Iraq Secrets Leaked

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Iraq war logs: An introduction

The leaking of more than 390,000 previously secret US military reports details the hidden realities of the war in Iraq

By Nick Davies, Jonathan Steele, James Meek and David Leigh
The Guardian - Friday, October 22, 2010

The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq has been one of the most bloodily divisive international conflicts of the past decade. The reputations of George W Bush and Tony Blair, are stained, perhaps indelibly, by it.

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Iraq war logs.

Secret files show how US ignored torture

• Massive leak reveals serial detainee abuse
• 15,000 unknown civilian deaths in war

Photo: Insurgent suspects are led away by US forces. Some of those held in Iraqi custody suffered appalling abuse, the war logs reveal.

A grim picture of the US and Britain's legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.

Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.

The new logs detail how:

• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.

• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee's apparent death.

As recently as December the Americans were passed a video apparently showing Iraqi army officers executing a prisoner in Tal Afar, northern Iraq. The log states: "The footage shows approximately 12 Iraqi army soldiers. Ten IA soldiers were talking to one another while two soldiers held the detainee. The detainee had his hands bound … The footage shows the IA soldiers moving the detainee into the street, pushing him to the ground, punching him and shooting him."

The report named at least one perpetrator and was passed to coalition forces. But the logs reveal that the coalition has a formal policy of ignoring such allegations. They record "no investigation is necessary" and simply pass reports to the same Iraqi units implicated in the violence. By contrast all allegations involving coalition forces are subject to formal inquiries. Some cases of alleged abuse by UK and US troops are also detailed in the logs.

In two Iraqi cases postmortems revealed evidence of death by torture. On 27 August 2009 a US medical officer found "bruises and burns as well as visible injuries to the head, arm, torso, legs and neck" on the body of one man claimed by police to have killed himself. On 3 December 2008 another detainee, said by police to have died of "bad kidneys", was found to have "evidence of some type of unknown surgical procedure on [his] abdomen".

A Pentagon spokesman told the New York Times this week that under its procedure, when reports of Iraqi abuse were received the US military "notifies the responsible government of Iraq agency or ministry for investigation and follow-up".

The logs also illustrate the readiness of US forces to unleash lethal force. In one chilling incident they detail how an Apache helicopter gunship gunned down two men in February 2007.

The suspected insurgents had been trying to surrender but a lawyer back at base told the pilots: "You cannot surrender to an aircraft." The Apache, callsign Crazyhorse 18, was the same unit and helicopter based at Camp Taji outside Baghdad that later that year, in July, mistakenly killed two Reuters employees and wounded two children in the streets of Baghdad.

Iraq Body Count, the London-based group that monitors civilian casualties, says it has identified around 15,000 previously unknown civilian deaths from the data contained in the leaked war logs.

Although US generals have claimed their army does not carry out body counts and British ministers still say no official statistics exist, the war logs show these claims are untrue. The field reports purport to identify all civilian and insurgent casualties, as well as numbers of coalition forces wounded and killed in action. They give a total of more than 109,000 violent deaths from all causes between 2004 and the end of 2009.

This includes 66,081 civilians, 23,984 people classed as "enemy" and 15,196 members of the Iraqi security forces. Another 3,771 dead US and allied soldiers complete the body count.

No fewer than 31,780 of these deaths are attributed to improvised roadside bombs (IEDs) planted by insurgents. The other major recorded tally is of 34,814 victims of sectarian killings, recorded as murders in the logs.

However, the US figures appear to be unreliable in respect of civilian deaths caused by their own military activities. For example, in Falluja, the site of two major urban battles in 2004, no civilian deaths are recorded. Yet Iraq Body Count monitors identified more than 1,200 civilians who died during the fighting.

Phil Shiner, human rights specialist at Public Interest Lawyers, plans to use material from the logs in court to try to force the UK to hold a public inquiry into the unlawful killing of Iraqi civilians.

He also plans to sue the British government over its failure to stop the abuse and torture of detainees by Iraqi forces. The coalition's formal policy of not investigating such allegations is "simply not permissible", he says.

Shiner is already pursuing a series of legal actions for former detainees allegedly killed or tortured by British forces in Iraq.

WikiLeaks says it is posting online the entire set of 400,000 Iraq field reports – in defiance of the Pentagon.

The whistleblowing activists say they have deleted all names from the documents that might result in reprisals. They were accused by the US military of possibly having "blood on their hands" over the previous Afghan release by redacting too few names. But the military recently conceded that no harm had been identified.

