“Every moment in Iraq is like this!”

Karen Button

My Iraqi colleague and friend Aishya is on the phone detailing names, ages and method of death for each of the victims of Haditha’s massacre by US troops last November. She tells me that from her interviews with survivors, there are certain details being incorrectly reported and she wants to correct them. She double-checked, she says, on a recent trip when she was bringing medical supplies to Haditha. As I scribble down the information, she pauses. "You know," she says, "this happens every day, of course. And what about the wedding party in Mukaradeeb the US murdered in 2004?" At least 45 people were killed by US troops in the attack near Al-Qaim in western Iraq. Pentagon officials denied a wedding was in procession, claiming instead that party-goers were "anti-coalition forces." "We need to get this information out," Aishya continues, "but let me tell you something that happened just the other day...

continua / continued