stunning new death count emerged Thursday, as Iraq's health minister estimated 150,000 civilians have been killed in the war

Iraqi health minister: ‘150,000 civilians killed in war’ | By Steven Hurst | Associated Press

11/10/06 "AP" -- -- BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A stunning new death count emerged Thursday, as Iraq's health minister estimated 150,000 civilians have been killed in the war -- about three times previously accepted estimates.
...
Previous estimates of Iraq deaths held that 45,000 to 50,000 have been killed in the nearly 44-month-old conflict, according to partial figures from Iraqi institutions and media reports. No official count has ever been available.

Health Minister Ali Al-Shemari gave his new estimate of 150,000 to reporters during a visit to Vienna, Austria. He later told The Associated Press that he based the figure on an estimate of 100 bodies per day brought to morgues and hospitals -- though such a calculation would come out closer to 130,000 in total.

"It is an estimate," Al-Shemari said. He blamed Sunni insurgents, Wahhabis -- Sunni religious extremists -- and criminal gangs for the deaths.

Hassan Salem, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, said the 150,000 figure included civilians, police and the bodies of people who were abducted, later found dead and collected at morgues run by the Health Ministry. SCIRI is Iraq's largest Shiite political organization and holds the largest number of seats in parliament.

In October, the British medical journal The Lancet published a controversial study contending nearly 655,000 Iraqis have died because of the war -- a far higher death toll than other estimates. The study, which was dismissed by President Bush and other US officials as not credible, was based on interviews of households and not a body count.

Al-Shemari disputed that figure Thursday.

"Since three and a half years, since the change of the Saddam regime, some people say we have 600,000 are killed. This is an exaggerated number. I think 150 [thousand] is okay," he said. ...

Coroner seeks trial for US troops who killed TV man

Coroner seeks trial for US troops who killed TV manAudrey Gillan and Julian Borger in Washington | Saturday October 14, 2006 | The Guardian

The American soldiers who shot dead the ITN journalist Terry Lloyd could face trial in a British court for murder after a coroner ruled that they had unlawfully killed an innocent civilian.

Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, said yesterday he would be writing to the attorney general and the director of public prosecutions "to see whether any steps can be taken to bring the perpetrators responsible for this to justice".

The verdict was welcomed by Lloyd's family, employers and the National Union of Journalists. His widow Lynn accused US forces of allowing soldiers to "behave like trigger-happy cowboys in an area in which there were civilians travelling on a highway". In a statement she said: "The marines who fired on civilians and those who gave those orders should now stand trial. Under the Geneva Conventions Act, that trial should be for the murder of Terry Lloyd and nothing less."

Lloyd's daughter Chelsey, 24, said: "My father was unlawfully killed by a bullet to the head from a heavy-calibre machine gun fired by US marines. The killing of my father would seem to amount to murder."

A spokesman for the attorney general said he would await the letter from the coroner. The Pentagon issued a statement saying it had "never deliberately targeted non-combatants, including journalists".

Lloyd, 50, was killed on the morning of March 22 at a bridge on the road to Basra. He and his team were working independently of the military, and was injured in the crossfire between US and Iraqi forces. It was while he was being taken to hospital in a civilian vehicle that he received a fatal bullet in the head from American guns. The coroner said he had "no doubt" this was "an unlawful act". ...

US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist:: "... appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger-happy cowboys."

U.S. troops unlawfully killed UK journalist: coronerOct 13, 7:46 AM (ET) | By Eleanor Wason

OXFORD (Reuters) - One of Britain's most experienced journalists was unlawfully killed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, a British inquest into his death ruled on Friday, prompting calls for the perpetrators to be tried for war crimes.

Veteran war correspondent Terry Lloyd, 50, who worked for British television company ITN, was killed in March 2003 in southern Iraq as he reported from the front line during the first few days of the U.S.-led invasion.

"He was fired on by American soldiers as a minibus carried wounded people away," Coroner Andrew Walker said at the conclusion of the inquest, which U.S. soldiers declined to attend.

"I have no doubt it was an unlawful act of fire on the minibus," Walker added.

He said he intended to write to the Attorney General -- the government's top lawyer -- and the Director of Public Prosecutions in an effort to bring those responsible for Lloyd's death before a British court.

Louis Charalambous, the Lloyd family's lawyer, said those responsible for his death should be brought to trial for what he termed "a very serious war crime."

"It was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act," he added.

He said the unlawful killing verdict had been "inescapable" and had come about because "U.S. forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger-happy cowboys." ...

October 12, 2006 | Thursday: 155 Iraqis, 2 Americans Killed; 66 Injured Across Iraq | Updated 7:40 p.m. EDT, Oct. 12, 2006

Today in Iraq, one American army contractor was reported to have died and two others were injured in a roadside bomb attack. U.S. military authorities are also reporting that one soldier was killed and two injured in Kirkuk, another died from wounds sustained ten days ago. British authorities are reporting that a British soldier is recovering from injuries. In other attacks, at least 155 Iraqis died and 61 were injured. Of note was a raid on a television station associated with one of the political parties. ...

