Los Angeles Times
 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-soldiers29jul29,1,3163336.story

29 July 2004

Soldier Testifies Unit Was Ordered to Throw Iraqis over Embankment
    By David Kelly

    Ft. Carson, Colo. - The Iraq of Army Spc. Ralph Logan was a land of gray.

    A place where going by the book was sometimes impossible while abandoning all principles was unthinkable.

    But what happened sometime after 11 p.m. on Jan. 3 wasn't gray at all. "It was black," the soldier said.

    Logan was testifying Wednesday in a military courtroom in a case in which four soldiers faced charges of forcing two Iraqi civilians to jump off an embankment into the Tigris River. One man is believed to have drowned. The other swam to safety.

    The soldiers, members of the 3rd Combat Brigade based at Ft. Carson, face a variety of charges, some carrying maximum sentences of 10 years in prison. They were the subjects of an Article 32 hearing Wednesday, similar to a preliminary hearing in a civilian court. The judge, in this case an investigating military officer, hears the evidence and can recommend a court martial.

    Soldiers from the unit took the stand and described seeing two Iraqi civilians picked up for curfew violations.

    Logan, a member of the platoon, said before the Iraqis were arrested he heard a voice over the radio in his Bradley Fighting vehicle saying if they found anyone out after curfew "they're going to get wet."

    The Iraqis told the soldiers they had run out of gas while picking up supplies for their plumbing business. One man raised suspicion when he produced a child's identification for himself.

    "We put them in the vehicle and drove off," Logan said. "I thought we were going to warn them about violating curfew."

    But Logan said the men were driven to a bridge over the Tigris. "Sgt. Martinez told us to take them to the river but I refused," he said referring to Sgt. Reggie Martinez.

    Another witness, Sgt. Alexis Rincon, went along.

    "Logan didn't want to take part but I said 'No problem,' " Rincon told the court. "They were standing about 4 feet from the edge, and Martinez pointed his weapon at them and told them to jump. The first guy hesitated, he didn't want to. Spc. Bowman grabbed him and led him to the edge," Rincon said referring to Spc. Terry Bowman.

    Marwan Abdul-Hakin Fadel, who witnesses called 'the fat one,' was forced in first. He then shouted in Arabic to his friend Zaydun Fahdil who also jumped from the 12-foot high ledge. Rincon said he saw the first man make it to shore but not the second. The water was about 24 feet deep.

    The family of the second man said his body showed up downriver weeks later after he apparently drowned. The family sent an e-mail to the Army, which launched an investigation against four soldiers.

    Sgt. 1st Class Tracy E. Perkins was charged with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Sgt. Martinez was charged with manslaughter. Spc. Bowman was charged with assault. First Lt. Jack Saville faces manslaughter, assault, conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of justice charges. Saville did not appear Wednesday because his lawyer was not prepared.

    Defense attorneys for the soldiers said the men never intended to kill anyone, and there was no hard evidence that the second man died as a result of the incident or even that he was dead. They said he was not seen by anyone but his family before he was buried.

    The defense also brought in a witness who said it was a common practice in Iraq to claim a family member was killed by U.S. troops to get money. In this case, the family of the man believed to have died received $2,500; the survivor got $10,000 for damage done to his car.

    Tony Fincher, a gunner in the platoon that night, told the court he saw two men walking along the riverbank through his night vision equipment after the Iraqis were forced into the river.

    Witnesses said after the incident that they were urged to mislead investigators.

    "The senior NCOs [noncommissioned officers] didn't tell us to lie, but they told us to say we detained the Iraqis, brought them to the bridge and let them go," Logan said.
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The Independent-U.K.
 

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/story.jsp?story=545736

29 July 2004

Unreported War:
   U.S. Document Reveals Scale of Conflict
    By Robert Fisk

    Iraq, we are told by Mr. Blair, is safer. It is not. US military reports clearly show much of the violence in Iraq is not revealed to journalists, and thus goes largely unreported. This account of the insurgency across Iraq over three days last week provides astonishing proof that Iraq under its new, American-appointed Prime Minister, has grown more dangerous and violent.

