THIS IS LIBERATION?

Via Workers World News Service

As the Iraqi resistance to the U.S.-British invasion and occupation has
intensified, so have the indiscriminate attacks on Iraqi civilians. The
March 30 Times of London carried the following information in an article
by Mark Franchetti from Nasiriyah:

"Some 15 vehicles, including a minivan and couple of trucks, blocked the
road. They were riddled with bullet holes.

"Amid the wreckage I counted 12 dead civilians ... all had been trying
to leave this southern town.

"One man's body was still in flames. ... Down the road, a little girl,
no older than five and dressed in a pretty orange and gold dress, lay
dead in a ditch next to the body of a man who may have been her father.
Half his head was missing."

On March 31, 10 women and children were killed inside a civilian vehicle
by U.S. Army forces at Najaf.

On April 1, the French Press Agency reported that 33 people had been
killed and 310 wounded by U.S. bombing raids on the outskirts of Hilla,
50 miles south of Baghdad. The day before, 15 members of a family were
killed, with only one survivor, in an Apache helicopter rocket attack.

The massacre at Nasiriyah reported in the London Times has been little
covered in the U.S. media. Even less attention has been given in the big
business press to the racist attitudes inculcated in U.S. troops,
reminiscent of the Vietnam War.

Franchetti noted the "bitter satisfaction" of some of the Marines
looking out over the 15 destroyed vehicles in Nasariyah. He quoted a
U.S. army corporal, Ryan Dupre, as saying: "The Iraqis are sick people
and we are the chemotherapy. I am starting to hate this country. Wait
till I get hold of a friggin' Iraqi. No, I won't get hold of one. I'll
just kill him."

On March 31, the Guardian reported that three British soldiers were
being sent home and faced possible court martial for protesting against
the killing of Iraqi civilians.

The Times of London reported on the same day that three other British
soldiers had been wounded and a fourth killed by a U.S. A-10 fighter
plane. Lance Corporal Steven Gerrard described how the plane attacked in
two separate runs while the British troops were amidst civilians: "There
was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 meters away when
the Yank opened up. There were all these civilians around. He had
absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy." Lt.
Alex MacEwen said he was glad to be going home. His friends and family
had joked: "Don't worry about the Iraqis, it's the Americans you want to
watch."

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