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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Many Iraqis working for U.S. are labeled traitors |
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| bhaloo |
| 09/02/03 at 09:35:54 |
| [slm] http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.iraqside31aug31,0,7405845.story?coll=bal-iraq-headlines Many Iraqis working for U.S. are labeled traitors and killed Insurgents are targeting those helping coalition forces, rebuilding effort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Gary Marx Chicago Tribune Originally published August 31, 2003 TIKRIT, Iraq - In April, Hussein Al-Kraim took a job as an interpreter for U.S. forces in Saddam Hussein's hometown. Four months later, he paid for it with his life. The son of a prominent sheik and a staunch admirer of the United States, Al-Kraim was driving home from work two weeks ago when gunmen opened fire on his pickup truck. A few days later, a flier appeared at a local school regarding Al-Kraim's assassination. It contained a stark warning: Any Iraqi working for the Americans must quit or die. "God bless the freedom fighters who fight for him," the notice said. "This will be the fate of all traitors of religion, the people and the country." As U.S. forces continue their campaign against Hussein loyalists, insurgents are targeting thousands of Iraqis working with coalition troops and in the reconstruction effort. In recent months, a bomb in Ramadi killed seven U.S.-trained Iraqi police cadets, and the pro-American mayor in the western town of Haditha and his son were killed in an ambush. A senior engineer responsible for electrical distribution in an area of Baghdad was shot dead at her doorstep. And a man in the town of Thuluya was forced by villagers to help kill his son, who was said to act as an informant to the Americans. U.S. officials acknowledge that Iraqis and others working for the coalition are under constant threat, though they say the insurgents' tactic of targeting civilians has not slowed the pacification and reconstruction effort. But the potential for serious problems remains if attacks intensify. Military officials and Iraqis say some contract workers in the volatile area north of Baghdad temporarily walked off the job after being targeted in separate incidents by small-arms fire and mortars. "I am worried. It's dangerous," said Ayad Al-Dawood, a building contractor in Tikrit. "All my friends advised me not to work with the Americans." Al-Dawood said remnants of Hussein's militia who are attacking Iraqi contractors do not understand "what I do and why I do it." "Maybe they think that I'm helping the Americans," he said. "You must differentiate between working for the Americans and supporting them. If the Americans give us opportunities, why not work with them? I'm supporting my family and giving my staff work." It is the Iraqis who act as interpreters and informants - and those suspected of such activities - who are most at risk. An elderly Baghdad resident, Fahmi Sabah Oda, a deeply religious man who always wore a white robe and turban, was killed Aug. 14 by a sniper after he came under suspicion for allegedly acting as a spy for American troops. Oda's name appeared on a hit list of 18 people circulated two months ago in the Aadhamiya neighborhood, a pro-Hussein stronghold. Besides Oda, who worked at a mosque, the hit list included a police officer, a translator, a community leader and an actor's son. "We reject these spies that are betraying Islam," the list said. "We investigated their activities, and we are certain that they are agents. The Muslim clerics permitted us to kill them wherever and whenever they are found." One man on the list was recently injured in a grenade attack. Another fled Baghdad. Oda was shot as he reached for a soda at a friend's shop. Makki Sabah Oda said his brother sometimes went to coalition officials to resolve community problems. But he was not on the coalition payroll and did not provide information about local residents to the Americans, he said. Col. Guy Shields, a U.S. military spokesman, said at least two Iraqi interpreters have been killed in recent months. But he said he did not know how many others working for the coalition have been attacked or have quit their jobs because of threats. Shields said U.S. forces will "go after the people" who attack or threaten civilians, and officials are giving out cash rewards for information leading to weapons caches and the arrest of anyone attacking U.S. forces and those working with them. "In most cases, the people making these threats are the same people carrying out attacks on coalition forces," he said. Two weeks ago, U.S. forces captured a senior member of the Fedayeen Saddam militia with a list of 10 Iraqi names that officials suspect were assassination targets. Perhaps the most dangerous place for Iraqi civilians to work with Americans is in Tikrit, a city in central Iraq that was lavished with jobs and public works projects under Hussein and has been the center of resistance to the U.S. occupation. U.S. forces in Tikrit and in the surrounding area come under almost daily attacks from people firing small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, as well from as exploding devices placed on roads. Residents openly praise Hussein and suggest that any Iraqi working with the occupiers should be executed. "Of course, I hate the American military," said Khalid Kaduri, a local hospital employee. "Iraqis who work for the Americans are traitors, and traitors should die." Yet, despite the danger, Iraqis gather each day outside a former Hussein palace in Tikrit that functions as the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division. Some are looking for work in a country where jobs are scarce. Businesspeople with ties to U.S. forces say local merchants curse at them when they enter stores. Some merchants refuse to sell to them, while others inflate prices. "You don't tell them that you work for the Americans," said Mehmet Bayraktar, 23, who works for his family's construction company. "They will try and kill you." The Chicago Tribune is a Tribune Publishing newspaper. |
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