At least a third and perhaps a half of those killed, various studies of Iraqi casualties have made clear, have been children.

U.S. Military Has Killed 127-238,000 Iraqi Civilians | by DAVE LINDORFF

At least a third and perhaps a half of those killed, various studies of Iraqi casualties have made clear, have been children.

A just released study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, published in the current issue of the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, reports that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has led to the deaths of between 426,000 and 794,000 Iraqis. This is a substantial increase over the 100,000 dead that the same research group found through 2004, based upon a smaller survey, and it represents an astonishing 2.5 percent of the country's total population.

The grim news was widely--though not universally--reported in the U.S. media (my local paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, blacked it out), but few news organizations reported the most disturbing finding of the study, which was that 31 percent of those killed were actually slain by U.S. and "coalition" forces (actually by U.S. forces, since most of the other foreign forces working with the U.S., with the exception of the British, have not played combat roles, and even the British have largely operated in the south where fighting has been much less severe).

That means U.S. forces have, since the March 19, 2003 invasion, killed between 132,000 and 246,000 Iraqis. It should be recalled that the Pentagon has estimated that the insurgency numbers perhaps 20-40,000 individuals, and they have only succeeded in killing a fraction of them. Assuming generously that the military has succeeded in killing maybe a quarter of the enemy fighters, that would be 10,000 people at most, leaving the U.S. civilian death toll at 122,000-236,000. The Christian Science Monitor, no radical rag, once did a survey and found that U.S. forces were killing civilians in Iraq at a rate of 30 for every enemy fighter slain. At that rate, it would appear, if the peer-reviewed Lancet study is correct, that the U.S. invasion and occupation forces have killed between 127,000 and 238,000 civilians. At least a third and perhaps a half of those killed, various studies of Iraqi casualties have made clear, have been children. ...

194 Killed, 34 Injured in Tuesday Iraq Violence

194 Killed, 34 Injured in Tuesday Iraq Violence October 10, 2006 | Updated 5:30 p.m. EDT, Oct. 10, 2006

Violence in Iraq continued Monday into Tuesday, leaving at least 194 dead and 34 injured. Included in the totals are the death of an American GI and a British security worker. One U.S. soldier was also injured. Also, a mass kidnapping of 11 worshippers occurred in the capital.

An American soldier succumbed to wounds received from an explosive device in Tikrit. The family of a second soldier announced that their son had been wounded Saturday near Balad when a roadside bomb blasted his vehicle. ...

'Tragic day' claims eight US soldiers in Baghdad

'Tragic day' claims eight US soldiers in Baghdad | by Paul Schemm Tue Oct 3, 9:34 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 17 US soldiers have been killed around Iraq since Saturday, including eight in a single day in Baghdad, the US military announced, saying the toll had brought "a tragic day". ...

Bloody Day in Iraq Leaves 263 Dead

October 3, 2006 | Bloody Day in Iraq Leaves 263 Dead | Updated at 11:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 3, 2006

In the last day, the body count in Iraq exploded as at least 263 were killed or found dead; 30 of those were insurgents killed in Ramadi. Tensions are particularly high due to two mass kidnappings that occurred in Baghdad. At least 16 of a total of 40 kidnap victims are still missing. Roadside bombs, mortars and simple shootings took many lives, while stray fire or mortars took the lives of several children. 45 other people were reportedly injured in those or similar attacks. Experts have noted that in previous years violence has increased during Ramadan; this year is no exception. The US government today also released the names of two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed on Saturday. Over the weekend a Marine died in a vehicle accident unrelated to fighting. Another US soldier died on Monday, bringing the total of US dead to 4. One British soldier was also killed. ..

Bloody Day in Iraq Leaves 150 Dead

October 2, 2006 | Bloody Day in Iraq Leaves 150 Dead

In the last day, the body count in Iraq exploded as at least 150 were killed or found dead, and 16 kidnapped with their fates unknown. Tensions are particularly high due to two mass kidnappings that occurred in Baghdad. Roadside bombs, mortars and simple shootings took many lives, while stray fire or mortars took the lives of several children. 45 other people were reportedly injured in those or similar attacks. Experts have noted that in previous years violence has increased during Ramadan; this year is no exception. The US government today also released the names of two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed on Saturday.

At least 118 were killed in Baghdad alone, including one intelligence officer and Faris Khalil, a colonel in the Interior Ministry. At least thirteen more bodies were found throughout Baghdad on Monday, adding to the fifty that were found overnight Sunday. They were shot to death and bore signs of torture. ...

'Record' Iraq civilian deaths ... 1,089 deaths, 42% increase

'Record' Iraq civilian deaths | 01/10/2006 21:08 - (SA)

Baghdad - The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence may have jumped to a record high in September, data from the Iraqi government indicated on Sunday.

Partial statistics compiled by the health ministry and issued by the interior ministry put civilian deaths last month at 1 089, a 42% increase from 769 in August and more than the previous record in this series of data - 1 065 in July.

Though apparently incomplete, the data has previously given early indications of trends later borne out by other estimates - notably a sharp increase in killings after the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in February and a decline in the number of deaths at the start of a major military operation in Baghdad in August.

