Yet another small tragedy. These Iraqi firemen were gunned down during the Eid-Al-Fitr festival by Americans who were too lazy to even bother to read their fire engine’s number plates to check if it was the militant-hijacked fire engine the Americans were after.
Instead, the Iraqi firemen were ordered to exit their vehicle. They cooperated with the American soldiers and in return were executed on the spot.
propaganda part of this post over
Incidents like this illustarte the mess that the USA is creating for itself in Iraq and bears sole responsibility for. If you were an Iraqi civilian observing this incident, watching people being gunned down by Americans whilst cooperating with their instructions… how likely would you be to comply with them in future? Stop and a checkpoint and risk being made to exit your vehicle and shot like you just saw happen to these firemen (you wouldn’t know the whole story), or perhaps try and run the checkpoint and hope that the speed of your car will carry you through and that you will not having to face the Americans like these firemen did?
Or perhaps try to run away when American soldier shout at you to stop? Incidents like this inspire fear.
One of the video clips released by the Islamic Army in Iraq shows 3 US soldiers (one in a Humvee turret, one in front of the Humvee, one beside the Humvee). The Humvee itself is parked in the middle of a busy street. A sniper shoot the guy in front of the Humvee and he falls and stops moving, but the other 2 US soldiers didn’t see it, don’t realise he’s shot, don’t try and help.
But all the Iraqis around are now running away, having seen the dead American. None goes to help, none goes to tell the American soldiers that one of soldiers is dead or injured.
Clearly, the American response to being attacked inspires so much fear that no-one want to be around when the 2 surviving Americans learn what happened, no-one wants to be linked to the incident in any way.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061024/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestusfiremen
- American soldiers shot and killed four Iraqi firemen after mistaking their fire tender for one hijacked by insurgents, US military headquarters has said.
“After receiving word that a fire truck and its crew were just hijacked, coalition forces pulled over a fire truck matching that description,” said a statement describing Monday’s incident in the western city of Fallujah.
When the unarmed firefighters got out of the fire tender US soldiers opened fire and killed them, after mistaking them for armed insurgents.
“The suspected insurgents were in fact firefighters responding to a call. The fire truck number did not match the one of the hijacked truck. All four of the firefighters that exited the vehicle died,” the statement said.
“Minutes later another fire truck was spotted and pulled over in an area nearby. The occupants fled. It was determined that this truck number did match the truck that was hijacked,” it added.
American forces are often accused of using excessive and indiscriminate force in Iraq, although commanders say the problem is now taken more seriously and the number of wrongful killings has diminished.
