Introduction

In March of 2003, George W. Bush ordered war on Iraq after the horrific acts of terrorism unfolded on September 11, 2001. Thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives to defend and protect the people in America by invading Iraq. In doing so, over 200,000 innocent civilians became targets and lost their lives due to the inhumane actions of American troops (Conflict Casualties Monitor, 2003). There is a lack of information being reported about the effects of war on the Iraqi people and most reports refrain from showing the horrors occurring in the country. Secondly, Iraqi civilians are “dismissed as less than human,” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.2) when the fear-stricken American soldiers are briefed to “kill or be killed,” explained Sgt. Ben Flanders (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.5).  Lastly, through checkpoints, raids, and detentions, soldiers treat Iraqi people with acts of racism and injustice. This ultimately desensitizes their rights as human beings. Overall, American war troops use the terms ‘honour’ and ‘patriotism’ to describe their service, yet brutally take the lives of innocent civilians while depriving Iraqis of their basic human rights.

Poor Representation in the Media

In Iraq, there are stories reported about the courage and strength of the soldiers serving to protect the western society. However, no one questions the mass destruction that is left from war and how the bombings affect the lives of innocent Iraqis. The information from the Conflict Casualties Monitor (2003) concludes that approximately over 200,000 civilians have been killed from 2003 to present day. Furthermore, “Spokespersons from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society began estimating that “thousands are dead,” but were reluctant to publicize more concrete numbers, for fear that they would be misinterpreted” (Lauterbach, 2007, p.6). This explains that there is a lack of concern for the civilians in Iraq and that more organizations should be advocating for these people. According to Hedges and Al-Arian (2009), “the press, or at least most of it, has lost the passion, the outrage, and the sense of mission that once drove reporters to defy authority and tell the truth” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.8). This reveals an even greater truth, that the lawful people in Iraq are robbed of their voice and are perceived as unequal individuals in their homeland. Instead of reporting the details erupting in Iraq, the news is filled with the latest celebrity gossip and ‘what not to wear’. As a society, people tend to turn their heads the other way when mass destruction hits because they do not want to be reminded that the conflict occurring throughout the world was caused by their own act of turmoil.

However, it is unfair to the Iraqi citizens who are fighting for their daily lives in hopes that someday their story will be heard. Reporters are constantly choosing to avoid the larger topic of misconduct, racism and the injustice towards the people of Iraq (Rouch, 2016). Given the following quote, “this war is not about bringing democracy to Iraq, that all the clichés about staying the course and completing the mission are used to make sure the president and his allies do not pay a political price while in power.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.8), reveals the lack of empathy for the developing country. Some people in western societies believe if they destroy Iraq, suddenly all “terrorists” will be ridden of the world. American politicians “speak in the abstract terms of glory, honor, and heroism, in the necessity of improving the world,” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.3) yet it is the innocent civilians who pay at the expense of their lives. Overall, there is a lack of information revealing the truth behind the war which masks the reality of those who are inhumanely treated by the American soldiers.

Briefings Show Racism and Disrespect

When many troops first arrive in Iraq, they are stressed and afraid because of the platform of hatred that has been created by the western society. From these sentiments, they often come to view all Iraqis as an enemy (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009). This sets the framework to build poor relationships between the soldiers and Iraqi people. In addition, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) released a report in 2001 explaining the three key responsibilities in training army troops (Francis, Popovski, & Sampford, 2012). Soldiers need to learn how to prevent mass violence from occurring in Iraq and to address the “root causes of conflicts – including, poverty, repression, and inequality” (Francis, Popovski, & Sampford, 2012, p.14). Troops also must be able to react by intervening with any military misconduct and they must rebuild the area from further posing a threat to the civilians. Listed in the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), “Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity” (Francis, Popovski, & Sampford, 2012, p.15). These are set standards for the soldiers in Iraq and because of the misconceptions of the civilians, often these values are not met.

Additionally, Francis, Popovski, and Sampford (2012, p.47) state “Peacekeepers – troops or police – who witness violence against civilians should be presumed to be authorized to stop it”. On the contrary, Sgt. Jefferies explains that in training they say, “try not to shoot if you don’t have to,” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.40) telling the soldiers to use their judgement which often leads to misconduct. From the moment the troops step off the plane they learn that they “can’t trust any of these f*cking hajis, because all these f*cking hajis are going to kill you” reports Sgt. Geoffrey Millard (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xvi). The soldiers are installed with fear and will make split-second decisions that commonly result in the death of civilians. An example of a fearful soldier in this position is quoted by Sgt. Geoffrey Millard.