The United Nations - which adds numbers on hospital deaths from the health ministry to the numbers of unidentified bodies in the Baghdad morgue - has said 6 599 Iraqis were killed in July and August, 700 more than in the previous two months. ...

40 Tortured Bodies Found in Baghdad ...

40 Tortured Bodies Found in Baghdad | Sep 28, 6:27 AM (ET)

(AP) A U.S. soldier, right, and Iraqi police officers examine the wreckage of a car bomb in Kirkuk,...
Full Image

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The bodies of 40 men who were shot and had their hands and feet bound have been found in the capital over the past 24 hours, police said Thursday.

All the victims showed signs of torture, police Lt. Thayer Mahmoud said. They were dumped in several neighborhoods in both eastern and western Baghdad, he said.

The top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, on Wednesday said murders and executions are currently the main cause of civilian deaths in Baghdad.

Much of the violence has been attributed to death squads, many of which are thought to be offshoots of mainly Shiite militias.

Also Thursday, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 others were injured in suicide car bombing in part of Baghdad where American and Iraqi troops had just conducted a security sweep. ...

official toll of violent deaths in August was just revised upwards to 1535 from 550, tripling the total.

What Dropoff? August Death Total in Baghdad Morgue Triples

We took an interesting phone call today from an official at the Baghdad morgue. We get these calls every day – a daily tally of the violence. But this one was particularly sobering.

It turns out the official toll of violent deaths in August was just revised upwards to 1535 from 550, tripling the total. Now, we’re depressingly used to hearing about deaths here, so much so that the numbers can be numbing. But this means that a much-publicized drop-off in violence in August – heralded by both the Iraqi government and the US military as a sign that a new security effort in Baghdad was working -- apparently didn’t exist.
...
These latest numbers add substance to fears Together Forward creates a whack-a-mole effect: that is, secure one area and the violence will pop up somewhere else. Violent deaths now appear roughly in line with the earlier trend: 1855 in July and 1595 in June. Officials at the Baghdad morgue have no good explanation for the dramatically revised number. We’ll see what the U.S. military has to say. ...

“The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels,”

Insurgent Bombs Directed at G.I.’s Increase in Iraq | This article is by Michael R. Gordon, Mark Mazzetti and Thom Shanker.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 — The number of roadside bombs planted in Iraq rose in July to the highest monthly total of the war, offering more evidence that the anti-American insurgency has continued to strengthen despite the killing of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Along with a sharp increase in sectarian attacks, the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January. The deadliest means of attack, roadside bombs, made up much of that increase. In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were found.

The bomb statistics — compiled by American military authorities in Baghdad and made available at the request of The New York Times — are part of a growing body of data and intelligence analysis about the violence in Iraq that has produced somber public assessments from military commanders, administration officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels,” said a senior Defense Department official who agreed to discuss the issue only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for attribution. “The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time.” ...

July: Iraq's deadliest month

July: Iraq's deadliest month: "July: Iraq's deadliest month | 09/08/2006 22:15 - (SA)

Baghdad - At least 1 800 people were killed across Iraq in terror attacks and other violence during July, said authorities on Wednesday.

The record number of people were killed by terrorist acts, violence by sectarian death squads and criminal gangs.

A hospital source said on Wednesday that six Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded after a residential building collapsed. It was blown up in central Baquba, 60km north-east of Baghdad. ...

Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June

Excite News - Iraq Civilian Toll Spikes to Nearly 6,000: "Jul 18, 7:13 PM (ET) | By NICK WADHAMS"

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq describes a wave of lawlessness and crime, including assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.

Hundreds of teachers, judges, religious leaders and doctors have been targeted for death, and thousands of people have fled, the report said. Evidence suggests militants also have begun to target homosexuals, it said.

"While welcoming recent positive steps by the government to promote national reconciliation, the report raises alarm at the growing number of casualties among the civilian population killed or wounded during indiscriminate or targeted attacks by terrorists or insurgents," the U.N. said in a note accompanying the report.

In the last two days alone, more than 120 people were killed in violence in Iraq. In the worst attacks, fifty-three perished in a suicide bombing Tuesday in Kufa, and 50 were slain Monday in a market in Mahmoudiya. ...

Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June

Excite News - Iraq Civilian Toll Spikes to Nearly 6,000: "Jul 18, 7:13 PM (ET) | By NICK WADHAMS"

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq describes a wave of lawlessness and crime, including assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.

Hundreds of teachers, judges, religious leaders and doctors have been targeted for death, and thousands of people have fled, the report said. Evidence suggests militants also have begun to target homosexuals, it said.

"While welcoming recent positive steps by the government to promote national reconciliation, the report raises alarm at the growing number of casualties among the civilian population killed or wounded during indiscriminate or targeted attacks by terrorists or insurgents," the U.N. said in a note accompanying the report.

In the last two days alone, more than 120 people were killed in violence in Iraq. In the worst attacks, fifty-three perished in a suicide bombing Tuesday in Kufa, and 50 were slain Monday in a market in Mahmoudiya. ...

