Michael's Dispatches
Bless the Beasts and Children, Part 2
- Details
- Published: Wednesday, 18 July 2007 05:00
July 18, 2007
This photo was taken just near the disinterred graves of Iraqi civilians murdered by al Qaeda. As this photo was made, Captain Baker’s soldiers were still digging out the bodies nearby. The stench from the graves was horrific. The children had been decapitated. The term “al Qaeda” is used here, because Iraqi police, soldiers and civilians said al Qaeda had taken the village of al Hamira and done this. Most of al Qaeda in Iraq consists of Iraqis, not foreigners. Even the animals had been “murdered.” I saw these things with my own eyes, recorded them with my video and still cameras, and provided the map coordinates and names of American and Iraqi officials. Media ignored this massacre until pressure mounted from home to report it.
From “Bless the Beasts and Children”:
Iraqi Captain Baker gave an important interview on video. Captain Baker, who in Captain Clayton Combs’ words is “an excellent soldier,” is from the Kurdish north, but Baker said he is Iraqi first, Kurdish second. He said that American Special Forces had trained him. Apparently the Special Forces did a good job. Captain Baker and his Iraqi soldiers, or “jundi,” get high marks from American soldiers. In the video, Captain Baker shared interesting details about the killing of Zarqawi back in 2006. Zarqawi had been the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was killed nearby by U.S. bombs.
Please watch the interview here:
Bless the Beasts and Children, Part 1
Bless the Beasts and Children, Part 3
Update on "Bless the Beasts and Children"
