Iraq will open investigation into the alleged summary execution of 10 Iraqis, including four women and five children, by US forces in 2006, an aide to Iraq's prime minister said on Friday. "Taking into consideration the new information from Wikileaks, we will open an investigation about the case and we will follow all legal steps to obtain the rights for our victims," said Ali Mussawi, media advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. A leaked April 2006 US diplomatic cable released last week by whistleblower website Wikileaks quoted a letter from Philip Alston, who was at the time Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. According to the cable, Alston wrote that according to information in his possession US forces had executed 10 Iraqis at their home in Balad, north of Baghdad, during a raid on March 15, 2006, after which an air strike destroyed the house. "I have received various reports indicating that at least 10 persons... were killed during the raid" on March 15, 2006, Alston wrote. After shots were fired as US forces approached the home in Salaheddin province, a confrontation ensued, and "troops entered the house, handcuffed all residents and executed all of them," he wrote. http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-probe-al...RkbGUgZWFzdARwdANzZWN0aW9ucwR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3 Those vicious, brutal Islamic jihadists had it coming of course....
I'm waiting for the 3 min video showing the family kitchen utensils laid out on the floor and the US saying that the poor commandos came under attack from the women and children swinging pots and pans at them as they fought back so they had to execute them by pumping bullets into the back of their heads. I'm sure they can persuade Palmer to head another UN investigation into it. No apology from the USA, just a regret!
A few atrocities always occur during a major war. The best armies try to prevent them and try to remove the offenders, but even the best are tempted not to let the news get out and blacken their name. Just like the Vietnam conflict was not one long series of My Lai massacres, the Iraq War and occupation was not one long series of atrocity incidents. There will be political consequences to this news because the U.S. did try to hush the incident up and because it touches so many fault lines in contemporary Iraqi politics. I don't have the knowledge to be able to guess just how big a deal this will be, but it will give the staff of the huge U.S. embassy in Baghdad something to do. P.S. - I agree that the U.S. only needs about half the foreign and domestic military bases it has, but this incident is not a valid reason for closing them.