Soldier Who Killed Handcuffed Iraqi Is Freed

Dayton Paper: Soldier Who Killed Handcuffed Iraqi Is Freed: " Handcuffed Iraqi Is Freed | By E&P Staff | Published: June 25, 2006 12:30 AM ET

NEW YORK An American soldier convicted in the fatal shooting of a handcuffed Iraqi cow herder in 2004 was freed from a military prison in Oklahoma on Friday, more than a year before his sentence was up, the Dayton Daily News reported today.

Army Spec. Edward Richmond Jr., 22, of Gonzales, La., was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced in August 2004 to three years in prison for the April 28, 2004, shooting death of Muhamad Husain Kadir in the village of Taal Al Jal, which is about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk." ...

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online: "June 03, 2006 | From Tim Reid in Washington and Ned Parker in Baghdad

PRESIDENT BUSH faced a growing crisis over the conduct of American troops in Iraq yesterday after it emerged that at least three alleged atrocities were being investigated.

With US commanders still struggling to contain the fallout from the alleged al-Haditha massacre, the US military was faced with claims that American soldiers rounded up and shot 11 unarmed civilians, including five children — one only six months old — and four women, in the town of Ishaqi in March.

It also emerged that murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges are likely to be brought imminently against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman for killing an Iraqi civilian near Baghdad on April 26. They are being held in solitary confinement at Camp Pendelton Marine Corps base in California.

The Iraqi civilian that they killed was allegedly dragged from his home and shot. The troops are alleged to have planted a shovel and an AK-47 rifle next to his body to make it appear as if he was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb. ...

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online: "June 03, 2006 | From Tim Reid in Washington and Ned Parker in Baghdad

PRESIDENT BUSH faced a growing crisis over the conduct of American troops in Iraq yesterday after it emerged that at least three alleged atrocities were being investigated.

With US commanders still struggling to contain the fallout from the alleged al-Haditha massacre, the US military was faced with claims that American soldiers rounded up and shot 11 unarmed civilians, including five children — one only six months old — and four women, in the town of Ishaqi in March.

It also emerged that murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges are likely to be brought imminently against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman for killing an Iraqi civilian near Baghdad on April 26. They are being held in solitary confinement at Camp Pendelton Marine Corps base in California.

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online

Third claim of atrocity rocks US servicemen - Newspaper Edition - Times Online: "June 03, 2006 | From Tim Reid in Washington and Ned Parker in Baghdad

PRESIDENT BUSH faced a growing crisis over the conduct of American troops in Iraq yesterday after it emerged that at least three alleged atrocities were being investigated.

With US commanders still struggling to contain the fallout from the alleged al-Haditha massacre, the US military was faced with claims that American soldiers rounded up and shot 11 unarmed civilians, including five children — one only six months old — and four women, in the town of Ishaqi in March.

It also emerged that murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges are likely to be brought imminently against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman for killing an Iraqi civilian near Baghdad on April 26. They are being held in solitary confinement at Camp Pendelton Marine Corps base in California.

The Iraqi civilian that they killed was allegedly dragged from his home and shot. The troops are alleged to have planted a shovel and an AK-47 rifle next to his body to make it appear as if he was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb. ...

ABC News: Victim's Brother Speaks: New Evidence Undermines U.S. Iraq Claims

ABC News: Victim's Brother Speaks: New Evidence Undermines U.S. Iraq Claims:

June 5, 2006 — New evidence may suggest cover-ups in two separate incidents at the center of a simmering scandal over Iraqi civilian deaths at the hands of American forces.

Iraqi anger is percolating over the incidents, and over an investigation that cleared U.S. forces in a third case.

A brother of a victim, Hashim Ibrahim Awad Abass, in Al Hamadania, Iraq, told ABC News today that Marines killed his brother needlessly.

According to the victim's brother, Marines came to his family's village at 2 a.m. on April 25 and first raided a home, where they discovered a shovel and an AK-47. They then went to his brother's house, dragged him into the street, arrested him and took him away. A little while later, Abass' brother heard gunfire outside the village.

Waking up at the crack of dawn, he rushed to the police department to report his brother missing. Abass told ABC News the police informed him that a body had been dropped off earlier by the Americans and that he should go and have a look. It was his brother, he said.

Later that day, Marines came to the family home and dropped off the incident report.

ABC News obtained a copy of the death report, which is written in Arabic on one side and English on the other. "We spotted a man digging on the side of the road from our ambush site," reads the statement. "I made the call and engaged. He was pronounced dead at the scene with only a shovel and AK-47," according to the statement.

Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, with another Marine acting as a witness, signed the death report.

Eight Marines could face murder charges in the death of Abass, and other charges for possibly attempting to cover up the killing.

Residents told ABC News over the weekend that a Marine sergeant had lied on an official report about the death of a civilian, saying the man appeared to be planting a bomb. But several Marines have confessed to dragging the man from his house, shooting him and putting a shovel and weapon next to his body. ...

