CPTnet
October 10, 2003
IRAQ: CPTers follow-up on aftermath of riot in which U.S. soldiers kill one,
injure many

Thousands of unemployed Iraqi soldiers waiting for compensation payments
rioted against US soldiers standing guard at the Muthanna airport
distribution center in the heart of the Iraqi capitol.

CPT members Matt Chandler and David Milne arrived at the site after learning
of the incident and took statements from both US and Iraqi witnesses. A
taxi driver transporting the team members there said he understood that two
US soldiers had roughed up an elderly man wearing a traditional Arab
headdress who was waiting in the long line. His headdress fell to the ground
in the scuffle, which Iraqis consider a serious insult. A younger man
nearby intervened on the old man's behalf and US soldiers beat him also.

The incident erupted into a riot. When the US troops began firing live
rounds the Iraqis fled, burning two Iraqi police cars along the way.

An Iraqi security guard told CPT members that Saturday was the last day the
former soldiers can collect a $40 compensation benefit promised by US
authorities. Many of the soldiers traveled long distances to Baghdad
because the only other distribution center is in Basrah. They have waited
in line for hours for the past several months.

Major Patton, the US commanding officer at the site, told the CPT members
that the riot was intentionally planned by perhaps a thousand supporters of
Saddam Hussein who wanted to take advantage of an unhappy situation. He
said that some of them had weapons and fired on his troops and others threw
Molotov cocktails.

When Milne and Chandler asked how many weapons the Hussein supporters
brought to the riot, Patton replied, "Five to ten AK-47's." No US soldiers
were hit by gunfire, but Patton noted that four to six of his soldiers had
facial cuts and bruises from thrown objects. He said that perhaps ten
Iraqis were wounded, though none seriously and stated explicitly that no
Iraqis were killed.

The CPT members observed several large pools of blood, including one pool
containing what appeared to be human brain tissue. They photographed the
sites for documentation. When the team members reported what they saw,
Patton became agitated and insisted, "Show me the bodies!"

Chandler and Milne then went to the emergency room at Yarmouk hospital,
which is closest to the riot scene. The head doctor present confirmed that
one Iraqi had been killed by a gunshot to the head, that he had transferred
another man in critical condition from a bullet wound to the chest to the US
military hospital, and had treated several other victims in this emergency
room.

Hours after the riot a few thousand of the unemployed soldiers had returned
and were standing in line again. Ten or more US Abrams tanks, several
Humvees with roof-mounted machine guns, armoured personnel carriers, and
about two hundred US infantry guarded the Iraqis in line behind concertina
wire. The Iraqis seemed exhausted. The US troops seemed edgy and still on
an adrenaline high. One US soldier remarked to team members, "You missed
the party!"