Condemning this fresh leak, however, the Pentagon said: "This security breach could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed. Our enemies will mine this information looking for insights into how we operate, cultivate sources and react in combat situations, even the capability of our equipment."

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Detainees abused by coalition troops

US and Iraqi troops blamed for broken bones, cuts, bruises and humiliation tactics in catalogue of everyday abuses

Photo: Iraqi soldiers guard a blindfolded detainee during an operation outside Baquba, north of Baghdad.

The war logs contain multiple reports of the abuse of detainees by coalition soldiers although they are neither as clear nor as alarming as the evidence of abuse by Iraqi forces.

Because they record the activities of the US military, the logs hold few references to British handling of detainees. Two reports dated 23 June 2008 record two Shia men who described being punched and kicked by unidentified British troops. Both men had injuries that were consistent with their stories. There is no record of any formal investigation.

Another log, dated 2 September 2008, records that a civilian interrogator working with the Americans reported that British soldiers had dragged him through his house and repeatedly dunked his head into a bowl of water and threatened him with a pistol. The log claims that his story was undermined by inconsistencies and an absence of injuries.

In relation to US troops the logs reveal numerous claims of assaults on detainees, particularly by marines. A woman reports being pulled by the hair and kicked in the face and displays injuries that tend to confirm her story; a man who was detained claims a US soldier kicked his legs and punched his chest and arms, and he is found to have multiple contusions and abrasions on his legs, arms, chest and face.

On several occasions US soldiers report their colleagues. One reveals that the driver of his Stryker armoured vehicle habitually calls out an English-language warning to soldiers in the rear and then brakes heavily to send detainees flying forward, and that those in the back take it in turns to hit their prisoners. Another describes a fellow soldier choking a detainee before pointing an unloaded shotgun at his belly and pulling the trigger.

Some incidents are minor cruelties. A US soldier at Habbaniya is stood down after writing "pussy" on the forehead of a prisoner who was crying. Other incidents are fuelled by fear and anger. When a 26-year-old Iraqi throws a satchel bomb at a US convoy, American soldiers chase him into his house and beat him, leaving him with multiple cuts and bruises.

The logs record no incident of systematic torture or assault by coalition troops as serious as those attributed to Iraqi personnel. In one case, in February 2009, a detainee who endured three days of torture by Iraqi security forces says he was handed over to them by coalition soldiers because he refused to answer their questions. In all cases involving coalition troops there is a policy to hold formal inquiries, although preliminary reports frequently show signs of deliberate scepticism towards the claims of detainees.

One report considers allegations of assault made by 16 Iraqis who were arrested in a joint patrol by American and Iraqi forces. The report undermines every single claim and repeatedly concludes that "the signs of physical trauma are the result of legitimate use of force as documented in Sgt Tim M and Sgt Leonard C's sworn statements".

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Civilians gunned down at checkpoints

Photo: Samar Hassan screams after her parents were shot by US troops in Tal Afar in January 2005. Hussein and Camila Hassan died when they failed to stop their car at a checkpoint. Their five children survived.

Fear of suicide bombers means troops have shot drivers and passengers who were simply too scared or confused to stop


Patrolling a main road near Musayyib, south of Baghdad, one evening in September 2005, two US soldiers saw a vehicle approaching in the dark. They waved their arms and flashed lights that were meant to indicate it should stop. When the car continued to advance the troops fired warning shots. They then raised their M249 squad automatic weapons, a light machine gun that sprays bullets at colossal speed. Each man fired as many as 100 rounds at the car.

The predictable result was that the people in the front, a man and a woman, were killed. In the back their nine- and six-year-old children were lucky to survive with injuries in the thighs and legs.

This Iraqi family's fate was by no means unique. The war logs, seen by the Guardian, contain a horrific dossier of cases where US troops killed innocent civilians at checkpoints, on Iraq's roads and during raids on people's homes. The victims include dozens of women and children. The US rarely admitted their deaths publicly.

In the secret logs the killings mainly figure as "escalation of force incidents". Commanders send in reports outlining how soldiers faithfully followed the rules of engagement: first signals, then warning shots, and as a last resort direct fire to disable a vehicle or its driver.

The relentless drumbeat of civilian deaths illustrates the nature of 21st century warfare and key differences from the way the Americans conducted themselves in their eight-year war in Vietnam.

Suicide attacks were unknown in America's last major foreign conflict before Iraq. There was no expectation that anything on wheels or indeed any pedestrian could be a moving bomb. The second difference is a change in western military doctrine, common to other Nato armies during counter-insurgencies.