Killing of Iraqi may have been 'premeditated' - [by marines]

CNN.com - Source: Killing of Iraqi may have been 'premeditated' - Jun 6, 2006: "From Jamie McIntyre | CNN | Tuesday, June 6, 2006; Posted: 10:40 a.m. EDT (14:40 GMT)"

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Navy investigators have evidence that U.S. Marines may have committed "premeditated" murder in the April shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi man in Hamdaniya, a military officer close to the inquiry told CNN.

The incident is unrelated to a criminal investigation into the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November.

In the Hamdaniya incident, some of the Marines in pretrial confinement have admitted the circumstances of the man's death were staged, said the officer.

Their statements form part of the evidence suggesting Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, murdered the man, the source said.

"They went after someone, not necessarily this person, but they set out to get someone," the officer told CNN, referring to the Marines now under investigation.

The officer spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the case publicly. ...

Envoy accuses US of murder

Envoy accuses US of murder: "Envoy accuses US of murder | By AFP |

05/31/06 'Herald Sun' -- -- IRAQ'S new ambassador to the US said yesterday US forces cold-bloodedly shot and killed his cousin last year in Haditha.

It is the same town where marines are alleged to have gone on a rampage, killing 24 civilians.
Samir Shakir al-Sumaidaie's accusations -- aired just hours after President George Bush welcomed him at the White House -- came as the US military faced growing pressure to complete its investigation into the Haditha deaths.

Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie said his relative was shot dead five months before the November killing of 24 civilians.

The ambassador said Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a bookish 21-year-old engineering student, was killed after opening the door of the family house to US marines on June 25.

'I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe he was killed unnecessarily,' Mr al-Sumaidaie said.

'The marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them. His mother, his siblings were there.

'He let them into the bedroom of his father, and there he was shot.' " ...

US troops shot 3 Afghans in crowd: police chief - PakTribune

US troops shot 3 Afghans in crowd: police chief - PakTribune: "Friday June 02, 2006 (0023 PST)

KABUL: U.S. troops fired into a crowd of hundreds of stone-throwing rioters, killing at least three Afghans, as their convoy left the scene of an accident that triggered Monday’s anti-American riots, Kabul’s chief of highway police said.

General Amanullah Gozar told Reuters on Thursday he had witnessed the entire incident, from the point when a U.S. military truck ran out of control down a hill, crashing into vehicles and killing at least five people, to the clashes afterwards, when U.S. troops opened fire.

"As a result of their firing, one young boy and two other people were killed," Gozar said.

The U.S. military says small arms fire was heard coming from the crowd, and the crowd overpowered a police line formed to protect the convoy as they tended to injured and collected the damaged vehicle before withdrawing.

"Our soldiers thought they were being fired on from the crowd and they fired their weapons in self defense," said Lieutenant Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman at the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in Kabul. She said an investigation was still in its early stages. ...

U.S. Conducts Three More Probes Into Military's Conduct in Iraq

U.S. Conducts Three More Probes Into Military's Conduct in Iraq: "By Alex Morales

06/01/06 -- (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military, facing allegations that Marines killed civilians in November in western Iraq, is conducting at least three more probes into the conduct of its forces in Iraq, spokesman Major-General William Caldwell said.

The military began a criminal investigation into the Nov. 19 deaths of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha, west of Baghdad, following a March 27 report by Time Magazine that Marines killed unarmed Iraqis.

``There are three or four at least at this time,'' Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad in response to a question about how many other such incidents were under investigation. Caldwell didn't have any details of those probes, and didn't know their status, beyond that they're in ``the first stages,'' he told a news conference carried live on the Pentagon Web site. "

Iraq War Vets talk about random civilian killings

Iraq War Vets talk about random civilian killings: "Iraq War Vets talk about random civilian killings

Newsnight follow a group of former US soldiers who have returned from Iraq deeply affected by the experience. As they march across America to protest, shocking interviews emerge on the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians.

Veterans reveal they had been trained to see Iraqis as animals, shoot up the landscape and kill anything that moved. Shovels and guns were carried by patrols in order to give the false impression that innocent killed civilians were actually up to no good - supposedly killed whilst digging holes for IED's.

Inigo Gilmore for BBC - Excerpted from Newsnight - Runtime 6 Minutes 23 Seconds

Click here to watch the full length BBC program Windows Media

Click here for full program."

New 'Iraq massacre' tape emerges ...video pictures obtained by the BBC appear to contradict the US account

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | New 'Iraq massacre' tape emerges: "

The BBC has uncovered new video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians.

The video appears to challenge the US military's account of events that took place in the town of Ishaqi in March.

The US said at the time four people died during a military operation, but Iraqi police claimed that US troops had deliberately shot the 11 people.

A spokesman for US forces in Iraq told the BBC an inquiry was under way.

The new evidence comes in the wake of the alleged massacre in Haditha, where US marines are suspected of killing up to 24 Iraqi civilians in November 2005 and covering up the deaths.
...
The news of ethical training for US-led troops is likely to be greeted with cynicism by many Iraqis, the BBC's Ian Pannell in Baghdad says, as the troops have long been accused of deliberately targeting civilians.

Cross-checked

The video pictures obtained by the BBC appear to contradict the US account of the events in Ishaqi, about 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, on 15 March 2006. ...

