US army & the Value of Human life

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3rdbloodage
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US army & the Value of Human life

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6550267.stm
A civil liberties group has obtained files from the US Army on compensation claims to Iraqi and Afghan civilians killed and hurt by coalition forces.

The American Civil Liberties Union received the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Of the 496 claims, 164 resulted in cash payments to families, the ACLU says. Many files relate to civilian deaths at checkpoints or near US convoys.

The military only pays compensation in cases not involving combat activity.

If it does not accept responsibility for the civilian's death, the military can make a discretionary "condolence" payment, which is offered without admission of fault and is capped at $2,500.

In the 164 claims resulting in payments, about half were for compensation and the remainder condolence payments.

The New York-based ACLU believes the files it has received are a very small proportion of those held by the defence department, and is pressing it to disclose them all.

Civilian 'burden'

Jameel Jaffer, an attorney for the ACLU, told the BBC News website it was the first time the US government had released records of this kind.


They allow the public to understand the burden that has been borne by civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan
Jameel Jaffer, ACLU
"For the first time they give the public access to very detailed information about the human costs of war," he said.

"They allow the public to understand the burden that has been borne by civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The details published by the ACLU are summaries of claims submitted to the US Foreign Claims Commission by the relatives of civilians said to have been killed as a result of actions by coalition forces.

Some 479 of the claims relate to incidents in Iraq, dating from May 2003 to late 2006 with the majority in 2005, and 17 to Afghanistan, most dating from 2006.

US soldiers at a checkpoint in Baghdad (file picture)
Many deaths occur as a result of confusion at checkpoints
One file records a payment of $35,000 made to a family in Hib Hib, Iraq, after US forces "accidentally discharged 155 mm rounds", killing three children aged five, 16 and 18 and damaging their home.

Another, dating from February 2006, describes how a fisherman in Tikrit was shot as he reached down to switch off the engine of his boat. He had been shouting "fish, fish" and pointing to his catch.

The US Army refused to compensate his family for his death, ruling that it was the result of combat activity, but paid $3,500 for the loss of his boat - which drifted off - net and mobile phone.

In a third file, a civilian states that US forces opened fire with more than 100 rounds on his sleeping family, killing his mother, father and brother. He was also hurt and 32 of the family's sheep killed.

The US Army paid $11,200 compensation and made a $2,500 condolence payment. It had been responding to an attack from the direction of the village.

Mother killed

About a fifth of the claims - 92 of the 496 files - relate to deaths at checkpoints or near US convoys, the ACLU points out.

In one case, a civilian records how his mother was killed and his sister and four-year-old brother injured after the taxi in which they were travelling ran through a checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Baquba.

An Army memo states: "There is evidence to suggest that the warning cones and printed checkpoint signs had not yet been displayed in front of the checkpoint, which may be the reason why the driver of the taxi did not believe he was required to stop."

A condolence payment of $7,500 was suggested but it is not known if it was paid.

Hearts and minds

Incidents that have not been logged in the US military's "significant act" database are generally denied compensation for lack of evidence, despite eyewitness statements. Condolence payments may be made.

An Iraqi civilian seen from a shooting position at an observation post in Ramadi, Iraq
The US Army says coalition forces try hard to avoid civilian casualties

Some letters sent to notify denial of a claim conclude with the phrase "I wish you well in a Free Iraq".

Mr Jaffer fears such platitudes and some instances of claims being denied may be damaging US efforts to win "hearts and minds" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's extremely important from a policy point of view that the US compensates people in these kinds of claims and that the system is fair and not arbitrary," he said.

And while very many civilian casualties are caused by insurgents, the 1,700 pages of files received by the ACLU tell the stories of those killed by coalition forces in "very human detail".

Many prove to be the tragic result of miscommunication and misunderstanding on both sides, Mr Jaffer added.

The US defence department has said it regrets any civilian deaths and strives to prevent them.

"Any loss of life is tragic and our forces, as well as the forces we serve with, take every available means to limit the effects of combat on civilians," defence department spokesman Todd Wician told the BBC.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... le=1&cat=0
a family wiped out in its sleep and a playing child killed by a stray bullet: horrific details fill the hundreds of compensation claims for US military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defense Department released 496 files at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act, and the ACLU published them online Thursday.

They detail just some of the compensation requests and decisions for losses relating to US military actions in the war-torn countries.

US Army spokesman Bob Tallman told AFP compensation totaled 31.6 million dollars for civilians in Iraq and 720,000 dollars for Afghanistan.

According to one of the Pentagon files, a civilian from the eastern Iraqi province of Salah Ad Din reported that US forces fired more than 100 hundred rounds on his sleeping family, killing his mother, father and brother, according to the site.

"The firepower was of such magnitude that 32 of the family's sheep were also killed."

"The Army acknowledged responsibility and the claim resulted in two payments" -- 11,200 dollars' compensation and a 2,500-dollar "condolence" bill.

This is a fraction of the total payments for the conflicts so far in Iraq, where US forces are fighting insurgents after invading in the wake of the deadly attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Iraqi authorities estimated in November 2006 that up to 150,000 people in the country had died in violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.

One claim was filed by a man whose only son was killed by gunfire from US forces patrolling the Tigris River where he was fishing.

"There is sufficient evidence to indicate that US forces intentionally killed the claimant's son," the file reads.

"Unfortunately, those forces were involved in security operations at the time. Therefore, this case falls within the combat exception. The claim is denied."

One of the military case files details a "sympathy payment" for a boy who was hit and killed by a military truck when he ran outside after a "handout of gifts and candy" at a school in the central city of Karbala.

In another, the military recommended a 4,000-dollar payment for the family of a nine-year-old boy killed when a stray bullet from a US soldier hit him in the head as he played outside their house.

"The US soldiers went to the boy's funeral and apologized to the family," taking their details but never contacting them, according to the file.

"It's just a tragedy when someone loses a life, particularly a civilian who has been caught in the middle of the fighting," Tallman told AFP, but added: "We don't target civilians."

The ACLU, a leading civil liberties group in the United States, put the files in a searchable database on its website at http://www.aclu.org/civiliancasualties.

About one in five of the compensation claim cases involved civilians killed at road checkpoints or close to US convoys, it said.

One claim was rejected because the claimant's son had been killed during a gunfight between US-led coalition forces and "anti-coalition" fighters.

"The US cannot pay your claim because your son's death was incident to combat," the report says. "I am sorry for your loss, and I wish you well in a Free Iraq."
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Post by psi29a »

Better than nothing, Rome killed everybody in what would eventually be called Romania... to a man. Hence "Romania" because they where all Romans.

Still, I'm sad to say that while I didn't vote for Bush I did agree that we should invade Afganastan and Iraq. Though, given the information I know now, the invasion of Iraq was/is a stupid idea.

What is going on over there, and it's history up till now I have only schemed over via HS as my focus at Uni was more math, physics, and linguistics. If I had taken more history and political science courses, I probably wouldn't have supported it then as I did.

Lesson: Pay attention to history, it is a somber reflection of humanity and my hats off to Historians because they are consistently shunned by those who care less for the past but only in future and it's possible dividends.
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