U.S. Troops Destroy Iraqi Homes On Minutes' Notice

Wonderful. Simply fucking wonderful. From the Knight Ridder website:

TIKRIT, Iraq - In a tactic reminiscent of Israeli crackdowns in the West Bank and Gaza, the U.S. military has begun destroying the homes of suspected guerrilla fighters in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, evacuating women and children, then leveling their houses with heavy weaponry.

At least 15 homes have been destroyed in Tikrit as part of what has been dubbed Operation Ivy Cyclone Two, including four leveled on Sunday by tanks and Apache helicopters that allegedly belonged to suspects in the Nov. 7 downing of a Black Hawk helicopter that killed six Americans.

Family members at one of the houses, in the village of al Haweda, said they were given five minutes to evacuate before soldiers opened fire.

How long will this immoral idiocy continue?

U.S. forces struck dozens of targets on Monday, killing six guerrillas and arresting 21 others, the military said. The operation is expected to continue through Wednesday, said Col. James Hickey, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division.

"Dozens of targets." Doing the math, this means U.S. forces are going to destroy at least 70 civilian homes because of something we think someone related to the people inside may have done.

Hickey said the four homes were destroyed on Sunday because enemy fighters lived and met there. Leveling the homes will force the fighters to find other meeting places, he said.

"Those four people used those houses as sanctuary, and we're not allowing them to have sanctuary," Hickey said.

This is not about denying sanctuary. This is collective punishment, which is a war crime. Col. James Hickey is a war criminal. As are the people who ordered these raids, and the other soldiers carrying them out.

So, who ordered it?

It was unclear whether the decision to destroy the houses was part of an overall strategy approved in Washington. White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to comment specifically, referring questions about the razings to the Defense Department, but he praised the military's efforts to get tough with Iraqi insurgents. ...

Officials at the Department of Defense referred questions to Central Command in Tampa, which oversees all military operations in Iraq. Spokesmen there declined to comment.

So, are we winning hearts and minds?

On Monday, angry residents of al Haweda, where three of the destroyed homes were, said the tactic will spawn more guerrilla fighters and perhaps spark an Iraqi uprising similar to the Palestinian intifada in the West Bank and Gaza.

"This is something Sharon would do," said 41-year-old farmer Jamel Shahab, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. "What's happening in Iraq is just like Palestine."

Outstanding. Direct comparisons to the Israelis, now. And we know how well these tactics have worked for them.

The whole world will read this story, folks. Imagine the reaction from the 1.3 billion Muslims around the world. Imagine what our allies are thinking about this:

Shahab stood amidst the rubble of the former home of 55-year-old farmer Omar Khalil, who was arrested shortly before the home was destroyed. The military said Khalil's son, who escaped, is one of the suspects in the downing of the Black Hawk.

Khalil's wife, Kafey, sat wailing near her wrecked house. "I have no son. I have no husband. I have no home. I will be a beggar."

Kafey Khalil said military officials first visited the house two days ago, demanding that her husband turn in her son. He refused.

Then at about 10 p.m. Sunday, the military returned, she said.

"They started shouting at us, `Get up! Get out!''' she said. "They brought a big truck for us. It was so cold we felt like we were dying. After five minutes they started shooting. We didn't have time to get anything but blankets. They brought in the tanks and the helicopters and started bombing."

After the shooting stopped, the women and children were released and were left at the scene, they said. They were sifting through the wreckage on Monday, attempting to salvage what few items remained.

Two other homes nearby were also in shambles. What walls remained were pierced by tank rounds. A small boy held up what was left of the family's TV set.

In the backyard of one home, a cow lay dead, its stomach split open by a large caliber round, its unborn calf half-exposed. A dog limped nearby, a piece of shrapnel protruding from its body.

Tank tracks had churned up the sandy earth. Spent 5-inch-long shell casings littered the ground. Boys collected them and displayed handfuls to journalists.

Let's solidify our image as thoughtless, technology-laden monsters, shall we? Back to Col. Hickey:

Hickey said counterstrikes against fighters around Tikrit have been continuous, but that Ivy Cyclone Two represents a higher level of coordination using more advanced weapons.

For example, Sunday night's action included the launching of a missile from Baghdad, 55 miles away, at the abandoned home of former Saddam henchman Izzat Ibrahim al Duri, who is No. 6 on the coalition's most-wanted list. A reporter and photographer from Knight Ridder were allowed to witness the destruction, which was completed by laser-guided artillery fire.

Hickey said al Duri's house was destroyed to deny guerrillas a meeting place, though it was unclear that such high-tech weaponry was needed to destroy the structure, which appeared completely looted. ...

Hickey promised no letup in the campaign. He also promised to deal harshly with weapons violations. "If we see someone with a weapon," he said, "he becomes a ballistics test," meaning the man is shot.

"You won't see guns in Tikrit," he said.

And the Washington insiders get the last word:

A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested Monday that the tactic was not sanctioned in Washington. "I can't wait to see al-Jazeera's presentation of it," the official said, referring to a satellite TV network viewed widely throughout the Middle East.

A request for comment from the White House went unanswered.

(Via Tacitus, who is also troubled by it.)

Comments

[Fox Molder]

I believe its fairly clear that lack of intel - hell lack of Americans fluent in Arabic, is one our our efforts Achilles heels. In the immediate postwar the problem was particularly bad when the Pentagon (eg Rummy & Cheney, not professionals who know better) were keeping experienced experts fluent in Arabic from State out of the country (which only stretched the Army's resources further to support the CPA). Juan Cole had a post up recently about hundreds of State personnel coming into Iraq in the last few weeks. Of course our Army in Iraq was staffed by taking personnel out of Afghanistan (so much for our War on Terror in Al Quad's actual backyard - but of course their backyard is growing thanks to our intrepid CIC, Osama bin Ladins 'useful idiot' Bush).
Lots of firepower and inadequate Intel is a recipe for futility, especially if the enemy is aware of the weakness and sharp enough to lead us astray, which for their purposes would be to encourage us to alienate the populace by targeting the uninvolved.
Cordesman's recent report covers this issue: fighting an insurgency without topnotch intelligence is murder both for our troops and for the populace.
My earlier feeling that we could not afford to fail in stabilizing and rehabilitating Iraq is giving way to despair: this administration is so far behind the curve in this war and so wedded to the use of force that even maintaining disorder is naively optimistic. Any normal administration would've at least fired a pack of miscreants, although since Cheney can't be moved and Bush can't face him down there isn't much point anyways.

[Fox Molder]

Speak of the devil: a WaPo article on this problem is here, the Center for Army Lessons Learned .pdf report is here. Links from thespygame.blogspot.com

[delano]

Read "The end of the Republic" by chalmers johnson.

[delano]

I want to know what to do about it. Let's organize effective resistance.

[Been there done that]

While you are talking aout the "innocent" Iraqis dont you think you could mention how many AMERICAN soldiers lost their life in that crash? I mean that would be covering a broader story and all which doesnt exacty fit your mold of stories here. But, I am glad that I got a chance to see what narrow minded people think. So, thanks

Yours truly

Some One Who Is Willing To Fight For Their Beleifs.

[Moe Howard]

I'm pissed and outraged about this outrage. Why the fuck give them 5 minutes to get out..isnt the idea to kill them.