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US forces under more scrutiny in Iraq
U.S. forces in Iraq have come under scrutiny as more detailed allegations emerge from an Iraqi human rights group and Iraqi police about a U.S. raid last week in which they say eleven members of an Iraqi family were killed, CBS News correspondent Lara Logan reports.Iraqi police and human rights groups say 11 people were killed in a dawn raid on a village just north of Balad. They say the dead included at least five children and four women. The U.S. military confirms that four people were killed, including two women and a child. Tonight the U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad told CBS News the military is not disputing the possibility of other casualties and will cooperate with an Iraqi police investigation. However, he said that U.S. forces were targeting a facilitator for al Qaeda in Iraq who was captured in the raid. He also said U.S. forces were fired upon as they approached the house in question, so they returned fire with both ground and air assets. But as Logan reports, that's not what an independent Iraqi human rights group, Hammurabi, believes happened after interviewing villagers who claim the American forces tried to cover up their actions. "They tried to change the crime scene, so they blew up the house to make it look like it was an air strike that killed them, but we have papers and pictures that show they were executed," said Dr. Abdul al-Mashadani. Meanwhile, at least 38 more people were killed by insurgents and shadowy sectarian gangs, police reported on Monday, the third anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq. The Joint Chiefs chairman says U.S. troop strength in Iraq may "plus up" now and then, even as Iraqi forces take greater control of their country. Marine Gen. Peter Pace said occasional events may merit a bump in American forces for short periods, just as they did in advance of Monday's Shiite religious observance. Pace says Iraqis already have demonstrated their capability by controlling half of Baghdad what he calls a "pretty tough neighborhood." In other violence, a roadside bomb exploded just a few hundred yards from an Interior Ministry lockup in central Baghdad, killing at least three police commandos and a prisoner, al-Mohammadawi said. Four commandos were injured in the midday attack. In southeast Baghdad, also toward evening, a roadside bomb blew apart a minibus killing four pilgrims returning from a pilgrimage in the holy city of Karbala, where millions of Shiite faithful gathered to mark the 40th and final day of the annual mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Five pilgrims on their way to Karbala were wounded in a drive-by shooting earlier in the day in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Demonstrators around the globe marked the third anniversary of the war with protests. About 150 war protesters gathered outside the building where President Bush was giving a speech Monday about progress in Iraq, banging drums, holding peace signs and chanting for him to leave. At the Pentagon, 51 Iraq war protesters who said they wanted to deliver a mock coffin to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were arrested and held briefly. As millions of pilgrims gathered in Karbala on Monday, Baghdad International Airport was ordered closed through Tuesday "to avoid any violence during the (religious) commemoration," said Transportation Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abdul-Wahab. Returning to the White House after a weekend at Camp David, Md., President Bush said, "We are implementing a strategy that will lead to victory in Iraq. And a victory in Iraq will make this country more secure and will help lay the foundation of peace for generations to come." Mr. Bush continued his series of speeches on Iraq Monday, speaking at the City Club of Cleveland. During this speech, Mr. Bush said he has "confidence in our strategy (video)." Debate continues over the state of Iraq after three years of war. Vice President Cheney echoed the president in hailing political progress in Iraq, noting that the Iraqis have met political deadlines. In an interview on Face the Nation Sunday, Cheney told anchor Bob Schieffer, "What we've seen is a serious effort by them to foment a civil war. But I don't think they've been successful." At least 2,314 U.S. military personnel have died in the war, which is estimated to have cost $200 billion to $250 billion so far. President Bush says about 30,000 Iraqis have been killed, while others put the toll far higher. The killing has been on an upward spiral since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine in Samarra. An Associated Press tally, including the deaths reported Monday, put the toll at 992 since the golden dome atop the Askariya shrine was left in rubble by two bombers, who are believed to remain at large. Police found the bodies of at least 15 more people including a 13-year-old girl dumped in and near Baghdad. The discoveries marked the latest in a string of gruesome, execution-style killings that have become an almost daily event as Sunni and Shiite extremists settle sectarian scores. About nightfall Monday, a bomb rocked a coffee shop in northern Baghdad, killing at least three civilians and 23 others. The bomb was left in a plastic bag inside the shop in a market area of the Azamiyah neighborhood, police Maj. Falah al-Mohammadewi said. At about the same time, gunmen killed two oil engineers leaving work at the Beiji refinery north of Baghdad. An electrical engineer and technician were gunned down at the nearby power station, Beiji police Lt. Khalaf Ayed Al-Janabi said. Baghdadis voiced anger Monday when asked about their lives as the war entered its fourth year. The uncertainty they had over their future after Saddam Hussein was toppled continues, while violence and bloodshed have become a way of life, Logan reports. "Since (U.S.-led troops) came into Iraq, we get nothing," said Ali Zeidan. "Three years have passed by for the Iraqi people and they are still suffering psychologically ... and economically." In the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, gunmen opened fire on a former Baghdad mayor as he left his house Monday morning, causing serious injuries. Assailants killed one policeman and injured four police officers and two civilians late Sunday in three separate attacks on police patrols in the city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of the capital. On the political front, Iraqi leaders still had not formed a government more than three months after landmark elections for the country's first permanent post-invasion parliament, but they did announce an agreement on establishing a Security Council to deal with key matters while negotiations proceed. "It was a successful meeting, and we have agreed on forming a National Security Council whose powers will not contradict the constitution," Adnan al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab political leader, told The Associated Press on Sunday. The council, to be headed by President Jalal Talabani, was established as an interim measure as politicians struggle to agree on the makeup of a new government following the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. Al-Dulaimi said nine council seats would go to Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, while Kurds and Sunni Arabs each would control four seats and the secular bloc two. Talabani, a Kurd, would head the group. The exact powers of the council, if any, were not explained. But it appeared to have been formed to ensure that politicians from minority blocs would at least be consulted in advance on important government and security decisions. The political discussions on forming a government began last week under pressure from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Al-Dulaimi said the talks would not resume until Saturday because of Shiite and Kurdish holidays this week. The U.S. military's goal is to have Iraqi security forces in control of 75 percent of the country's territory by this summer, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Baghdad said. In an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer, the President's National Security advisor, Stephen Hadley, said that the military may not reach that goal by the summer, but is making progress toward it. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-03-21 |
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