[Media-watch] The danger of The triangle of death

[David McKnight]

Dear list members and friends,

The following is from Helen Williams who has been in Iraq since before the invasion. Helen and her partner Kevin (a friend of mine from Newport, South Wales) set up an organisation called Youth Aid Iraq, working in the slums of Baghdad with orphans, homeless and street kids. Helen was in Fallujah in April with Jo Wilding and others when their ambulance came under attack from US snipers. Helen is now in Amman, Jordan. This dispatch was written before the arrival of British troops at Camp Dogwood in the Sunni Triangle and before the brutal deaths of 3 young Scots soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter (who was due to be married on the day he was blown to pieces by a lone suicide bomber).

Peace and solidarity,
David McKnight

**********************

Hi                                                                  Amman   
22 October 2004

I have spent time in the "Triangle of Death" and have suffered great 
personal tragedy there. I cannot express how deeply I am opposed to the 
deployment of British troops to that area. I hope that the following piece 
will enlighten people to some Iraqi's opinions, as well as my own. In my 
view it is a political deployment, and it's about time our military "boys" 
acted like the big "men" that they claim to be, and stop getting pushed 
around by our politicians.

So Tony Blair's democratically elected government has decided to accede to 
the Bush Administration's request to send British troops to Iskendaria, 50 
km south of Bagdad.
Once again, this decision taken by our government flies in the face of the 
wishes of the majority of the British people who are opposed to such a troop 
redeployment.
Just like when we stood 'should to shoulder' with America to pay a 'blood 
price' during the Invasion and Bombardment of Iraq in March 2003, this 
decision to move soldiers north is more about pleasing Bush and his cronies 
than about listening to the views of the British electorate.
The decision was made by Hoon and Co. before the voting public were even 
told of the request - the troops are already on the move and some are 
already in place following orders that could take them to Hell.
So why doesn't Tony Blair listen to the electorate, to public opinion? Why 
should he? There is no viable alternative to elect in our country, his 
majority is huge and can do nothing but suceed in 2005's General Election. 
So if he doesn't need to please or listen to us, why not please and listen 
to Bush and stay buddies with the USA? Why not help George W win his 
election? After all, that's what this is all about. Far too may US troops 
have been killed or injured and it is time for us to pay our price in terms 
of casualties as part of the 'coalition of the willing'.
The 850 or so troops that are sent north will free up American soldiers for 
the final assault on Fallujah, a city of some 250,000 people, whose daily 
diminishing population will never tolerate an American presence in their 
city. The final push/slaughter in Fallujah could begin in days before the 
2nd November US election. Bush probably wants to see the rebel city 
'pacified' before he goes to the polls and who knows, if Kerry was to win, 
maybe the final slaughter would not happen in such a grotesque way. Maybe 
Kerry will care about US soldier casualties, even if he also is not too 
concerned about the spiralling number of Iraqi civilian deaths. Maybe, just 
maybe ....
(But one thing is for sure, I just want to say it here. America might kill 
every man, woman, child and baby in Fallujah and thereby physically crush 
the resistance in this noble city, but the spirit of Fallujah's struggle 
will live on in future history in the hearts of all Iraqis.)
The record of American atrocities committed in Fallujah is astounding - how 
they get away with it is beyond me. When I was there in April this year 
there was supposed to be a ceasefire. But in the clinic where I was, I 
watched a 10 year old boy die in front of me - he was hit in the head by a 
bullet from an American sniper. His family had left their home, believing it 
to be safe. Then two middle aged women who thought it was safe to go out to 
the shop were killed, again by American snipers, even though they were 
waving a white flag. During this false ceasefire, cluster bombs were dropped 
on homes and we saw victims, burnt all over their bodies, rushed to the 
clinic in any car available. I say any car available because the clinic, by 
this time, no longer had an ambulance. Before we had arrived in Fallujah in 
the morning, the last ambulance had been shot at and damaged badly, but was 
still drivable. The driver had been seriously injured. And then in the 
afternoon the snipers had finished it off as some friends were trying to 
reach a woman in labour to bring her to the clinic. Only Ghareeb's quick 
thinking and driving had managed to get the ambulance away from the snipers' 
sights before any of them were killed as bullets flew all around them, as 
the American soldiers committed yet another atrocity - actually firing on a 
clearly marked ambulance. Twelve people in that clinic alone, that we know 
of, were killed that night, during a ceasefire!
So when the British troops move to Iskendaria to free up US soldiers to 
attack Fallujah, they will be complicit in the atrocities and human rights 
abuses that the Americans continue to commit in Fallujah.
And soon they will, no doubt, be looked upon in the same way as the American 
soldiers - despised and feared as violent overlords all over Iraq. At the 
moment, amongst many Iraqis, the British soldiers enjoy a better reputation 
than their American counterparts. I am constantly told "the British troops 
understand us - our way of life, our tribal system and our traditions" and I 
am assured that British soldiers are more polite, less abusive and more 
sympathetic to the plight of the ordinary Iraqi.
Indeed, just last night I met eleven young men from Basra, living right by 
me here in Amman. All had left their homes and families for 
economic/employment reasons and all missed Basra and their beloved Iraq. 
Most of them had left pre-war, but one of them had left just six months ago. 
I asked him how the British troops behaved in Basra and he told me "very 
good, no problems", although he did not like the occupation.
Of course, the British soldiers do not enjoy a completely squeaky clean 
reputation everywhere. Just ask the residents of Amara what they think of 
the British soldiers who continually humiliate them and grind them down on a 
daily basis - you will get a completely different response then. Or you 
could ask the prisoners and their families murdered and abused by British 
troops if they think that they are any better behaved than American 
soldiers. Or you could try asking the families of victims gunned down in 
error on the streets of Basra what they think of 'our boys'. Or what about 
asking any member of the 28 families detemined enough, to have the chance to 
take our own Ministry of Defence to court for injuries and killings. By June 
the MOD had been forced to admit to 120 cases where they had paid out 
compensation to prevent a court case. But if this "good" reputation is not 
as good as it should be now, just wait until 850 British troops come under 
the command of the brutal Americans in a place like Iskendaria. The 
soldiers, obeying their new American commanders are sure to be put in very 
uncomfortble situations and be made to carry out orders that they are not 
really happy with. I wonder if they will be ordered to fire on ambulances, 
children or women carrying white flags.

