CPTnet
December 11
IRAQ: CPT goes to Tikrit

by Allan Slater

On December 3rd Cliff Kindy, Anne Montgomery, Allan Slater and an Iraqi
translator traveled by taxi to Tikrit-- the site of several ambushes against
US Forces. Tikrit is considered by many to be the most dangerous place in
Iraq. Reporters do not venture there. Most Iraqis do not like the area
because it was the home of Saddam Hussein. So the stories of the
people of Tikrit are not heard.

Since the CPTers had no previous contacts in Tikrit, they visited a
secondary school for girls where they were received warmly by the vice
principal.

The vice-principal told the team that under the US occupation, the once
thriving city of Tikrit now has one hour of electricity each day and no safe
drinking water. Herer eighteen-year-old cousin had been fishing along the
river, and a US Forces helicopter fired two rockets at him. They left him
bleeding by the river. Some friends tried to get him to a hospital but he
died on the way.

A teacher reported a raid on her house in late October. "US soldiers
entered our house secretly at 11:30 p.m. Then they smashed in the door of
the bedroom where I and my husband were sleeping with our five children.
They handcuffed my husband then pushed him down and stepped on his head.
The soldiers pulled me from my bed almost naked, wearing just a nightgown.
The soldiers filmed me this way, along with the rest of the operation. All
the commotion made the children cry out with fear. Eventually the soldiers
left when they discovered they had invaded the wrong house."

"My house is very near the army base. Soldiers on watch from the rooftops
in front of the house regularly pull down their pants and perform despicable
acts." She did not wish to go into detail.

Later, the CPTers visited some of the classes. The students were
apprehensive at first but quickly broke into smiles when they realized no
one was carrying a weapon. The principal said, "These are the first
foreigners without guns that these girls have seen. These students live in
constant fear. Windows are often broken in the school when US Forces
detonate unexploded ordnance nearby." The principal continued, "The
children in this school are in a situation they do not understand. Other
Iraqi wars were fought far from Tikrit. The children are traumatized by the
house raids. Most of them have family members in detention. Some have
dropped out because of all the problems caused by the occupation."

 The principal reported that US Forces have come to the school three times
to meet with her. Some of her neighbours now distrust her because of those
meetings. She said, "US Forces must stay because Iraq is not a country; it
has no government. If they leave there will be a terrible civil war. But
the US Forces are killing us."