Known since 2001 as force protection, it puts a high premium on minimising all conceivable risk by permitting troops to bypass traditional methods of detecting friend from foe in favour of extreme pre-emptive action.

It may be argued that drivers should be more careful to obey troops' orders, but in the dark civilians can be as jumpy as soldiers. Unlike troops they have no training or prior experience. They may not be sure who the people with flashing lights are on the road ahead. If it is an unofficial roadblock manned by bandits or militias it may be safer to try to race past. They may think they are being ordered to prepare to stop when they reach the checkpoint, not slow down or halt immediately They may fear that if they do a U-turn or retreat this will be considered suspicious.

A month after the Musayyib killing troops from the 1st Battalion 64th Armour were manning a cordon and search checkpoint in Baghdad.

A civilian car approached in the dark and ignored shouts and flashing lights. The troops fired a single warning shot, and when the vehicle failed to stop they fired 13 to 15 rounds from their 7.62mm rifles. The car contained a woman and three children. Two of the children were dead, the other child and the woman driver were injured.

One of the biggest death tolls in this kind of incident occurred on 14 June 2005. Troops from 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment were manning a checkpoint near Hurricane Point, a US base near Ramadi.

A maroon four-door Opel disregarded hand signals and warning shots and accelerated, the log says. Humvees were parked in the centre of the road in front of it. Marines were positioned on each side. The car was still 150 yards away when troops fired at the car's engine block.

When it was 100 yards away troops fired again. The car carried on moving at between 40mph and 45mph. Now the marines fired at the driver. This time the car halted.

In the vehicle the marines found 11 civilians, of whom seven – two children and five adults – were dead. The intelligence report says "the large number of civilian KIA [killed in action] resulted from the family having placed their children on the floorboards of the vehicle. The disabling shots aimed at the grill are believed to have travelled though the vehicle low to the floorboards".

In another horrendous incident on the evening of 29 September 2004 a US marine convoy was travelling on a road near Saqlawiya, west of Baghdad, when a car came up close behind, in spite of hand and other signals from the soldier in the rear Humvee to stay further back.

He fired at the engine and then into the windscreen. The vehicle swerved and plunged into a canal. A man managed to escape and was pulled from the water by a soldier.

The log does not say whether the marines left at this point but it records that they contacted the Iraqi police to take over the job of checking the car. "Saqlawiyah IPS [Iraqi police service] responded to the scene and recovered (2) adult females, (3) children ages 5 to 8, and (1) infant from the vehicle. All (6) had drowned," the log concludes.

The victims of these road killings were not always in cars or vans. In Falluja on 26 March 2004 a cyclist approached a US Humvee with military police investigating a booby trap that had just been found.

According to the intelligence report he was riding "very quickly". "The MPs went through the levels of escalation of force but the man on the bicycle would not slow down. A bag or package was in a basket on the front of the bicycle. Marines engaged [shot at] the male and report (1) IZ [Iraqi] male killed." The report adds: "No explosives were found in the bag/package that was in the basket of the bike."

Raids on Iraqi homes also led to the deaths of innocents when intelligence was poor. Sneaking up to what a report describes as a "suspicious" house while conducting a "cordon and search" just after 5am in the western town of Rutba on 11 September 2005, marines discovered there was no one in it above the age of 10. A 10-year-old girl and an infant boy were killed. Three other children suffered blast wounds. The marines took one back to their base for treatment.

"The children's parents were not at the premises at the time of the incident … No CF [coalition forces] casualties or damages reported," the logs record.

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Apache helicopters kill 14 civilians in hunt for insurgents

'Gun runs' over Baghdad saw pilots blasting vehicles and buildings on the slightest suspicion

Video: The full 39-minute WikiLeaks video, Collateral Murder, showing Apache helicopters killing two Reuters reporters and attacking other targets on dubious grounds

US Apache helicopters killed at least 14 unarmed civilians in a series of previously unreported "gun runs" in eastern Baghdad only four days after the notorious killing of two journalists and 10 other civilians that was captured on a leaked cockpit video released in April.

The footage obtained by the WikiLeaks website led to the arrest of Iraq-based US army analyst Bradley Manning, who is accused of being its source. Posted on YouTube, the 39-minute cockpit video shows three incidents in which people were targeted as they walked along Baghdad streets, sat in a van or went into a building, unaware that gunships were aiming to destroy them. Because the dead included two Iraqi journalists working for Reuters TV the US authorities mounted a rare investigation.