U.S. troops kill pregnant woman in Iraq - Yahoo! News

U.S. troops kill pregnant woman in Iraq - Yahoo! News: " By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Wed May 31, 2:31 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday.

Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.

Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.

The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.

"Shots were fired to disable the vehicle," the military said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds ... and one of the females may have been pregnant."

Jassim's brother, who was wounded by broken glass, said he did not see any warnings as he sped his sister to the hospital. Her husband was waiting for her there.

"I was driving my car at full speed because I did not see any sign or warning from the Americans. It was not until they shot the two bullets that killed my sister and cousin that I stopped," he said. "God take revenge on the Americans and those who brought them here. They have no regard for our lives." ...

Take No Prisoners

Take No Prisoners: "U.S. Marines execute an Iraqi to the cheers of fellow marines"

More video here: http://www.ndrtv.de/cgi/pan_video/video/vs/20040226_201503_tv_panorama_2020_schuesse.rm

Page Updated: 02/27/04/

Marines 'to face charges over the Haditha massacre'

Telegraph | News | Marines 'to face charges over the Haditha massacre': "By Toby Harnden | (Filed: 21/05/2006)

American military investigators have concluded that United States Marines may have killed up to 24 innocent Iraqis, including seven women and three children, in an alleged massacre, writes Toby Harnden.

Three marine officers whose troops are suspected of involvement in the killings have already been relieved of their commands.

They are believed to be likely to face charges when a separate, criminal, investigation is complete."

Pentagon officials confirmed that 24 civilians, rather than the previous given figure of 15, died in Haditha, in western Iraq, last November when troops from Kilo Company, of the 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment, apparently ran amok after one of their men was killed.

Duncan Hunter, the Republican chairman of the House armed services committee, has said that he will hold public hearings on the incident, which appears to have been covered up initially by those involved.

The Bush administration fears that the growing scandal over the shootings could lead to war crimes trials and a wave of international condemnation that will further diminish support for the Iraq war in the run-up to the mid-term congressional elections.

The congressman John Murtha, an anti-war Democrat who is a former marine colonel and decorated Vietnam veteran, has claimed that innocent civilians were slaughtered "in cold blood". ...

Mosque attack blast kills 79

The Daily Telegraph | Mosque attack blast kills 79: "by Mustafa Ahmed and Jay Deshmukh in Baghdad | April 08, 2006

THREE suicide bombers, two of them disguised as women, killed at least 79 people and wounded 164 as worshippers left a popular Baghdad Shiite mosque after weekly Friday prayers overnight."
...
Mr Saghir's mosque packs thousands of worshippers every Friday. The cleric is known for his fiery sermons promulgating the rights of Iraq's Shiites.

"This is a filthy war against the Shiites," Mr Saghir told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel.

He blamed newspapers close to the ousted Sunni elite for provoking the attack by waging "a campaign defaming our mosque, saying that some Sunnis were detained in the mosque." ...

U.S. Says 9 More Soldiers Killed in Iraq: 1038 Iraqis in Mar, 741-Feb, 608-Jan, 375-Dec ...

Excite News - U.S. Says 9 More Soldiers Killed in Iraq: "Apr 3, 9:52 PM (ET) | By VANESSA ARRINGTON

Nine more American troops died in Iraq, the U.S. military reported Monday, five of them in a vehicle accident in a remote, rain-soaked western area. Their deaths brought the number of service members killed so far this month to 13 - nearly half the number who died in all of March.

Three more Americans - two Marines and a sailor - were missing in the Sunday accident in which a truck overturned near Asad air base, a U.S. statement said. All the dead were Marines, the statement added.
...
Although U.S. casualties have been on the decline, deaths among Iraqis have increased because of rising tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. At least 1,038 Iraqi civilians died last month in war-related violence, according to an Associated Press count.

The AP count showed at least 375 Iraqi civilians killed in December, 608 in January and 741 in February. Most of the increase appeared a result of a sharp rise in the number of civilians found dead throughout Baghdad - apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings.

Bringing Back the Wounded With Heart, Soul and Surgery - Los Angeles Times

Bringing Back the Wounded With Heart, Soul and Surgery - Los Angeles Times: "By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer | April 2, 2006"

Injured troops are swept up in a lifesaving process unmatched in past wars -- reaching hospitals in minutes and the U.S. in days. But their agony doesn't end on the battlefield.
...
Despite the destructive force of roadside bombs, the rate of wounded who die is lower in Iraq than for any war in U.S. history. Since the war began three years ago, about 10% of those wounded have died of their injuries, according to the Pentagon, down from 24% during the Vietnam War and 30% during World War II. The highest lethality rate was 42%, during the Revolutionary War.
...
More than 17,000 American troops have been wounded in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.

Iraqis killed by US troops ‘on rampage’ ... Claims of atrocities by soldiers mount

Iraqis killed by US troops ‘on rampage’ - Sunday Times - Times Online: "March 26, 2006 | Hala Jaber and Tony Allen-Mills, New York

Claims of atrocities by soldiers mount

THE villagers of Abu Sifa near the Iraqi town of Balad had become used to the sound of explosions at night as American forces searched the area for suspected insurgents. But one night two weeks ago Issa Harat Khalaf heard a different sound that chilled him to the bone.

