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Reports From Iraq > Tue., Apr. 13, 2004
US Marines Shoot Ambulances in Fallujah
This Baghdad doctor has spent the last week working in
one of Fallujah's emerging clinics. His story is one of
mass graves caused by the US military. |
BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Speaking from his ranch in Crawford, Texas
the President the United States, George W. Bush told reporters
American soldiers have acted against, quote: "lawlessness
and gangs" in Iraq in the past week. The American theater
commander in Fallujah told Britain's Guardian newspaper 95
percent of those killed in the assault on the city are armed
militants. But that's not the story coming from Fallujah's
temporary emergency clinics. This Baghdad doctor has spent
most of the last week in Fallujah. His name is being with-held
for his own safety.
"When you see a child five years old with no head what
can you say?" asks one doctor in Fallujah, whose name
is being with-held for his own safety. "When you see
a child with no brain just an open cavity what can you say?
When you see a mother just hold her infant with no head and
the shells are all over her body."
So many Fallujahans have been killed by the US Marines that
residents have resorted to digging mass graves. The City's
foot-ball stadium now holds more than 200 dead bodies:
"We buried many in the stadium for football until it
became full. When you are burying you cannot stay long because
they (US Marines) will just shoot you. So we use the shovel.
Just dig a big hole and put a whole family in the hole and
leave as soon as possible so we are not shot."
The official number killed in Fallujah is 600, but the total
number of civilian casualties is likely much higher. The official
tally only reflects those deaths reported by the cities mosques
and clinics. But American snipers and bombers have killed
many people while they are inside their homes.
The doctor says his ambulance was attacked multiple times
as it sought to bring aid to residents stranded in their homes.
Once when it was trying to retrieve dead bodies for burial
and a second time when it was attempting to bring food aid
to homes cut off by American snipers
"I see people carrying a white flag and yelling for
us saying 'We are here' just try to save us but we cannot
save them because whenever we open the ambulance they will
shoot us. We try to carry food or water by constrainers. As
soon as you carry food or water, the snipers shot the containers
of food.
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