2008 Woodie Awards
Iraqi soldiers found dead
Andy Freedman
Issue date: 11/5/04 Section: World
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The soldiers had been ambushed overnight and killed "execution style," as Col. Jassem Mohammed Alaiw, commander of the Iraqi National Guard, said. The soldiers were a group from the 16th Iraqi Army Battalion, Seventh Iraqi Army Brigade.
Qaeda of Jihad, an Islamic Fundamentalist group headed by notorious terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group used to be called Unification and Jihad, but changed its name after a recent pledge of loyalty to Osama Bin Laden, CNN.com reports.
The New York Times reported Oct. 27 that an anonymous American military official claimed that officers in his division were shocked at how unequipped the Iraqi soldiers were.
The Iraqi soldiers, held in three minibuses, were all unarmed, as they were heading south on leave.
This lack of protection rendered them relatively helpless against the ambushers, who, disguised as policemen at a fake checkpoint, made each soldier lie down, then proceeded to shoot each one in the head. The three civilian drivers were also killed.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi blamed the massacre on the U.S.-led military. "I think there was major negligence by the multinational forces," said Allawi. This marked the first time that Allawi has made a public statement criticizing American led forces in Iraq.
The New York Times also reported that the American Military defended itself in a statement released on Oct. 26. "This was a cold-blooded and systematic massacre by terrorists, they and no one else must be held fully accountable for these heinous acts," the statement reads.
A new study done by Johns Hopkins University shows that between 10,000 and 30,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a direct result of the war. More statistics from the study show that as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died in the months since the war has started.
More violence followed on Oct. 26, as another militant group known as the Army of Ansar al-Sunna posted photos on the internet of 11 Iraqi security officers it claimed to have captured. CNN reports that the group, calling the officers "infidels of the crusader's militia," claims to have captured the officers on a road in between Baghdad and a town called Hilla.
