WaPo - reprinted in SFChron Guess where is alledgedly happened. Go ahead...
The U.S. military is investigating an accusation made by Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations that Marines killed his 21-year-old cousin "in cold blood" during a raid last Saturday in a village in the Sunni Muslim- dominated province of Anbar.
In a statement released Friday, Ambassador Samir S.M. Sumaidaie said his cousin Mohammed Al-Sumaidaie had been killed when U.S. Marines and Iraqi army units were conducting joint raids in the town of Haditha.
According to a witness account compiled by the ambassador, 10 Marines searching for weapons knocked on the door of Mohammed's father's house at 10 a. m. Mohammed, described as a "relatively shy" engineering student, "greeted them pleasantly" and led them to his father's bedroom, where the family stored an old rifle filled with blanks, according to the account.
His relatives say they do not know exactly what happened next, but they say several family members, including Mohammad's mother, were gathered in the hallway and heard a thud in the bedroom. Meanwhile, according to Sumaidaie's account, one Marine dragged Mohammed's younger brother, Ali, through the house by his hair and beat him.
The family was asked to wait on the porch while the Marines continued searching the house for another hour, the account said. When they finished, an interpreter for the Marines asked Mohammed's mother in Arabic whether it was her son in the bedroom. The account said he told her, "They killed him!"
"In the bedroom, Mohammed was found dead and laying in a clotted pool of his blood," according to the account.
"All indications point to a killing of an unarmed civilian -- a cold- blooded murder," Sumaidaie said in his statement.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational force in Camp Fallujah, in the heart of Iraq's Sunni region, issued a statement saying an inquiry had been started into the incident, noting that the "allegations roughly correspond to an incident involving coalition forces" in the area last Saturday.
The investigation could take several weeks, according to the statement. Oh yeah, open and shut.
Posted by .com 2005-07-02 07:54||
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#1 Sheesh - "allegedly".
Posted by .com 2005-07-02 08:00||
2005-07-02 08:00||
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#2 the family stored an old rifle filled with blanks
filled with blanks? That's just one unnecessary detail too many.
Posted by 2b 2005-07-02 08:19||
2005-07-02 08:19||
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#3 I bet $10 to Fred's tip jar that the fact the gun was filled with blanks will be a key point.
This detail would lead one a normal, non hysterical person to quickly assume that it was probably something to do with the marines getting a rifle pointed at them and they shot him. But the WAPO and SFCron are eager to tank their circulation with worthless reporting so they can put themseleves out of their misery.
Posted by 2b 2005-07-02 08:31||
2005-07-02 08:31||
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#4 yawn!
Is there anybody who doesn't think this is just too pat a story? They did leave out kicking the kittens and stomping on the flowers as they left. Any mention of why they went there in the first place?......hmmmm
#5 Why is this mother-@#$%^&-er still ambassador!
Obviously he is a Saddam-Sunni.
Posted by Glereper Craviter7929 2005-07-02 12:19||
2005-07-02 12:19||
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#6 Running as a top story on NPR. Anyone listening would "know" that the US Marines are of course guilty of murdering an innocent. They also run another story claiming that an interpreter was killed by a US sniper.
And Congress just renewed their funding?
Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-07-02 12:42||
2005-07-02 12:42||
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#7 GC,
I believe Iraq's prewar UN ambassador was an Al-Douri. Here is the UN bio for Al-Sumaidaie: Mr. Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie was appointed Iraq's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in July 2004. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Sumaida'ie served as the Minister of Interior in Baghdad. In this capacity he managed a domestic security force of over 120,000 and made considerable progress in reorganizing and modernizing the Ministry's operations. In addition, Ambassador Sumaida'ie served as a member of Governing Council (GC) in Iraq. In the GC, he was Chairman of the Media Committee. He played an integral role in the founding of the Iraqi Telecoms and Media Commission and the Public Broadcasting Institution. He also held positions on the Security, Finance, and Foreign Relations Committees.
Prior to the removal of the Baathist regime, Ambassador Sumaida'ie was actively involved in opposition efforts in the United Kingdom and attended a number of high-level conferences throughout the world. As founding member of the Association of Iraqi Democrats and the Democratic Party of Iraq, he is widely renowned as an expert on the political climate in Iraq. ...
