The Empire 164

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'There are new doubts about the US and Iraqi claim that the hundreds of people killed in a battle in Najaf over the weekend were members of a messianic cult. Reports indicate the official story might actually be a cover-up for a massacre. We speak with London Independent correspondent Patrick Cockburn and Dr. Amer Majeed, a doctor who treated the wounded.
There are new doubts about the US and Iraqi claim that the hundreds of people killed in a battle in Najaf over the weekend were members of a messianic cult. Journalist Patrick Cockburn of the London Independent reports the official story might actually be a cover-up for a massacre.
Patrick Cockburn. Journalist with the London Independent and author of the new book, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq. He joins us on the phone from Amman, Jordan where he has just arrived from Baghdad.
Dr. Amer Majeed. He is an Iraqi doctor at Al Sadr hospital in Najaf. He has treated some of the injured from the battle in Najaf. He is being translated by his cousin, Sami Rasouli.

JUAN GONZALEZ: There are new doubts about the US and Iraqi claim that the hundreds of people killed in a battle in Najaf over the weekend were members of a messianic cult. Journalist Patrick Cockburn of the London Independent reports the official story might actually be a cover-up for a massacre.

AMY GOODMAN: Patrick Cockburn is author of the new book, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq. He has just left Iraq and joins us on the phone from Amman, Jordan. Patrick, welcome to Democracy Now! What did you learn about what happened in Najaf?
PATRICK COCKBURN: It’s a very confused situation. One of the really amazing things about it is that this is one of the greatest uses of US air power for two-and-a-half years since the battle for Fallujah, and we don't quite know who was under attack, although some 300 people were killed. It appears that there was a battle there with a sect that was disliked by the local government in Najaf, but also that a tribe, pilgrims who were marching through the area, also came under attack and suffered heavy losses. All in all, it’s a very confused situation.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And the sect was a Shia sect that was from another part of the country going on pilgrimage?
PATRICK COCKBURN: No. That’s not -- I mean, there are allegations flying backwards and forwards at the moment, but there’s no real evidence for this. I mean, the commonsense explanation, the explanation that, as some people there give, is that there was a tribe called the Al-Hawatim, who were going on pilgrimage -- this is a great Shia ritual this week, the Ashura -- and about 200 of them were walking, which is very common in Iraq. Over this last week, millions of people have been walking the roads on pilgrimage. And they got mixed up in this battle. Their tribal leader was ill. He and his wife were in a car. When they came to a checkpoint, the soldiers at checkpoint opened fire, killed them both. And then the other tribesmen attacked the checkpoint. It seems to me likely that the pilgrims got involved in a battle that was already going on between the government of Najaf and this sect, which they much disliked, which had a camp just outside Najaf.
AMY GOODMAN: Patrick Cockburn, what was the role of the US? A helicopter got shot down.
PATRICK COCKBURN: A helicopter got shot down. There was heavy bombing. And that seems to explain the very heavy casualties of the people there: upwards of 300 killed, many wounded. Only eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed, and twenty-seven wounded. So the casualties are very one-sided. So the key to this battle seems to be very heavy use of US air power. But it’s still unclear who the victims were on the ground.'

Lees of luister verder: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1530252