What is portrayed in the US mass media as a grand and heroic firefight is,in reality, the crassest, goriest, and basest single incident of massacre of innocents by US troops in recent memory.This is from Christian Peacemaker Teams, primarily a US peacemaking organization, and always a reliable source. We must feel deep shame ...deep, deep shame, those of us in the USA, for this.
--- John Wilmerding.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 -- "U.S. Marine snipers are firing at everyone moving," report colleagues of Christian Peacemaker Teams who returned Sunday from an overnight humanitarian mission to Fallujah. Iraqi doctors and international volunteers assisting Doctors Without Borders entered the city on Saturday, April 10 in a bus loaded with medical supplies from agencies in Baghdad. The city has been under siege for the past six days.
Hospital workers report 518 Iraqis killed by U.S. fire as of Sunday, including at least 157 women and 146 children. Of the children, one hundred are under age twelve and of those, 46 are under age five. More than 1,200 have been wounded. The casualties continue to rise as CPTers write this report.
U.S. bombs destroyed the main hospital in Fallujah earlier this week. Medical staff opened a makeshift clinic in an area garage, but the volunteers report there are no sanitary facilities there in which to work. Aid is getting through, but the clinic needs more supplies, such as kits for blood testing and donations, tracheotomy kits, and Cesarean section tools. The makeshift medical center has no blankets or anesthesia.
Exhausted doctors struggled to respond to the constant streams of wounded. The volunteers saw several older women and two children arrive with numerous gunshot wounds. The two children died. The volunteers saw one man who burned from head to foot, and another who was bleeding from several wounds.
The men said a cluster bomb had caused their injuries.
One of the volunteers accompanied an ambulance crew to pick up a woman going into premature labor. On the way, U.S. snipers began firing at the ambulance. The ambulance turned off its sirens, then its lights, but the soldiers continued firing. The ambulance began backing away from the soldiers, but they continued firing and blew out the vehicle's tire. The crew escaped without injury, but they were unable to reach the woman.
Elsewhere in Fallujah, Marines granted the volunteers permission to evacuate wounded persons, women, children, and the elderly from houses. An officer added, "We're going to begin clearing' the houses shortly." When the volunteers pressed for details, the officer explained that they would go from house to house to pick up any men of fighting age and any weapons.
They described men of fighting age as "anyone under 45." Jo Wilding, one of the volunteers, later told the team, "Not all men are armed and not all want to fight. Still, they are trapped."
The volunteers also retrieved bodies of Iraqis killed. One body of an unarmed man lying face-down in the road had only a small bullet entry hole in his back, but massive abdominal exit' wounds, indicative of high-velocity bullets. When the volunteers turned the body over to reveal the wound, children in the nearest house began screaming and crying "Baba! Baba! (Daddy! Daddy!)" The volunteers loaded the body into a pickup truck and evacuated the wife and children. The family said their father had just stepped out of house when he was shot. The family had no way to reach the body in the street before the volunteers secured permission from the Marines.
The volunteer team recovered two additional bodies lying near a U.S. checkpoint, but abandoned a completely burnt third body, due to outbursts of gunfire and the Marines' return fire. "We don't know if that is friendly or hostile fire, so we have to respond," the soldiers said.
On Sunday, the volunteers returned to Baghdad with fourteen wounded people. As they passed the checkpoint out of Fallujah, they saw long lines of people waiting to flee. The volunteers hope to return, although deteriorating conditions within the city may prevent them from carrying out further work.
"This was a massacre," said Wilding, "and it will get worse."
CPTers asked whether a CPT presence in Fallujah would be helpful, and learned that Doctors Without Borders is only accepting Iraqi volunteers, because Iraqi militant groups are targeting internationals and their presence might actually endanger injured patients. CPTers in Hebron have worked closely with Doctors without Borders and trust their judgment.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate. Contact:
Christian Peacemaker Teams
POB 6508
Chicago, IL 60680
Telephone: 773-277-0253
Fax: 773-277-0291.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form found on their web site at: Christian Peacemaker Teams
by Le Anne Clausen posted 15 April 04
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Strike against Australia's current insecurity
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US to increase Iraq border security in Iraq
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Protesters arrested during PM's Tas visit
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Australia: The gospel according to Farr
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War criminal Howard defends 'Son of a bitch'
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Missile defence program 'will lead to arms race'
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Australia buys into 'Son of Star Wars'?
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Pope calls for sanctions on leaders who violate rights
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International communities are the losers: Smith
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War criminals should be tried: Human Rights
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Who cares wins? Those who inflict or those who endure?
When occupation means war then who cares wins? Not those who can inflict the most, but those who can endure the most, I would have thought.
Coalition of the Killing's alliance against law 'the wrong way'
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After a war waged by the U.S. military against Vietnam which took the lives of more than 3 million Vietnamese people and more than 58,000 GIs, the U.S. finally withdrew in 1975. It had suffered its first official major military defeat by a united people struggle led by the Vietnamese, along with a mass U.S. anti-war movement.
