This, from AP’s Thomas Wagner a couple of hourse ago:
- in the National Assembly, lawmaker Fattah al-Sheik stood and cried as he described being stopped at a checkpoint on the way to work Tuesday. He claimed an American soldier kicked his car, mocked the legislature, handcuffed him and held him by the neck.
“What happened to me represents an insult to the whole National Assembly that was elected by the Iraqi people. This shows that the democracy we are enjoying is fake,” al-Sheik said. “Through such incidents, the U.S. Army tries to show that it is the real controlling power in the country, not the new Iraqi government.”
Al-Sheik’s small party has been linked to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who led uprisings against the U.S.-led coalition in 2004…
The U.S. military said its initial investigation indicated that in the morning, al-Sheik got into an altercation with a coalition translator at the checkpoint. U.S. soldiers tried to separate them and “briefly held on to the legislator,” while preventing another member of al-Sheik’s party from getting out of his vehicle, a military statement said.
“We have the highest respect for all members of the Transitional National Assembly. Their safety and security is critically important,” U.S. Brig. Gen. Karl R. Horst said in the statement. “We regret this incident occurred and are conducting a thorough investigation.”
[Right. And we’ll hear the results of this “investigation” when? Actually, most of the basic facts about what happened could be “discovered” and reported on publicly just about immediately… Like, were handcuffs in fact used? Was the legislature in fact mocked? Let the US military get the whole truth out, right away. There is no need for any kind of a lengthy, time-wasting “investigation” on this: just the truth, and with due speed.]
During a one-hour adjournment to protest al-Sheik’s treatment, lawmaker Salam al-Maliki read an assembly statement demanding an apology from the U.S. Embassy and the prosecution of the soldier who allegedly mistreated the legislator.
Hajim al-Hassani, the parliament speaker, said: “We reject any sign of disrespect directed at lawmakers.”
So if an out-of-control soldier on a checkpoint treats an elected Iraqi lawmaker this way, how do you think they treat the rest of the Iraqi people?
The people running the investigation don’t know what really happened. They need time to con the soldiers into telling the truth. And they need time to interview the complainant. They also need time to find any witnessess to the incident.
Anything quicker increases the risk of a whitewash or a lynching.
I’d guess that a key to the incident is using fully-armed infantrymen to perform police duties — they can be terrifying. Being terrified can be humiliating.
A full formal apology and promise to investigate, given by US authorities in person to the legislator, seems appropriate to me.
So what? who cares Helena, no independent or other reporter in Iraq we can trust or they tell the world what
The people running the investigation don’t know what really happened. They need time to con the soldiers into telling the truth. And they need time to interview the complainant. They also need time to find any witnessess to the incident.
Anything quicker increases the risk of a whitewash or a lynching.
I’d guess that a key to the incident is using fully-armed infantrymen to perform police duties — they can be terrifying. Being terrified can be humiliating.
A full formal apology and promise to investigate, given by US authorities in person to the legislator, seems appropriate to me.
Warren, I’m not sure, but I think you’re missing Helena’s point, which — to repeat — is if this sort of thing is happening to parliamentarians, what is going on with Iraqi civilians?
What does it matter if there is an apology or an investigation? What matters is that the behavior stop, which, given how long it’s been going on, seems hard to foresee. Actions louder than words, etc.
Warren, was your phrasing unintended or are you slyer that we think? You wrote, twice, “They need time to ‘con’ the soldier into telling the truth”. In other words, time is needed to make sure the soldier tells the correct version of the truth?
Warren,
The problem is that anytime the US soldiers are caught harming civilians or other people, the US first answer is “we need time to investigate”, but we are very rarely knowing the results of these inquiries.
Another example is what succeeded with the killing of the Italian intelligence agent : the US said time was needed. The US said they would allow the Italians to participate in the inquiry.. But then, they never allowed the Italians to see the damaged car which was shot at.
The US is still investigating the case is the most frequent answer… problem we never hear about any results concerning these inquiries. Most of the time, it’s just a way to delay embarrassing facts for the US military. The truth is that noone is accountable in the US military (but for the topdown troops in the Abu Ghraib case, because they were in need of some scapegoats to calm the opinion).