War logs examined by the Guardian reveal that a bigger incident with a greater number of casualties occurred in a neighbouring part of Baghdad four days later on 16 July 2007. This time the Apaches were aided by unmanned surveillance drones and two F-16 fighter-bombers as US ground troops stepped up operations in densely populated eastern Baghdad against militants loyal to the anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. When it was over a local Iraqi informer told a US army interpreter that 14 civilians were dead, according to a military intelligence report.

The bloody incident begins after two foot patrols from A Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment come under small arms fire. One patrol "clears" the nearby Islamic Bank and then comes under fire again from a building belonging to the electricity ministry. Ten minutes later the other patrol reports fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Two Apache helicopters are called in, known in US military jargon as Crazyhorse elements 20 and 21, and both "engage the AIF" (anti-Iraqi forces). (The helicopter involved in the shooting four days earlier was Crazyhorse 18.)

Ten minutes later one of the helicopters fires at two more AIF targets and reports it is being shot back at. An Iraqi army patrol arrives with a US training team. A US foot patrol from A Company reports that a nearby mosque is calling insurgents out to attack the Americans. No source is given, but the patrol may have an Iraqi interpreter who can understand the voice from the minaret.

The helicopter pilots spot a crowd gathering who are described as "possible AIF". The second helicopter, Crazyhorse 21, "conducts final gun run" to strafe unnamed targets that the intelligence report does not specify. By now two F-16 fighter-bombers are on station along with an unnamed drone that is filming the scene. Four Bradley armoured vehicles full of US ground troops are at the ready nearby.

But there is no more firing from the Iraqis and the drone's video footage, which is being monitored by US controllers, shows people coming out of the mosque and dispersing. "No weapons were seen." US troops remain on the scene for another 50 minutes before returning to base.

It is not their practice to remove or identify bodies. If done at all it is usually left to Iraqis. In this case the war log on the incident ends with what are described as unconfirmed reports of casualties. An Iraqi colonel says 12 AIF are dead. A named Iraqi informer on the ground rings the Parachute Infantry Regiment's interpreter and tells him 14 civilians are dead.

It is not clear whether both men are referring to one group of dead with differing estimates of whether they were insurgents or civilians, or whether there were separate groups totalling 26.

The terseness of the war log, which was compiled some time after the event, conveys little drama – which is why the cockpit video released by WikiLeaks in April is so important. It shows the true face of war as pilots treat a small densely populated corner of a foreign city as a battle space in which any adult male they spot is suspected of being a gunman.

Even so they are not supposed to kill unless they or any ground troops they are assisting have come under fire, or they are sure a person seen to be carrying a gun is about to fire at US troops.

If rules of engagement are broken the war logs usually conceal it. This appears to have happened with the killings illustrated in the leaked cockpit video. The Guardian has examined the secret intelligence reports for 12 July 2007 and compared them with the recorded words of the pilots and ground commanders. Parts of the video recording already showed the helicopter pilot and gunner giving false information to their commanders in order to get permission to fire. The logs show clear evidence of a cover-up after the event.

Take the second round of shooting in the 38-minute sequence. It revolves around a dark-coloured minivan that approaches a wounded man lying by the pavement and trying to drag himself to his feet. Two men jump out and go to his aid. Neither is carrying a weapon. They pay no attention to the bodies lying several yards away. Yet the cockpit recording has their commander saying "they have individuals going to the scene, looks like possibly uh picking up bodies and weapons". The helicopters get permission to blast the van regardless, even though firing on people who are aiding casualties violates US rules of engagement and international law.

The intelligence report of the incident says Crazyhorse "engaged AIF". In fact there is nothing seen by the helicopter pilots to show the men are insurgents. Indeed, when US ground troops reach the shot-up van a few minutes later they discover its passengers include two small girls who have been wounded, suggesting it was an innocent civilian vehicle that had rushed to help the wounded victim because it was the nearest transport available.

The third bout of gunfire from the helicopters comes when they destroy a large building on a street corner with three Hellfire missiles. Before firing the first one the pilot says: "There are at least six individuals in that building with weapons." The cockpit video has shown only one man going into the building, carrying something that might be a weapon. Two clearly unarmed men then go in and another unarmed man walks past the entrance seconds before the gunner launches his missile. Over the next few minutes the helicopters fire two more missiles in order to destroy the building completely.

As untrue as the helicopter pilots' live reporting was, the intelligence summary they filed later compounds the lies. Now the alleged gunmen are said to have been running into the building – clearly more suspicious behaviour than walking.

