CNN posted interviews with 10 and 12 year old girls from Haditha yesterday, through translators. Ryan Chilcote put the interview together -- via a human rights group who traveled to the area (he stayed in Baghdad -- and is there any information about that ubiquitous human rights group, and who works in it ... ?). Here's an excerpt, StetsonTip AmyProctor:
Twelve-year-old Saffa Yunis was getting ready for school. She says she was the only survivor in her house, eight relatives killed.
SAFFA YUNIS, EYEWITNESS (through translator): A bomb exploded on the street outside. We heard the sound of the explosion, and we heard shouting. We were inside the house when U.S. forces broke through the door. They killed my father in the kitchen. The American forces entered the house and started shooting with their guns.
They killed my mother and my sister, Noor (ph). They killed her when they shot her in the head. She was only 15 years old. My other sister was shot with seven bullets in the head. She was only 10 years old. And my brother, Mohammed (ph), was hiding under the bed, when the U.S. military hit him with the butt of a gun, and they started shooting him under the bed.
The U.S. military then shot me. And I was showered in blood. We couldn't leave the house, because the U.S. military surrounded the area with a large number of soldiers.
CHILCOTE: Saffa's cousins, 8-year-old Abdul Rahman (ph) Walid and 9-year-old Eman Walid, were next door in the first house entered by the Marines. They say seven were killed in this house.
EMAN WALID, EYEWITNESS (through translator): They entered the house. They burned the room. And my father was inside the room. Then they attacked my grandmother and my grandfather, and they threw a bomb. Me and my brother, Abdul Rahman (ph), were injured. I saw how they killed my mother, Asman (ph), and I saw how they killed my grandmother.
I saw Hiba (ph) -- she's my aunt -- taking little girl Isa (ph) and running away outside the house.
CHILCOTE: Eman (ph) is initially poised. She has clearly told the story many times. She needs no questions to prompt her.
WALID (through translator): My grandmother, she decided to open the kitchen door. Before she opened it, she said, "Maybe they will break it otherwise." I wish she hadn't.
CHILCOTE: Eman's brother, Abdul Rahman (ph), doesn't say much. The interviewer asks him to show his wounds.
Off camera, a voice in the room is heard asking: "He didn't have a weapon. What danger did he pose?"
But there is an intriguing variation in Eman's account the third time she tells it. She says she was expecting the bomb.
WALID (through translator): I was planning to go to school. I was about to get out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode, so I covered my ears. The bomb exploded. The bomb struck an armored vehicle. I don't know if it was a Humvee or an armored vehicle. When the bomb exploded, they came straight to our house.
CHILCOTE: The question is, was her expectation of the explosion a premonition, a fear based on the sound of the passing convoy? Or was it based on some knowledge? The interviewer does not follow up. He says the 9-year-old got confused and got her story mixed up...
Well, the details are extremely troubling; I'm kind of wondering how they saw so much stuff in such detail while they were hiding for their lives, but I do believe that bad things happen when a village is caught in a crossfire between Marines and insurgents, particularly when the insurgents are hiding behind civilians. (and yah, I know. That's my own theory, based only on growing evidnce. Take it as an opinion, though, so far)
It's worth noting that the girl says she expected a bomb to go off, and it's too bad that Mr. Chilcote didn't travel to the scene himself. Also, according to CNN, the wounded kids were taken to a US hospital for treatment -- another little factoid that makes me question the "Marines on Rampage" meme.
It's also worth noting that the boy didn't say much -- although Arab men are supposed to be the spokesmen of the family.
Here's what bugs me, though.
First, remember, I've dealt with kids intimately for more than 18 years, on a "seat of the pants" level. I've dealt with my own kids, other people's kids, and kids that are casual acquaintances. When they're young, they're usually truthful, although some will lie to save their own skins, or to save somebody else.
For example, a girl that's been sexually abused will deny it for years if the abuser tells her he'll kill her mother if she squeals. I would love to know whether or not their family had any insurgent visitors the night before the incident -- but I doubt that question will ever be asked. I'd also love to see an interview with the Americans who cared for them in the hospital, but that's another one that I doubt will ever happen.
However, with questioning, most kids, unless they're really, really afraid, will usually get a little confused if they're lying and revert to telling what really happened, since that's what they remember the best.
Make no mistake, these Iraqi kids have been traumatized bigtime. First, insurgents held their town, with fear, floggings, and public executions. According to the UK Guardian, Haditha kids were rounded up to witness public torture and execution -- and given DVD's of the events to watch. Then, these kids watch their entire families get slaughtered less than a year ago, and they get wounded. So, I guess the obvious intervention is to allow them to become Western Media stars.
Don't know about you, but as a Texas mom, my instinct is to protect kids until they're old enough to deal with things. I don't see much protection in allowing the Haditha survivors to become Western media stars. I don't see much protectiveness in Carzon's account yesterday of how children were allowed to participate in insurgent activities by spotting patrols ... or by throwing rocks at armed men, as I mentioned yesterday.
But, the mainstream media both here and in the Arab world are the first to howl "Think of the children!"
Well, I am thinking of those children -- and how they're being used by adults they trust, or fear.
Michelle Malkin, another mom, also writes about how insurgents use kids.
¶ 8:00 AM
