Iraq: U.S. Soldiers Laughed at Drowning

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2003
Iraq: U.S. Soldiers Laughed at Drowning
1
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 3:24am
I found this story unbelievable. :


Iraq: U.S. Soldiers Laughed at Drowning Teen

By HAMZA HENDAWI

Associated Press Writer

July 6, 2004, 9:17 PM EDT

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iraq-death-on-the-tigris,0,6393011,print.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines


SAMARRA, Iraq -- The 19-year-old Iraqi's swimming

skills were no match for the Tigris. "Marwan, save

me!" Zaidoun Fadel Hassoun screamed to his cousin,

himself struggling to stay afloat. The teenager

drowned; his cousin made it to shore. "I could hear

them laughing," Marwan Fadel Hassoun said, recalling

how U.S. soldiers pushed the young men into the river.

"They were behaving like they were watching a comedy

on stage."

The U.S. military said last week that three soldiers,

now back in their base at Fort Carson, Colo., have

been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Jan.

3 drowning of an Iraqi detainee. A fourth soldier

faces charges of pushing a second man, who survived,

into the same river.

The military identified the victims only as Mr. Fadel

and Mr. Fadhil. The four soldiers face between 5 1/2

years and 26 1/2 years in prison if convicted on all

charges.

Thousands of Iraqi civilians have died since the Iraq

war began in March 2003. Some of them perished in the

U.S.-led air and ground campaign. In the 15 months

since the fall of Baghdad, many more have died in car

bombings, or when caught in the crossfire as American

troops battled insurgents or were simply in the wrong

place at the wrong time.

With every such death, Iraqis point to what they see

as the heavy-handedness of the U.S. military. The

resentment is deeper when the victims are relatives,

friends or neighbors.

Zaidoun Hassoun was to have finished high school this

year. Three weeks before his death, he got engaged to

a cousin, and he hoped to start a family in Samarra, a

trade and agriculture center whose name means

"pleasant to those who see it."

For Marwan Hassoun, a bearded and burly 23-year-old

who attends a teachers' college, the death robbed him

of a companion and a childhood friend. Zaidoun's voice

pleading for help still echoes in his ears.

"Every time I see an American soldier, a Humvee or a

tank I become agitated. Many emotions rush into my

mind: confusion, fear and rage. I am constantly

thinking of how I could have helped Zaidoun. I feel so

much guilt, but prayers and reading the Quran keep me

going," he said.

Sometime between Jan. 3 and the discovery of Zaidoun's

body on the river bank 13 days later, Zaidoun's mother

wrote an open letter addressed to President Bush,

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"Any measure you take will not return my son to life.

But I, with an overwhelming sense of bereavement,

expect you to end the agony of mothers in my country,"

Widad Mahmoud Nadeem, 40, wrote in the two-page

letter.

"We are harvesting misery and unhappiness because of

the actions of American soldiers who pay no heed to

human life, dignity and the values and traditions of

our society," she wrote.

Trouble for Zaidoun and Marwan began about 10:45 p.m.,

15 minutes before curfew came into force in Samarra

and only 200 yards from their home at the end of a

100-mile journey.

The trip, which should have been routine in a pickup

truck loaded with Italian-made bathroom fixtures from

Baghdad, was made longer because of a recurring engine

problem that Marwan had to fix along the way.

They were stopped and searched at an Iraqi checkpoint

on Samarra's outskirts and allowed to enter town.

Minutes later, a U.S. patrol -- Marwan believes it was

made up of four Bradley fighting vehicles -- crossed

the median and blocked their path.

They quickly searched the cargo and checked their

identity documents, he said at the family's store that

sells Chinese-made appliances, stationery and books.

He remembered one soldier happily greeting them with

Arabic phrases.

The soldiers told them they were free to go, but just

after they got back into the truck, the soldiers

ordered them to step out. This time, they handcuffed

them and took them into one of the Bradleys.

"What's happening?" a terrified Zaidoun whispered to

his cousin. The Bradley drove for a few minutes before

the two were ordered out at a bridge across the Tigris

that also serves as a dam, several miles north of

Samarra.

The soldiers -- Marwan remembers four or five of them

-- removed their handcuffs and led them to a concrete

ledge. Ordered to jump into the water, Marwan begged

for mercy.

"Why? why?" he pleaded. "Shut up, shut up!" yelled the

soldier who spoke some Arabic.

Zaidoun was pushed first. He held on to a soldier, who

managed to free himself. Other soldiers joined in and

pushed Zaidoun away. When Marwan turned to look at his

cousin, he was pushed from behind.

"We are not great swimmers, but we knew enough not to

drown," he said. Marwan swam to Zaidoun and grabbed

his hand, but they slipped apart. "I lost him. He went

under and then resurfaced near an open dam gate. Water

was rushing and not even a good swimmer could resist

that current."

"He was shouting 'Marwan, save me,' and I yelled back

'Try to swim, try to swim,' but he went under again

and that was it. I could hear them (the soldiers)

laughing. They were behaving like they were watching a

comedy on stage," he said.

Standing at the scene Tuesday, he pointed to a cluster

of bamboo at the water's edge.

"These are the plants that I held onto to save my

life," he said. "I climbed back up to the shore, but

they pointed a gun at me, so I went back down and

waited."

His tormentors drove off, but he continued to huddle

in fear. Only when he reached an Iraqi checkpoint,

more than two hours after his ordeal began, did he

feel safe.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iraq-death-on-the-tigris,0,6393011,print.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 10:17am
It wouldnt surprise me. Look at the source.

Newsday? Please......Even New Yorkers know that newspaper is nothing more than a glorified National Enquirer. The only good part about that paper is the coverage of the NY sports teams.