CPTnet
26 February
IRAQ: Said Salah al-Musawi, Farmer
By Cliff Kindy
Said Salah al-Musawi is a farmer with his father and
uncles in a rural area outside of Kerbala. During the
U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 soldiers attacked and
bombed the family's farm. Sixteen family members died
in the attack and another nine were injured. The
house was demolished and furniture and belongings were
destroyed. In addition, the attack killed
seventy-five sheep. Shepherding is one of the ways
Said makes his living.
Four days after the attack Said went to Iraqi Human
Rights Watch, in Kerbala, to document the tragedy.
Media from around the world carried stories of the
events at his farm, and Human Rights Watch
International visited him. Human rights workers found
unexploded ordnance on the farm. As well as reporting
about the U.S. attacks on his farm, Said was able to
tell Human Rights workers that he knew the locations
of six mass graves from the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein.
The United States is now pushing for documentation of
the deaths by Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1991
uprising and, with the interim Iraqi Government, has
established a committee to find people who disappeared
at that time. War crimes charges are being brought
against members of the former Iraqi Government.
Nevertheless, the United States has refused to offer
compensation for any damages or deaths that occurred
during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Said Salah has received no help from the U.S.
military, from the Interim Iraqi government, or from
anybody else. He, a Shi'a Muslim, told CPTers in
Kerbala, "Jesus gave his life for peace. The lives of
my family were given for peace. Let the Christians of
the world hear my story."
He continued, "Nothing can replace my lost family
members. I need no compensation. I only want people
to understand how this affects my heart."
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