In the report's own laconic language: "1125: Crazyhorse engaged with 3xMissle 6XAIF with wepons that ran into a building at Grid MB 5514 8626. Building destroyed 6x AIF KIA".

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Apache crew killed insurgents who tried to surrender

US military legal adviser told helicopter crew that Iraqi men were valid targets as they could not surrender to aircraft

A US gunship crew was cleared to attack two insurgents on the ground even though the pilots had reported that the men were trying to surrender, the leaked Iraq war logs reveal.

The Apache helicopter pilots killed both Iraqi men after being advised by a US military lawyer that they could not surrender to an aircraft and therefore remained valid targets. A leading military law expert consulted by the Guardian has questioned this legal advice.

The Guardian can also reveal that the helicopter involved in the incident in 2007 had the same call sign – Crazyhorse 18 – as the Apache whose crew later mistakenly killed two Reuters journalists and injured two children in a notorious shooting in urban Baghdad. The killings drew worldwide condemnation in April this year when WikiLeaks obtained video footage taken from the helicopter's gun camera and released it on the internet.

It has not been possible to establish whether the same personnel were involved in both attacks.

According to the account of the earlier incident in the leaked logs, the insurgents had jumped out of their truck after it came under fire from the Apache. "They came out wanting to surrender," Crazyhorse 18 signalled.

Clearance to kill came back from an unnamed lawyer at the nearby Taji airbase. "Lawyer states they can not surrender to aircraft and are still valid targets," the log entry says.

After receiving the lawyer's advice, the pilots reported that the men had by now got back into their truck and were attempting to drive on. The gunship made two attempts to kill the fleeing men, launching a Hellfire missile at the truck.

At first the fresh attack failed. "Individuals have run into another shack," the crew signalled. As the Apache hovered high in the sky, a few miles north of Baghdad, the pilots viewed a zoomed-in image of the fleeing pair on their video screen.

The crew then received a further specific top-level kill instruction from brigade HQ and made another strafing run, firing bursts from long distance at 300 rounds a minute from the Apache's 30mm cannon. This time, the gunner succeeded in killing both men.

At 1.03pm on 22 February, just 24 minutes after receiving legal clearance, the crew filed a log entry: "Crazyhorse 18 reports engaged and destroyed shack with 2X AIF [anti-Iraq forces]. Battle damage assessment is shack/dump truck destroyed."

Crazyhorse 18 was part of the US army's 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, normally based at Fort Hood, Texas. Five months after this incident, on 12 July 2007, the crew of an Apache with the same call sign mistakenly killed 22-year-old Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, after opening fire on a group of eight men they believed to be insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK47 rifles in a Baghdad suburb.

Two children were badly injured and their father killed when the Apache crew fired armour-piercing shells at a van which arrived on the scene.

The account of the February incident recorded in the classified log suggests the Crazyhorse 18 crew were not trigger-happy, but sought immediate advice from their superiors at all stages of the attack.

Under the 1907 Hague regulations, it is forbidden "to kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion".

Britain's own official Ministry of Defence publication, the Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, says there are practical difficulties around surrenders to aircraft, but adds: "With the advent of close-support and ground-attack helicopter units, the surrender of ground troops … has become a more practical proposition."

One of Britain's foremost experts on the subject, Professor Sir Adam Roberts, cast doubt on the legal advice given to the Crazyhorse 18 crew. "Surrender is not always a simple matter," Roberts, emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford University and joint editor of Documents on the Laws of War, told the Guardian. But the reasoning given by the US military lawyer was "dogmatic and wrong".

"The issue is not that ground forces simply cannot surrender to aircraft," he said. "The issue is that ground forces in such circumstances need to surrender in ways that are clear and unequivocal."

However, he added: "If the insurgents did indeed get back into the truck and drove off in the same direction as previously, then they probably acted unwisely, in a way that called into question their act of surrender … The US airmen might legitimately reckon that the truck contained weapons and that the men could be intending to rejoin the fight sooner or later."

The detailed account of events on that February morning begins with a common occurrence: insurgents near the huge Taji airbase start lobbing rockets and mortar shells, in the hope of killing Americans. US troops return the shelling, and Crazyhorse 18 is dispatched on a mission to see whether the retaliation has had any effect. At 11.34am, three minutes after takeoff, the crew spot the insurgents fleeing their launch site with a mortar and tripod on the back of a Bongo – a light truck manufactured by Kia.

The crew confirm a "positive identification" of the enemy. But it is 13 minutes before the pilots are officially "cleared to engage" with automatic cannonfire by their headquarters.

