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$5,000 for loss of wife and son: how US prices death
PHIL SANDS
IN RAWAH
11/08/05 "Scotsman"
-- -- HAMEED Hassan sat in the remains of his
car, next to his dead wife, and watched his four-year-old son begin
to bleed to death.
The family had been on the way to buy clothes in Rawah's small
market when the American soldiers opened fire. A helicopter gunship
joined in the attack, cutting the car and two of its occupants to
pieces.
Hassan's wife, Basima Taha, died almost immediately. His youngest
son, Mahmoud Muhsin, was not as lucky. Hit in the torso, his abdomen
was torn open, a wound that would prove fatal.
They were outside the main government building in Rawah, a town on
the Euphrates River about 90km from the Syrian border, deep in Sunni
al-Anbar province, when Hassan turned his car around. He drove down
a side street, alongside the civic centre, and found himself heading
towards a group of US soldiers - engaged at that time in a major
anti-insurgent offensive.
"They started shooting straight away," he said, "I saw no signal, no
warning, just the bullets hitting my car. The helicopter joined in.
I saw my wife was killed."
The soldiers drove off, leaving the family in the street.
The US military has not apologised for the incident. But it has
agreed to pay compensation for the killings, an acceptance that
innocent lives were lost.
Under the US "consequence management" system, there is a maximum
payout of $2,500 per claim. A dead wife and a dead son are
equivalent to two claims; meaning Hassan is in line to receive a
total of $5,000 in cash.
Sergeant Jeffery Mubarak, a 37-year-old veteran of four US wars, is
one of the soldiers processing compensation in Rawah. "Do I think
we're paying the man enough money," he said, "No, I don't. But I
just work here. I don't set the rates.
"I try to stay removed from it all and I'm trying to get the man
what money I can. That doesn't mean I think it's fair."
Sgt Mubarak, of the Alaska-based 4th Squadron, 14th US Cavalry,
continued: "I hope these payments will help anyone who has been in
contact with the American army and suffered some kind of loss or
damage.
"If it was a bad experience hopefully it'll at least make their
lives a little easier."
Any Iraqi can file a claim with US forces for loss or damage caused
by military operations. In Rawah, there are twice weekly payment
sessions, held at a run-down government building. Claimants,
clutching photographic proof of broken doors, smashed windows and
demolished homes, queue up in an effort to collect from a limited
pool of money.
Some claimants are genuine; others try to claim cash for damage
unrelated to US military operations.
The claims are investigated and, if found to be legitimate, payments
are made according to a sliding scale. A damaged high-value car or
dead family member brings $2,500, while a television destroyed by a
hand-grenade is valued at $350.
One entry in the 4/14 Cavalry compensation log reads: "blown-up
house, pay $1,300". Another: "destroyed boat, $20". Others include a
blown-up potato field and irrigation equipment ($2,000), a damaged
door in a hospital ($50) and a burned-down store ($2,500).
During the past two months about $100,000 has been paid out to
residents of the Rawah region for damages caused by the 4/14 Cavalry
and its predecessors.
In one incident, seven civilians were killed and five wounded when
25 high-explosive mortars were fired on a Bedouin pastoral area: a
total of $30,000 was paid out to the families.
That attack is currently being investigated by a US military legal
team.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Fre insisted "all efforts" were made to
limit "collateral damage".
"I don't shoot into an area unless I know there isn't going to be
collateral damage, just as I wouldn't shoot a guy if there were
children behind him. It's a shame you can't say the same about the
terrorists."
He continued: "From a cultural perspective, there can be blood feuds
in Iraq - you kill one of mine, I'll kill one of yours - unless you
make a payment. In this culture, that's OK. It stops a cycle of
revenge.
"It seems terrible that you would pay compensation for the death of
a family member, but traditionally that's acceptable."
Hassan, now a father of one, said: "The money isn't compensation.
You can't pay someone for a life, life doesn't have a money value.
How can money make up for what I've lost? I feel bad about even
taking the money and I wasn't going to ask for it. But my friends
told me 'you have to look after your son now, you can help his
schooling and keep him warm with the money, take it'."
And US infantry soldiers patrolling the ground report the Bedouin
area hit by the mortars has seen an upswing in bomb attacks since
the incident. One officer said, on condition of anonymity: "What
else can you expect? If you kill an innocent family accidentally or
through negligence you're bound to get consequences; it's bound to
turn people against you. It's only natural."
And among some claimants waiting for their compensation in the Rawah
government building, anger at US forces remains undiminished.
Abdul Rahman Mohammad Hamadi, a vet who had his clinic smashed by US
forces during fighting, said: "We are given a small amount of money
months after our livelihoods are destroyed. This is just evidence
the Americans have brought us no benefits. They came with violence
and destruction and that is all we have seen. That is why so many
Iraqis are fighting against the occupation."
• US and Iraqi troops battled insurgents house-to-house in the town
of Husaybah yesterday, the third day of an assault against
al-Qaeda-led insurgents in a town near the Syrian border. US command
reported the first American death in the operation.
At least 36 insurgents have been killed since the assault began on
Saturday, and about 200 men have been detained.
©2005 Scotsman.com
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