Why do I say 'in a place like Iskendaria'?
Iskendaria is situated 50 km south of Bagdad on the way to Hilla (Babylon). 
Between Bagdad and Iskendaria lies Mahmoudya, 30 km south of Bagdad and 20 
km north of Iskendaria. Lattifya, another town, is just 15 km south west of 
Mahmoudya. This whole area has recently gained a reputation for 'bad' 
resistance.
Unlike the Mujahadeen in Fallujah, Ramadi or Samarra or the Mahdi Army all 
over Iraq, but mainly in the south, the resistance here seems to have lost 
its way. While the Mujahadeen and Mahdi Army remain focussd in their brave 
efforts to rid Iraq of this heinous occupation and try only to attack 
coalition forces, the resistance in the Mahmoudya area attack anything 
associated with America, the West or indeed anything/anybody foreign to 
Iraq, even other Arabs, and even Iraqis assumed to be working with anything 
foreign from NGO's to soldiers.
I did not realise this fact for many months, passing safely and happily on 
buses back and fro to Hilla.
It was not until I was sitting in the back of an Italian Red Cross ambulance 
with Wejdy, my translator, on the way to Najaf to deliver medical aid, that 
I was rudely woken up to this fact. As we passed Lattifya there was a huge 
explosion which hit the water lorry in front of us and the ambulance that we 
were in. (See report: Iraq: Aid work in Najaf). It was either a roadside 
bomb or RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and it was definitely aimed at our 
convoy - clearly Red Cross, clearly humanitarian. We were lucky to survive 
the attack - 10 or so metres nearer and we would be dead now. And we were 
fortunate that the drivers of the lorry and ambulance were so calm and 
skilful in the circumstances, managing to control their smashed vehicles 
after the attack, keeping them on the road and avoiding crashing.
I say this about the drivers because on the way back from Najaf and Kufa we 
were hit again, about 5 km from the same spot as the day before in Lattifya. 
This time the explosion caught Ghareeb's car and engulfed it making control 
of the vehicle impossible. We could not even see his car in the middle of 
the dust and mud thrown up all around it - it was horrible. We still do not 
know the full facts of what happened, but Ghareeb and his passenger, Enzo 
Baldoni, ended up being killed. And this shows how off-track the insurgents 
are in this area.
Ghareeb was one of the best people in Iraq, in my opinion (see report: 
Ghareeb) - brave, kind and compassionate. He made endless trips into 
beseiged Fallujah, for example, taking in much needed medical supplies and 
other aid and bringing out women, children and injured victims of American 
voilence. He took medical aid to Najaf and Kufa and helped children and 
adults get the medical attention they needed.  He helped countless people 
who now, like us, miss him so deeply.
Enzo Baldoni, the Italian journalist, killed by the Islamic Army in Iraq in 
this area, was an anti-war, anti-occupation, left-wing journalist. He was 
trying to tell the truth about the continuing occupation.
How wrong can the insurgents be to kill these two men and to attack Red 
Cross vehicles trying to help the Mahdi Army and citizens of Najaf?
When we were attacked the second time on the return journey to Bagdad, I saw 
ordinary Iraqis bloodied and cut up by the bomb aimed at us. They were 
trying their best to drive their damaged vehicles onwards. The ICDC (Iraqi 
Civil Defence Corps) that stopped us 2 km further up the road from the 
attack did not care, asking us what we wanted them to do about it when we 
told them what had happened.
Then the two French journalists disappeared, kidnapped in the same area on 
the same day, while travelling back from Najaf - also taken by the Islamic 
Army in Iraq. Now, whether or not they are good (like Enzo) or bad 
journalists does not really matter, they were still brave enough to leave 
their comfortable countries and come to Iraq and risk a trip to Najaf to 