    But even this is only a partial record of events. US casualties and dozens of Iraqi civilian deaths each day are not included in the reports. But here are the events, as recorded by the United States military on 20, 22 and 23 July. Few were publicly disclosed.

    20 July Baghdad
    A US aircraft was attacked by a surface-to-air missile over Baghdad airport. An improvised explosive device detonated under a bridge near al-Bayieh fire station. A second bomb exploded when the "Facility Protection Service" arrived. In other areas, there were four bombings, three RPG assaults and six gun attacks, almost all on US forces.

    North of Baghdad
    A civilian supply convoy was attacked at Samarra. A bomb exploded on a bus in Baquba, killing six. A mine went off in Balad. A US convoy was attacked with RPGs and gunfire at Salman Pak. There were roadside bombings of US forces at Mandali, Samarra, Baquba, Duluiya and Muqdadiyeh, and three grenade attacks (at Tikrit, Samarra and Kirkuk, with shootings at Muqdadiyeh, Balad, Hawija, Samarra, Tikrit and Khalis.

    West of Baghdad
    An American foot patrol set off a landmine at Khalidiya. A civilian tractor hit a mine at Hit. There was an RPG attack on a school in Karmah. Roadside and other bombs also detonated in Fallujah, Hit, Ramadi and Qaim. There were also attacks on US troops at Hit, Karmah, Saqlawiyeh and Ramadi.

    South of Baghdad
    International troops discovered two 107mm rockets aimed at the house of the governor of Diwakineh, and a roadside bomb detonated near Iskanderiyeh. In Basra, the city council co-ordinator and his three bodyguards were killed near a police checkpoint by three men in police uniform.

    22 July Baghdad
    Two roadside bombs exploded next to a van and a Mercedes in separate areas of Baghdad, killing four civilians. A gunman in a Toyota opened fire on a police checkpoint and escaped. Police wounded three gunmen at a checkpoint and arrested four men suspected of attempted murder. Seven more roadside bombs exploded in Baghdad and gunmen twice attacked US troops.

    North of Baghdad
    Police dismantled a car bomb in Mosul and gunmen attacked the Western driver of a gravel truck at Tell Afar). There were three roadside bombings and a rocket attack on US troops in Mosul and another gun attack on US forces near Tell Afar. At Taji, a civilian vehicle collided with a US military vehicle, killing six civilians and injuring seven others. At Bayji, a US vehicle hit a landmine. The Americans said gunmen murdered a dentist in at the Ad Dwar hospital. There were 17 roadside bomb explosions against US forces in Taji, Baquba, Baqua, Jalula, Tikrit, Paliwoda, Balad, Samarra and Duluiyeh, with attacks by gunmen on US troops in Tikrit and Balad. A headless body in an orange jump-suit was found in the Tigris; believed to be Bulgarian hostage, Ivalyo Kepov. Kirkuk air base, used by US forces, attacked.

    West of Baghdad
    Five roadside bombs on US forces in Rutbah, Kalso and Ramadi. Gunmen attacked Americans in Fallujah and Ramadi.

    South of Baghdad
    The police chief of Najaf was abducted. Two civilian contractors were attacked by gunmen at Haswah. A roadside bomb exploded near Kerbala and Hillah. International forces were attacked by gunmen at Al Qurnah.

    23 July Baghdad
    A US military convoy was mortared and a grenade thrown. There were seven roadside bomb attacks and five gun attacks on US forces.

    North of Baghdad
    A man threw a grenade at a US convoy at Tell Afar. Two gunmen killed an officer in the new Iraqi Army in Mosul. American troops also came under RPG fire in Mosul. Gunmen attacked a convoy of western mercenaries south of Samarra, a civilian convoy was attacked at Baquba. A former Iraqi army officer, former Major-General Salim Blaish died in a drive-by shooting in Mosul. Americans detained two men who had fired a rocket from a truck in Balad. There were three roadside bomb attacks on Americans in Baquba, Balad and an RPG attack at Kirkuk.

    West of Baghdad
    A roadside bomb against US forces at Rutbah. Gunmen also attacked the Americans in Khalidiyeh and Fallujah.

    South of Baghdad
    The Mussayib power station was mortared and roadside bombs exploded at Iskanderiyeh and Mussayib.
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