The Apache opens fire, and two Iraqis fling themselves out of the Bongo as the heavy shells blast the truck and cause its stock of mortar ammunition to "cook off".

The enemy gunners try to make their escape in a dumper truck, driving northwards. At 12.33pm, the Apache reports that it has fired on the truck, "and then they came out wanting to surrender".

Two minutes later, "Crazyhorse 18 reports they got back into truck and are heading north". Four minutes after that: "Crazyhorse 18 cleared to engage dumptruck. 1/227 [1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment] lawyer states they cannot surrender to aircraft and are still valid targets."

The two Iraqis try to take refuge in a shack. After a 13-minute delay, another instruction appears to come from a remarkably high level: the office of the commander [IH6] of the Ironhorse brigade at Camp Taji.

The signal reads: "IH6 approves Crazyhorse 18 to engage shack."

After the killing, the helicopter pilots summarise what for them and their superiors has apparently been a successful chase: "Ix engagement with 30mm. 2x AIF killed in action. 1x mortar system destroyed. 1x Bongo truck destroyed with many secondary explosions. 1x dumptruck destroyed. 1x shack destroyed."

At 1.25pm, their gunship heads home to Taji to refuel and reload with ammunition.

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Iraq war logs

U.S. soldiers Bradley Manning is accused of
copying and leaking thousands of secret documents.

U.S. Military records are impossible to read.
Trained British and Ameircan jourlalists have explained the meanings.

Here are some sample of actual logs leaked by Bradley Manning to Wikileaks:

200 bullets fired by soldiers at speeding vehicle kills parents and wounds their two children

Date: 2005-09-23 19:45:00
Tracking no. 2005-267-024805-0349

Summary:

AT 1954D, 1-155 IN REPORTS THAT 3/B/1-155 IN REPORTED AN EOF AT GRID MB 247 198 ON RTE CLEVELAND. 3/B/1-155 IN REPORTED THEY WERE APPROACHED BY A VEHICLE THAT WOULD NOT YIELD TO THEIR PATROL. 3/B/1-155 IN REPORTED USING LIGHTS AND HAND AND ARM SIGNALS, ALSO FIRING WARNING SHOTS, BUT THE VEHICLE STILL APPROACHED. 3/B/1-155 IN THEN FIRED INTO THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE TWO WEAPONS USED, BOTH WERE M249 SQUAD AUTOMATIC WEAPONS. A TOTAL OF 200 ROUNDS FIRED, 100 FROM EACH WEAPON WHICH RESULTED IN (2)CIV WIA AND (2) CIV KIA. IPS ARRIVED ON SCENE AND RECOVERED THE (2) CIV KIA, AND THE (2) CIV WIA ARE BEING BROUGHT BACK TO FOB ISKANDARIYAH BAS. THE (2) CIV WIA WERE CHILDREN (1) 9 Y.O. WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE LOWER THIGH AND LEGS, AND (1) 6 Y.O. WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT LOWER LEGS, AND LEFT KNEE. THE (2) CIV KIA WERE THE PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN. THE IPS NOTIFIED AN UNCLE OF THE CHILDREN, WHO IS THE ONLY LIVING RELATIVE. THE LOCAL AMBULANCE DRIVER ALONG WITH A SOLDIER, AND A INTERPRETER ACCOMPANIED THE CHILDREN TO 86 CSH.

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Two children killed when troops fired on civilian vehicle

Date 2005-10-26 19:56:00
Tracking no. 2005-299-214408-0715

Summary:
1856C, ESCALATION OF FORCE BY 1-64 UNIT WAS ON THE OUTER CORDON FOR A CORDON AND SEARCH WHEN A CIVILIAN VEHICLE APPROACHED AND IGNORED SHOUTS VEHICLE HORN AND FLASHED LIGHTS. UNIT FIRED ONE SHOTGUN ROUND AS A WARNING SHOT. VEHICLE IGNORED THE WARNING AND CONTINUED. UNIT FIRED 13-15 ROUNDS OF 7.62 INTO THE VEHICLE KILLING 2 CHILDREN AND WOUNDING ONE CHILD AND ONE FEMALE. 2 CIV KIA, 2 CIV WIA, 0 CF INJ/DAMAGE

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Seven killed, including two children, by marines 'speeding towards' checkpoint