Unless Jr. went for a gun, this is bad news. The Al-Sumaidaie clan are the big cheese in Haditha. The ambassador has been supportive of our efforts and had been trying to get other Sunnis to play ball.
Doesn't sound like Mohammed was shot. One of the Marines probably hit him hard enough to kill him.
Posted by ed 2005-07-02 12:47||
2005-07-02 12:47||
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#8 That's just one unnecessary detail too many.
Ima think 2b maybe a cop.
Posted by Shipman 2005-07-02 13:34||
2005-07-02 13:34||
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#9 Unless Jr. went for a gun, this is bad news
led them to his father's bedroom, where the family stored an old rifle filled with blanks,
Posted by 2b 2005-07-02 13:43||
2005-07-02 13:43||
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#10 Unless Jr. went for a gun, this is bad news
led them to his father's bedroom, where the family stored an old rifle filled with blanks,
Posted by 2b 2005-07-02 13:43||
2005-07-02 13:43||
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#11 I am calling bullshit.
#1 Sunni muslim.
#2 That isn't the way a search for weapons is done.
#3 He is a muslim and on the face his word is untrustworthy.
I am guessing the nephew pulled a gun.
Posted by Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-07-02 13:55||
2005-07-02 13:55||
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#12 Since some folks in RB were kind enough to share sites that explained Taqqiya and Kitman to me, I think one must always start from a premise of bullshit when dealing with Muslims. An evangelical religion, whose tenants and doctrine openly speak of forced conversion and dominion over the world, and whick advocated lies as utterly consistent with the advancement of their faith, what else can one think?
#14 It's looking bad. He was shot in the neck, but the above story did not indicate a gunshot. Could the shot have been muffled with a towel or pillow? If so, that would point toward murder. This very well connected family was very supportive of the invasion. That Marine squad better have a damn good explanation. U.S. Marines Accused of Killing Iraq Man
Posted by ed 2005-07-02 15:41||
2005-07-02 15:41||
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#15 Interesting. Until the investigation is done everything is just conjecture. Was the interpreter the last one to see the kid alive? Was the interpreter the last one in the room after that squad left? It's a known fact that Interpreter's are somtimes paid off by both sides. Just a thought.
Posted by Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead 2005-07-02 16:19||
2005-07-02 16:19||
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#16 I'm with Jarhead on this one. Let's see what the investigation shows. Bad news if they did it, but if interpreters are paid off by both sides, it could've been a tribal/local fight to off some of the big dogs in town (by the interpreter?).
Posted by BA">BA
2005-07-02 16:37||
2005-07-02 16:37||
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#17 I'm sorry, I just not buying any of this story.
#1, this took place in a war zone.
Hell-ooooo. In a war zone, people get killed, particularly when it's in a Sunni-dominated area.
Why should this man's son be the exception?
Are the Iraqis now going to have the U.S. military investigate every Marine that kills a bad guy (whether they are or not) over there?
I'm giving our guys the benefit of the doubt, that if they shot this man, they had damn good reason to do so.
Notice they also accuse the Marines of beating a guy up: doesn't sound like our Marines to me!
Even if we made a mistake and killed a good guy by mistake, that's what happens in wartime.
I think this UN ambassador has let all that special treatment he gets in NYC at the UN whorehouse go to his head and thinks he and his family are "special."
#18 Suuuure, just an old antique rifle loaded with blanks. The boy was pure as driven snow! Blanks?!?! My B.S. meter is pegged.
Posted by Sheik Abu Bin Ali Al-Yahood 2005-07-02 17:20||
2005-07-02 17:20||
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#19 The ex-Interior Minister and head Mukhbarat thug. Sounds like they mainly wanted him out of the country. The UN gabfest is a good spot - he's not going anywhere, and he can't do anything.
Posted by mojo">mojo
2005-07-02 17:37||
2005-07-02 17:37||
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#20 We've seen lots of photos of soldiers with little video cameras on their helmets. It could be veeeery interesting if that were the case this time. Taking Jarhead's contribution into account, I must say I look forward to hearing the final report. And I have to wonder that a wily survivor of the Baathist regime would launch such an attack on those who currently hold power back home. Or has the ambassador been told less than the entire truth, too?
Posted by trailing wife 2005-07-02 18:36||
2005-07-02 18:36||
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#21 I always keep my rifle loaded with blanks for virtual squirrels n such
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