Police surround protesters outside US Embassy
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Police violent towards peaceful protesters
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Police cracked up about war criminal protest march
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Forty Labor MPs sign protest letter to Bush over Iraq
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50,000 protesters to turn out for anti-Bush protest
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David Burchell: Paradox of anti-Americanism
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Sydney Social Forum Oct 24-26
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Refugee policy, here is a new project: Burnside
The idea is to have thousands of Australian citizens writing to federal parliamentarians asking very simple, but hard, questions about the key aspects of refugee policy. I have devised a letter writing kit for this purpose. I attach a copy. It contains instructions which, are, I hope, fairly clear.
Habib's wife to join Greens protest during Bush visit
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Pilger said White House knew Saddam was no threat
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Civil Liabilities: Howard's diversity? I had a dream?
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PM despot diversity shallow and cunning sales pitch
War criminal, Prime Minister, John Howard, says planned visits by the United States and Chinese presidents demonstrate the diversity of Australia's relationships.
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Americans given deficit of Carr's spin?
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Beattie starts spreading the news in old New York!
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When the towns criers rang the bell!
THEY scaled the walls of the Sydney Opera House, sent a strong message to the people of Australia, with their "No War" message and reinforced the will of the people.
Australian way of life now threatened by State Terror
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Thousands march for peace! But does that mean no war?
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The Empire Strikes Back: Sydney anti-war rally
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Explosions rock Baghdad, jets overhead Iraq
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Moment of death 'HoWARd'
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War criminal Howard high-jacks HRCA to 'legitimise killing'
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PM lost in space! Pre-emptive Strikes & Star Wars Defence!!
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Doom gloom and 'Boom' Downer shakes the room?
"Optimism is better and so is 'constructive feedback' because using constructive feedback means that the negatives also have a role in the construction of a nation. In short we have all the time in world to solve problems properly and that is what our leaders should be focusing on when they decide to inform all Australians. Hey what's the rush?" He said.
Hypocrisy not Democracy? No Blood for Oil!
Howard has refused to back down on the threat of war despite hundreds of thousands of Australians rallying against it. The question is why?
Australia backs CIA Reichstag, Downer's propaganda
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UK Reid, Blair and the reichstag London threat!
The nature of the [alleged] terrorist threat to London is on the scale of the [USA false flag] September 11 attacks in the United States, the chairman of Britain's governing Labour Party said.
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A [US propaganda, fear-mongering] taped message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq but has branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.
U.S. AMBASSADOR WARNED TO STOP MEDDLING:
The Australian Federal Opposition and Labor Party Leader, Simon Crean, has again warned the U.S. ambassador to stop meddling in Australian politics.
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On the road to Basra, ITV was filming wild dogs as they tore at the corpses of the Iraqi dead. Every few seconds a ravenous beast would rip off a decaying arm and make off with it over the desert in front of us, dead fingers trailing through the sand, the remains of the burned military sleeve flapping in the wind. "Just for the record,'' the cameraman said to me. Of course. Because ITV would never show such footage.
Mandela speaks out against Bush, Blair
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Communication is a two way street. Threats and punishment solve nothing and serve none. In fact it is against the law in most countries to threaten or punish a person.
Hill defends decision to attack Iraq: Step by step?
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Pleas for peace ring the globe
Anti-war demonstrators turned out in their hundreds of thousands around the world on Saturday to protest against United States military preparations for an invasion of Iraq.
Not too late for Iraq peace, Blix says
But we all know that's rubbish now. The Coalition of the Killing were not seeking WMD in Iraq, they were there for their resource wars. So who gave the 'UN' and Blix the wrong information back then? War criminals!
George Bush's other poodle
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US prepares for trade talks with Australia but it's not worth it!
The office of the United States Trade Representative has started formally preparing its negotiating position for the first round of talks on a free trade agreement between Australia and the US.
First strike and you're out!
The ideology of a super loser? John Howard shocks the nation again. A nation who cannot believe Howard's stupidity following his [complicity in the CIA's false flag operation, the Bali bombing.]
UN charter doesn't reflect new self-defence needs: Hill?
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About Protesting &: Corporate media, Ben English and Rachel Morris who spell their names in capitals? Yes too right! Ordinary people some protesting against the occupation, murder and genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. And you call yourselves reporters? You should hang your head in shame and go get jobs defending those poor innocent people. Shame on you!!!
Howard defends terror alert
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When Johnny comes marching home again: 'hoorah hoorah'
Posted on the Resistance web page Bronwyn Powell, an organiser of the youth-led mobilisation told Green Left weekly that "in the face of attacks on civil liberties, it is unfortunate that some union officials have felt they need to submit. It could set a negative precedent for upholding the hard-won right to demonstrate in the street."
Give peace a chance
PIERS AKERMAN DT 28 Nov 02: JUSTICE John Dowd should be removed from the bench. His crime? Stupidity. In a breath-taking display of hand-wringing sanctimonious morality, Dowd has condemned the State and Federal Governments' anti-terrorism measures, claiming they erode rights and give encouragement to oppressive regimes.