Date 2005-06-14 15:30:00
Tracking no. attlemaj-38797356

Summary
AT 1530D, THE HURRICANE POINT ECP ATTEMPTED TO STOP A VEHICLE WITH HAND AND ARM SIGNALS BEFORE THE VEHICLE GOT CLOSE TO THE CORDON THAT HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED AFTER THE SVBIED ATTACK. A MAROON 4-DOOR OPEL DISREGARDED ALL HAND AND ARM SIGNALS AND CONTINUED AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. THE HP ECP ENGAGED THE VEHICLE WITH WARNING SHOTS AS IT APPROACHED FROM THE EAST ON MICHIGAN. THE VEHICLE DISREGARDED THE WARNING SHOTS AND ACCELERATED TOWARD THE CORDON SET AT THE S. BRIDGE VCP. THE CORDON AT THE S. BRIDGE CONSISTED OF HMMWV GUN TRUCKS IN THE CENTER OF THE ROAD, AND DISMOUNTED MARINES PROVIDING SECURITY IN AND OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND SIX LARGE ORANGE CONES IN THE ROAD ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE S. BRIDGE. S. BRIDGE ECP ENGAGED THE GRILL OF THE VEHICLE WITH WARNING AND DISABLING SHOTS AT APPROXIMATELY 150 METERS FROM THE CORDON. THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO DISREGARD THE SAF FROM THE OP AND CONTINUED TOWARD THE ESTABLISHED CORDON. THE DISMOUNTED MARINES SAID THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AS IT APPROACHED THE CONES AT THE NORTH END OF THE S. BRIDGE. WHEN THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP, THE S. BRIDGE OP AND 1/5 JUMP WHICH WAS PART OF THE CORDON ENGAGED THE FRONT GRILL OF THE VEHICLE AT APPROXIMATELY 100 METERS BUT THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO APPROACH AT 40-45 MPH. WHEN THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP AFTER ALL THE WARNING SHOTS, THE MARINES ENGAGED THE DRIVER TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE ORANGE CONES. THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 11X CIVILIANS IN THE VEHICLE. THE ENGAGEMENT RESULTED IN 7X CIV KILLED (2X WERE CHILDREN) AND 2X CIV INJ. THE LARGE NUMBER OF CIVILIAN KIA RESULTED FROM THE FAMILY HAVING PLACED THEIR CHILDREN ON THE FLOOR BOARDS OF THE VEHICLE. THE DISABLING SHOTS AIMED AT THE GRILL ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE TRAVELED THROUGH THE VEHICLE LOW TO THE FLOOR BOARDS CAUSING THE LARGE NUMBER OF KIA. NO CF INJ/DAMAGE.

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Civilians drown after vehicle fired on runs off road into canal

Date 2004-09-29 18:11:00
Tracking no. MEF LNO-21328397

Summary
AT 1811D, A L/3/5 RESUPPLY PATROL WAS TRAVELING WESTBOUND ON MSR MOBILE WHEN A VEHICLE APPROACHED THE REAR OF THEIR CONVOY. MARINES IN THE REAR VEHICLE, A HIGH-BACK HMMWV WITH A PAINTED SIGN WARNING VEHICLES TO NOT APPROACH, SUCCESSIVELY USED HAND SIGNALS, A POP-UP WHITE STAR CLUSTER, AND (2) SHOTS TO THE ENGINE BLOCK TO WARN THE VEHICLE TO SLOW DOWN AND NOT APPROACH THE CONVOY. DESPITE THESE WARNINGS, THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO APPROACH TO WITHIN 20M, AND FINALLY L/3/5 FIRED INTO THE WINDSHIELD. THE VEHICLE SWERVED OFF THE ROAD INTO A CANAL 1.5KM NORTH OF SAQLAWIYAH (38S LB 768 976) AND SANK. (1) ADULT MALE EXITED THE VEHICLE AND WAS RECOVERED FROM THE CANAL; ALL OTHER PASSENGERS SANK WITH THE VEHICLE. THE ADULT MALE WAS TREATED BY THE CORPSMAN ON THE SCENE AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO THE SAQLAWIYAH JCC AND SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSPORTED TO THE JORDANIAN HOSPITAL. SAQLAWIYAH IPS RESPONDED TO THE SCENE AND RECOVERED (2) ADULT FEMALES, (3) CHILDREN AGES 5 TO 8, AND (1) INFANT FROM THE VEHICLE. ALL (6) HAD DROWNED. THE SAQLAWIYAH IPS ARE TAKING ALL RECOVERED BODIES TO RAMADI.