Khalaf, a 33-year-old security officer guarding oil pipelines, saw a US helicopter land near his home. American soldiers stormed out of the Chinook and advanced on a house owned by Khalaf’s brother Fayez, firing as they went.

Khalaf ran from his own house and hid in a nearby grove of trees. He saw the soldiers enter his brother’s home and then heard the sound of women and children screaming.

“Then there was a lot of machinegun fire,” he said last week. After that there was the most frightening sound of all — silence, followed by explosions as the soldiers left the house.

Once the troops were gone, Khalaf and his fellow villagers began a frantic search through the ruins of his brother’s home. Abu Sifa was about to join a lengthening list of Iraqi communities claiming to have suffered from American atrocities."

The residents said troops entered homes and shot and killed 15 members of two families ... under investigation for possible war crimes

Excite News: "Iraqis Detail Deadly U.S. Marine Raid | Mar 20, 7:48 PM (ET) | By BASSEM MROUE

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Residents gave new details Monday about the shootings of civilians in a western Iraqi town, where the U.S. military is investigating allegations of potential misconduct by American troops last November.

The residents said troops entered homes and shot and killed 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old girl, after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine.

The military, which announced Friday that a dozen Marines are under investigation for possible war crimes in the Nov. 19 incident, said in a statement Monday that a videotape of the aftermath of the shootings in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, was presented in support of the allegations.

The charges against the Marines were first brought forward by Time magazine, which reported this week that it obtained a videotape two months ago taken by a Haditha journalism student that shows the dead still in their nightclothes.

The magazine report mirrored what was told independently to The Associated Press by residents who described what happened as "a massacre." However, Time said the available evidence did not prove conclusively that the Marines deliberately killed innocents. ...

[Yesterday] At least 39 people were killed by insurgents and shadowy sectarian gangs ... nearly 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month

Excite News: "Ongoing Wave of Violence in Iraq Kills 39 | Mar 20, 10:47 PM (ET) | By STEVEN R. HURST

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - At least 39 people were killed by insurgents and shadowy sectarian gangs, police reported Monday - continuing the wave of violence that has left nearly 1,000 Iraqis dead since the bombing last month of a Shiite Muslim shrine.

As the Iraq war entered its fourth year, police found the bodies of at least 15 more people - including that of a 13-year-old girl - dumped in and near Baghdad. The discoveries marked the latest in a string of execution-style killings that have become an almost daily event as Sunni and Shiite extremists settle scores.

Sectarian killings have swept across Iraq since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra. An Associated Press tally, including the deaths reported Monday, put the toll at 993 since the golden dome atop the Askariya shrine was left in rubble by two bombers, who are believed to remain at large.

Among those killed in scattered violence Monday were 10 policemen, who are prime targets for insurgents, most of them Sunni militants, trying to break the will of the mainly Shiite police force. ...

killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 200. ... at least 10 more ... and wounded more than 30

Sunday Times: Four men found hanged in slum [ 14mar06 ]: "Four men found hanged in slum | From correspondents in Baghdad | 14mar06

POLICE found four hanged men dangling from electricity pylons in a Baghdad Shiite slum, hours after car bombs and mortars shells ripped through teeming market streets, killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 200.

The grim scene underscored fears yesterday's bloody assault on a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr would plunge Iraq into another frenzy of sectarian killing.

Bomb blasts in Baghdad, Kirkuk and Tikrit - many of them targeting Iraqi police patrols - killed at least 10 more people Monday and wounded more than 30." ...

IViolence Unleashed Last Week Killed More Than 1,300 -- three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military

Iraq Death Toll Higher Than First Thought: "Violence Unleashed Last Week Killed More Than 1,300 | By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti | Washington Post Foreign Service | Monday, February 27, 2006; 7:12 PM

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.

Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- sprawled, blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies had their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr."

Dozens of bodies discovered in Baghdad

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Dozens of bodies discovered in Baghdad: "Staff and agencies | Thursday February 23, 2006

Iraqi police recovered the bodies of dozens of people in Baghdad today as violence spread across the country following the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra.

The bodies were found riddled with bullets as fears grew that the country was sliding into civil war after the attack yesterday which destroyed the golden dome on the al-Askari shrine, one of Shia Islam's most revered sites.

Police and army officials said the bodies of 31 men were found at eight sites in the capital, predominantly in Shia areas. Most had their hands bound, and they had had all been shot.

At least 40 more bodies were found in the village of Nahrawan, south of the capital.

Elsewhere in the country, a bomb targeting an Iraqi army foot patrol killed 12 people and wounded 21 in Baquba, north-east of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi army source.

Four civilians and the colonel commanding the patrol through a busy market in the centre of the city were among the dead.

Earlier, gunmen opened fire on a Sunni mosque in Baquba, killing one person and wounding two. ...

