I check the Iraqi blogs every day, and many of them don't update that often, but I was stunned to read these words from two blogs who hadn't posted in a week. They come from one family in Mosul who have multiple blogs. I am going to quote from the father and daughter.
First, the father:
http://moslawi.blogspot.com/Thursday, March 09, 2006
What happened to me is happenning to many others.
I wrote a post about what happened to me when an American soldier shot at me. That post bring a lot of comments from many Americans, some regret for that action, other tried to find an excuse or to justify it.
But what happened yesterday, (Thursday) afternoon, about 5:00 PM is beyond justification.
My uncle, the only living one from my mother side, is about 80 years old, a healthy, handsome and well looking gentleman. He was in his way to bring his wife home; she was in visit to her parents, when he shot by American soldiers, he was alone in his car, no eye witness, several bullets penetrate his car, three of them penetrate his body, he died immediately.
snip
At the funeral, I heard many similar stories, all of them contain the same subjects but different detailes, innocent Iraqi civilians killed at the hand of American soldiers for no obvious reasons. Or just because a scared boy holding a gun hidding behind his Stryker and protected from the law, this what changed him from a human to a monster.
GO HOME AMERICANS, WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE
Also in the post (I don't want to over sample), he states that the American military did say they were sorry. So it was a total mistake without any evil intent. But this is what happens when you have a heavily armed occupation and insurgent terrorists lurking everywhere. Kids get nervous, they err on the side of killing instead of being killed, and an entire family is thrown into grief and loss.
Less angry, and even sadder, was his 17 year old daughter, and how she describes events:
http://astarfrommosul.blogspot.com/Uncle S was dad's only uncle from his mother's side. A man in his late seventies, peaceful and young in the heart. Last time I saw him was after Eid, I gave him a kiss on his cheek when I greeted him, and he kissed me on my forehead before we left. There's nothing that would make me happier than a kiss on the forehead, especially from a man like him. (He was happy with his new mobile then, and he really knew how to use it unlike many, and I was impressed that a man his age, could understand such up-to-date thing. )
Yesterday, he was shot by Americans on his way back home, and he died. Like many others, he died, left us clueless about the reason, and saddened with this sudden loss. He was shot many times, only three reached him: One in his arm, one in his neck and one in his chest. But they said they're sorry.. They always are.
When I was reading this post, I thought it was all going to be about her uncle. But then she hits us with this:
It was a bit strange outside the school, it felt strange but I didn't know why. I went in and saw some girls crying. That can be normal sometimes too.. Then I overheard a friend of HNK talking about a bomb in the school's garden. Only then did I have an idea about what was going on. I hurried outside, but it was too late, the driver had left... and the school had been bombed.
(Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, a small part only was bombed, or as we later knew, targeted with a missile. )
I took a peek into the teachers' room, the most damaged room, the windows were broken and the curtains had fallen down. The missile had fallen in the backyard, near the teachers' room, caused the windows to break in the near classes, and as we heard, two girls were injured.
snip
The missile itself didn't scare me, especially that I wasn't there when it exploded. It's the fact that we were targeted that makes me wonder. A girls magnet school, and another for Islamic studies, what the hell do they think they're doing? And who are "they"?
PS: It isn't quite clear if it was a bomb, a missile or something else. But the most trusted sources say it was a missile.
I am no military expert, so I'm not sure if this definitely had to be the Americans (making another error) or whether the insurgency could have done this. But it sounds like the author thinks it was the Americans, although she's not completely sure.
The thing is we always hear about war supporters whining that the media is "liberal biassed" and "against the war" because they share all the bad news coming from Iraq. But my argument with them is that these little stories, of American military errors (inevitable during a counterinsurgency war) and the deaths of innocent Iraqi civilians at the hands of our military are being UNDERREPORTED. Yes, as bad as Iraq sounds, when you delve in a little deeper, it is, in fact, worse . . .
(Just to note, that these blogs were featured in the NYT in January, so I think that we can find their accounts reasonably credible.)
Edited to correct sex of Star in Mosul -- she's a girl (whoops, should have read a few more posts of hers to get that info).
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