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Marines blowing open a door on a suspicious house wound several children including a two-year-old

Date 2005-09-11 05:16:00
Tracking no. 2005-254-140255-0863

Summary
AT 0516D, K 3/6 PLACED AN EXPLOSIVE CHARGE ON A DOOR OF A SUSPICIOUS HOUSE IVO (37S FS 190 576) 500M N OF AR RUTBAH WHILE CONDUCTING A CORDON AND SEARCH IN AR RUTBAH. UPON ENTERING THE HOUSE, MARINES DISCOVERED (3) NWIA. THE NWIA CONSISTED OF (1) 10 YEAR OLD MALE, (1) 10 YEAR OLD FEMALE, AND (1) 2 YEAR OLD MALE WHO ALL SUSTAINED BLAST INJURIES. THE 10 YEAR OLD FEMALE AND THE 2 YEAR OLD MALE DOW WHILE AWAITING MEDEVAC. THE 10 YEAR OLD BOY WAS SUBSEQUENTLY MEDEVACED TO BALAD FOR FURTHER TREATMENT. THE CHILDREN S PARENTS WERE NOT AT THE PREMISES AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. CAG HAS BEEN NOTIFIED AND IS ENROUTE TO THE RESIDENCE. NO CF CASUALTIES OR DAMAGES REPORTED

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Reporters have explained the U.S. military jargon:

ACF Anti-coalition forces
ACR Armored cavalry regiment
AGL Above ground level
AIF Anti-Iraqi forces
AMZ Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
AO Area of operations
AP Anti-personnel
AQI Al-Qaeda in Iraq
ASR Alternate supply route
AWT Air weapons team
BCT Brigade combat team
BDA Battle damage assessment
BITT Border Iraqi training team
Blue-blue "Friendly fire" between coalition forces
CAS Close air support
CAV Cavalry
CCIR Commander's critical information requirements
CF Coalition forces
CIV Civilian
CO Company
Cordon and knock Cordoning off an area and searching it for insurgents or weapons
CP Checkpoint
CWIA Civilian wounded in action
DET Detonation, or detained
DMG Damage
DOW Died of wounds
EFP Explosively formed penetrator
EOD Explosive ordnance disposal
FMC Fully mission capable
FOB Forward operating base
FRAGO Fragmentary order
FWCAS Fixed-wing close air support
GOI Government of Iraq
Green-green "Friendly fire" between Iraqi forces
GSW Gunshot wound
HE High explosives
HHQ Higher headquarters
HMMWV High mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (Humvee)
IA Iraqi army
IBP Iraqi border patrol
ICW In coordination with
ID Infantry division
IDF Indirect fire
IED Improvised explosive device
IIP Iraqi Islamic Party
IN Infantry
ING Iraqi national guard
INJ Injuries
IO Information operations
IOT In order to
IP Iraqi police
ISI Islamic State of Iraq
ISO In support of
ISP Iraqi special police
ISR Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
IVO In the vicinity of
IZ Iraq/Iraqi
JAI Jaish al-Islami
JAM Jaish al-Mahdi
JSS Joint security station
JTJ Jama'at al-Tawhid w'al-Jihad
KIA Killed in action
KLE Key leader engagement
LN Local national
LOAC Laws of armed combat
MAG Magazine
MAM Military-aged male
MAS Muqtada al-Sadr
MEU Marine Expeditionary Unit
MITT Military intelligence training team
MOI Ministry of Interior
MP Military police
MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle
MNFI Multi-National Forces (Iraq)
NEU Neutral
NFI No further information
NFTR Nothing further to report
NSTR Nothing significant to report
OBJ Objective
PAX Persons
PB Patrol base
PBIED Person-borne improvised explosive device
PID Positive identification
POC Point of contact
POETT Port of entry training team
POO Point of origin
PPE Personal protective equipment
PTL Patrol
QJBR Tanzim al-Qaid'at al-Jihad fi al-Balad al-Rafidayn
QRF Quick reaction force
RPG Rocket-propelled grenade
RDX Research Department Explosive
RPT Report
RTB Return to base
RTE Route
RWCAS Rotary-wing close air support
S2 Brigade-level intelligence
SAF/SAFIRE Small arms fire
SIGACT Significant action
SITREP Situation report
SOI Sons of Iraq
SVIED Suicide vest improvised explosive device
TF Task force
TTP Tactics, techniques and procedures
VBIED Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
UI Unidentified
UNK Unknown
USACE US Army Corps of Engineers
UXO Unexploded ordnance
VEH Vehicle
VIC Vicinity
WIA Wounded in action

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