In January more than 800 people — soldiers, security officers and civilians — were killed

31 Days in Iraq - New York Times: "by ADRIANA LINS de ALBUQUERQUE and ALICIA CHENG | Published: February 6, 2006

In January more than 800 people — soldiers, security officers and civilians — were killed as a result of the insurgency in Iraq. While the daily toll is noted in the newspapers and on TV, it is hard for many Americans to see these isolated reports in a broader context. The map, based on data from the American, British and Iraqi governments and news reports, shows the dates, locations and circumstances of deaths for the first month of the year. ..

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/02/06/opinion/Iraq162.jpg

CIA-operated unmanned drones were believed to have killed 18 people, including women and children

Excite News: "Qaeda No.2 away during attack: Pakistan official | Jan 14, 9:11 AM (ET)

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeted al Qaeda's second-in-command, U.S. sources said, but Ayman al-Zawahri was away at the time, according to a senior Pakistani official on Saturday.

The strike on Friday killed at least 18 people, including women and children, and three houses were destroyed in a village near the Afghan border, residents said.

Pakistan condemned the airstrike and would summon the U.S. ambassador to protest the attack, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said. He had no information about Zawahri.

CIA-operated unmanned drones were believed to have been used in the attack on Damadola village, across the border from Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. sources said." ...

Pakistan tribal lawmaker says US plane kills [18] civilians .. no Al Quaida ...

Xinhua - English: "Pakistan tribal lawmaker says US plane kills civilians | www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-13 21:52:32

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- A lawmaker from Pakistan Bajur tribal region said on Friday that an American spy plane fired missiles on three civilians' houses, killing 18 people, including women and children.

'A U.S. spy plane have been flying in the Bajur region for three days. The plane did such flight early morning and bombed three houses of locals in the Damadola village, 50 kilometers away from the Pak-Afghan border,' Member of Pakistan's National Assembly from the Bajur tribal region Sahibzada Haroon ur Rashid told journalists on phone from Bajur.

Damadola is around 200 km northwest of the capital, Islamabad.

Rashid said that the plane first threw light and then made a circle around the target and fired eight missiles on the houses of three local tribesmen.

A total of 18 people were killed in the attack which carried out at 3 a.m. on Friday, he said. Four other people, including two children, were injured and they are said to be in critical condition.

Rashid said that no al-Qaeda member or foreign citizen among those died.

'It is inhuman act to kill civilians under the excuse of foreign militants,' he said." ...

Mr. Bush is planning to ignore ban on 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' treatment whenever he chooses

Unchecked Abuse: "| Wednesday, January 11, 2006; Page A20 | Washington Post Editorial

CONGRESS VOTED by an overwhelming margin last month to ban all U.S. personnel from inflicting 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' treatment on any prisoner held anywhere by the United States. President Bush, who had threatened to veto the legislation, instead invited its prime sponsor, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), to the White House for a public reconciliation and declared they had a common objective: 'to make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture.' His national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said that 'the legislative agreement that we've worked out with Senator McCain' makes the ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 'a matter of law that applies worldwide, at home and abroad.'

From all that, it might be concluded that the Bush administration has committed itself to ending the use of practices falling just short of torture that it has used on foreign detainees since 2002. But it has not. Instead, it is explicitly reserving the right to abuse prisoners, while denying them any opportunity to seek redress in court. Having publicly accepted the ban on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Mr. Bush is planning to ignore it whenever he chooses. As a practical matter, there may be no change in the operations of the CIA's secret prisons, where detainees have been subjected to such practices as painful shackling, mock execution, induced hypothermia and "waterboarding," or simulated drowning. ...

Suicide bombers kill 14 at Iraqi ministry, 22 wounded

Excite News: "Suicide bombers kill 14 at Iraqi ministry | Email this Story | Jan 9, 8:00 AM (ET)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers dressed as senior police officers blew themselves up inside the Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad on Monday, killing 14 people and wounding 22 as Iraq marked National Police Day. ...

Copter crash kills 12; five U.S. Marines slain

Copter crash kills 12; five U.S. Marines slain: "Copter crash kills 12; five U.S. Marines slain | Last update: January 08, 2006 – 10:39 AM

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 12 Americans believed to be aboard, while five U.S. Marines were slain in separate weekend attacks, the military said today. ...

In other violence Sunday, five people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad, including a policeman killed by a suicide car bomber that targeted an Interior Ministry patrol. Seven others were wounded. ...

130 Iraqis, 7 U.S. soldiers killed in bombings - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

130 Iraqis, 7 U.S. soldiers killed in bombings - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com : "130 Iraqis, 7 U.S. soldiers killed in bombings | MSNBC News Services | Updated: 8:13 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2006

One attack near Shiite mosque, another at police recruiting site"

KARBALA, Iraq - In one of the deadliest days in Iraq since the U.S. military overthrew Saddam Hussein, bombs killed at least 130 Iraqis and seven U.S. soldiers on Thursday — shattering hopes that last month’s election and the new year would herald a more peaceful era.

Nearly 200 people were wounded in the attacks on Iraqis in two cities. Another three bombs exploded in Baghdad, two of them detonated by suicide bombers. And insurgents sabotaged an oil pipeline near the northern city of Kirkuk, causing a huge fire ...