallujah cars and a
motorbike gunfire 4 4 GUA 28 Sep
AFP 26 Sep
AP 27 Sep
x157 17 Sep PM Falluja town centre possibly wedding
celebrants gunfire 1 1 AFP 18 Sep
REU 18 Sep
AP 23 Sep
WP 23 Sep
x150 12 Sep PM residential compound, outskirts of Fallujah 3-year-old
bystander gunfire 1 1 Times 15 Sep
REU 13 Sep
x149 11 Sep PM US checkpoint outside Fallujah occupants of
car gunfire 2 2 ABC[AU] 13 Sep
AFP 12 Sep
x148 10 Sep PM near Fallujah Iraqi policeman hit in US troops' reaction to
explosion gunfire 1 1 DTA 11 Sep
AFP 10 Sep
x129 03 Aug AM near Fallujah car gunfire 1 1 AFP 03 Aug
NZH 04 Aug
x110 29 Jun PM near Fallujah US army vehicle rocket-propelled
grenade 1 1 SMH 07 July
MHS 08 July
x105 30 Jun PM Al-Hassan mosque complex, Falluja - explosion 7 10
KR 01 July
MEO 02 July
AFP 02 July
REU 03 July
LAT 04 July
x101 29 Jun late PM near Fallujah - collision with US armoured personnel
carrier 3 3 CNN 30 June
AP 30 June
x091 08 Jun - Fallujah gun-shop owner cleaning rifle mistaken for an
assailant gunfire 1 1 CNA 09 June
GDN 09 June
AFP 09 June
x080 21 May PM Fallujah - tank rounds 2 2 AP 22 May
REU 22 May
x069 30 Apr 10:30 AM Fallujah, 50km west of
Baghdad demonstrators gunfire 2 3 GUA 30 Apr
Photos... IND 01 May
AFP 30 Apr
DM 01 May
x066 28 Apr 10:30PM + outside school in Fallujah, 50 km west of
Baghdad demonstrators, including pre-teen children gunfire 13 15 CNN 29 Apr
Details... PBS 29 Apr
AFP 29 Apr
REU 29 Apr
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