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US and British Eyewitnesses to April assault fear fresh massacre in Fallujah Two international activists present in Fallujah during the assault on the city in April, and the British author of a best-selling anti-war book, have expressed fears of a fresh massacre when US forces launch their much-heralded massive offensive against the city. British activist Jo Wilding and US activist and author Rahul Mahajan were both present in Fallujah during the siege of the city earlier this year, where they witnessed civilian casualties first-hand and saw evidence of US war crimes eg. Wilding was present in a clearly marked ambulance targeted by US marines. Milan Rai is the author of ‘War Plan Iraq’ (Verso 2002) and ‘Regime Unchanged’ (Pluto 2003) and has visited Fallujah on several occasions during the past 7 years. All are available for interview (see below). The trio’s fears are bolstered by two recent reports concerning civilian casualties in Iraq. The first, an analysis of almost 300 contemporary media reports produced by the research group Iraq Body Count, concluded that roughly 600 of the approximately 800 reported deaths during April’s assault on Fallujah were civilians, with over 300 of these being women and children [B] The second, a study published in the Lancet last Friday, based on a carefully conducted sample survey, concluded that “about 100,000 excess [Iraqi] deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and airstrikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths” [C] Tony Blair has repeatedly denied that US and British forces are killing civilians in Iraq eg. telling Parliament that the “point is occasionally presented as if the civilians who have died and who are dying in Iraq are somehow dying as a result of coalition action. We are not killing civilians in Iraq, terrorists are killing civilians in Iraq” [D]. During the April assault on Fallujah Blair refused to condemn US actions there, asserting that it was ”perfectly right and proper that they take action” [E]. However, it was American warplanes, helicopter gunships and remotely piloted Predator reconnaissance aircraft which directly targeted houses - and at least one mosque - in the April attack on Fallujah (F). Indeed, one recently broadcast, and shocking, sequence of footage, taken from a US warplane during that assault, followed a missile as it was exploded directly onto a large and unidentified group of people on a road, with no indication or concern voiced by the pilot or his radio commander, as to who the people were and whether they posed any threat (G). Furthermore, medical facilities in the city were actively hindered by US action. It has also been revealed recently that US forces have cut off power and water supplies to cities they have besieged across Iraq (H). Jo Wilding said: ‘There is now overwhelming evidence that US military action in Iraqi cities has caused hundreds of civilian deaths, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. Now, with the redeployment of British troops to form part of the “outer ring of steel” around the city we are actively participating in this carnage. I call on the US and British governments to stop this murderous and counterproductive policy before the horrors of April’s attacks – horrors which I witnessed first-hand - are revisited on the city and its citizens.’ MORE INFORMATION ON WILDING, MAHAJAN AND RAI. NOTES |
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