CPTnet
September 24, 2004

IRAQ: A young man's testimony

by Peggy Gish

On September 4, 2004, Mabel Brunk, David Milne and I sat in the modest rural
Iraqi home with members of the extended family. On a nearby road, an
explosion killed a U. S. soldier in January 2004. An uncle brought Kareem
(not his real name), a 24-year-old man into the room to tell us his story.

He had been sleeping on a mat on the floor in this home to protect the
family while his uncle was in prison. He heard U. S. soldiers break into
the home at 4:00 in the morning. Before he had a chance to get up, a
soldier smashed him in the face with the barrel of his gun and broke his
nose. Soldiers then cuffed him and put him on the floor of a military
vehicle.

When soldiers got in and out of the vehicle, they stepped on him. His nose
was bleeding and he had to breathe through his mouth. When they reached the
base, the soldiers threw him off the truck down on the ground with his hands
still tied behind his back. He understood some of what they were saying and
heard soldiers refer to Iraqis as animals. At night, the soldiers poured
cold water on him and other men.

Kareem said after a doctor treated his broken nose, another soldier hit him.
The doctor told the soldier, "Don't you see how I am trying to repair him?
So don't beat him. Treat him like a human being." The soldier replied, "A
friend of mine died." The next day they released Kareem.

As we took pictures of his face and the damage to his nose, his uncle said,
"When we saw him after he was released, his face was so swollen that we
couldn't see his eyes."

We learned that not long before this happened, Kareem had completed his
training as a physician's assistant. Now he is still healing from the
injury to his body as well as to his spirit.

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