report on what they witnessed there, and they did not deserve to be 
kidnapped.
Many others have been kidnapped in this area by various groups, including 
ithe Islamic Army in Iraq. And so brutal are these hostage takers, that many 
of the kidnappings have ended in murder and tragedy.
A week later Ayotollah Ali Al Sistani returned to Najaf and led a peace 
rally there. Some Western peace activists that I know went to Najaf to take 
part and witness events there. As they approached Mahmoudya, their driver 
told them all to remove their sunglasses so that they would not be too 
obvious as Westerners and would not let them put them on until they had 
cleared Iskendaria. The reason he gave them was that this was a very bad and 
violent area with high levels of roadside bomb and RPG attacks and indeed 
they saw many burnt out vehicles littering the roadside.
Just after this, the Americans with Iraqi National Guards and Iraqi Police 
raided the Lattifya/Mahmoudya/Iskendaria area arresting 500 so called 
resistance, which resulted in the deaths of 12 Iraqi Police.
But the troubles did not stop there.
Just before we left Bagdad we were arranging our transport out of Iraq along 
the highway to Jordan. It was essential that we went with someone we trusted 
completely in the circumstances - no good getting into a taxi/GMC with a 
kidnapper, when that is the reason you are leaving. So we decided we would 
use a company that we had used in January to leave Iraq situated up on 
Saduun Street, owned by Mahdi who also worked with Italian TV. During my 
time in Bagdad we had sat with him several times for chai and a chat in his 
office when we had been walking past. He seemed like an obvious, trustworthy 
choice. Imagine our disappointment when the night before we were due to 
leave, Mahdi called to say that he could not take us. The next day he had to 
go to a funeral in Najaf for 2 of his uncles. They had been shot dead 
earlier that evening in Mahmoudya. The level of violence there is so high.
And even here in Amman we met a man from Basra, now living in Mahmoudya. He 
sells chai on the main square here and misses and worries about his family 
so much in Mahmoudya. He told us that whenever he rings them, they always 
tell him of American airstrikes or other violence in the area.
So, the area where the British soldiers are to be redeployed is not a safe, 
peaceful one at all. It is just an area that does not feature too often in 
the Western media. Vicious, brutal kidnappers operate there and misguided, 
violent insurgents attack anything they can. And this is where America is 
ordering British troops to be stationed.
British troops are not used to these levels of hostility down in Basra. They 
will not be ready for it and British soldier deaths and injuries are sure to 
esculate sharply.
I am not one to be particularly worried about 'our boys' - after all they 
signed up to take orders and kill on demand. It was their choice. You may 
think this a little callous of me, but I am much more saddened, upset and 
concerned about innocent, unnamed Iraqi lives that are ended brutally every 
day because of the war and ongoing occupation and because of American and 
coalition violence. Once the American election is over, the US forces will 
hit Fallujah with everything. Fallujah is the size of Cardiff, my Capital 
city. Hundreds more civilians are sure to die.
I think the British people should stop sleeping and start shouting louder 
and louder and they should get onto the streets daily. If the illegal war 
was not bad enough for us to be involved in, if the occupation does not 
disgust your very soul, then surely British troops being sent to such a 
dangerous place to appease a war-hungry US Administration should get you 
going, should make you do something - a letter to your MP, anything.
Maybe 'our' soldiers did sign up to take orders and kill on demand, but I 
don't think they signed up to help Bush get re-elected, do you?

All for now
Helen Williams
Amman, Jordan

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