“This unit sets up this traffic control point, and this eighteen-year-old kid is on top of an armored Humvee with a .50-caliber machine gun, and this car speeds at him pretty quick and he makes a split-second decision that that’s a suicide bomber, and he presses the butterfly trigger and puts two hundred rounds in less than a minute into this vehicle. It killed the mother, a father, and two kids. The boy was aged four and the daughter was aged three.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xv).

Sergeant Camilo Mejía explains that he “experienced horrible confusion” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xxii) and was “increasingly disgusted at the treatment of Iraqi civilians.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xxii). Another common situation with regards to acting out of fear is that troops would open fire into densely populated crowds killing various innocent people who posed no threat. This would occur if an explosion went off and the soldiers wanted someone to lash back at (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009). Mejía further noted, “in order to avoid being held up in traffic jams, where someone could roll a grenade under our trucks, we would simply drive up on sidewalks, running over garbage cans and even hitting civilian’s vehicles to push them out of the way” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xxiv). This example alone represents how many troops show no respect for the Iraqi people and the few possessions they have. Soldiers may lack feelings of security, yet that is not an excuse to treat others with disrespect. This solely dismantles their duty to protect by further injuring and/or scaring the innocent. Mejía further executes, “Many of the soldiers would laugh and shriek at these tactics.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.xxiv).

Additionally, military convoys would hit and kill children when rampaging through the streets and there would be no compensation given to the families for their irrational killings. More specifically, there was another incident when a boy and his three donkeys were crossing a road. They were all hit and killed because the troops believe there is no point in stopping an entire convoy for one person (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009). Simultaneously, Sgt. Dougherty recalls an American soldier saying, “we have to kill them over here, so I don’t have to kill them back in Colorado.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.26). This statement of racism presents the idea that most citizens in Iraq are terrorists. They are stereotyped and when many decide to find refuge in western countries, they are treated disrespectfully. Altogether, soldiers are briefed to feel threatened by all Iraqi citizens to protect their own safety. However, this resists the many innocent people living in Iraq a chance to secure their personal safety. Accordingly, troops are fueled with honour and patriotism, yet commonly kill or strip innocent women and children of their human rights by stereotyping them as terrorists.

Checkpoints, Raids, and Detentions

Lastly, the Iraqis are treated unfairly through checkpoints, raids, and detentions run by the American soldiers. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal Al-Maliki said, abuses are a “daily occurrence” (Smith, 2008, p.148) and that troops “do not respect the Iraqi people. They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion.” (Smith, 2008, p.148). In relation to this, all people shall be considered an innocent civilian until proven wrong and it is unfair that these people are treated with injustice. Starting with checkpoints which, “are designed to restrict the flow of traffic” are often a destination of unlawful killings (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.30). Civilians are also told that if they slow down coming towards a checkpoint, the soldiers may try to make an arrest. Consequently, the civilians attempt to speed through the checkpoints and the soldiers suspect they are guilty which results in opening fire (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009).

An example of this occurred when a father and his son got too close to a checkpoint and the American military troops decapitated the unarmed father. The troops are trained with the Rule of Engagement (ROE) which allows them to fire a warning shot and if the person continues to come forth, they can assume they are armed with explosives and can shoot. However, there are miscommunications between ‘stop’ and ‘come’ and “soon you’re shooting pregnant women” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.46). From this example, soldiers are proving to make split-second decisions that are harming and depriving people of their human rights. They are not given a right to speak their truth and move freely which can cost them their life.

Furthermore, raids are conducted between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. and further show how soldiers are brutally attacking the Iraqis. Soldiers will search for any weapons or materials that can be harmful to society. However, they do this using excessive force. From Sgt. Miller, “We’re not police. We don’t go around like detectives and ask questions. We kick down doors, we go in, we grab people.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.65-66). In addition, Sgt. Bocanegra states, “It was just soldiers being soldiers.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.69). The troops are filled with so much built up stress and fear that they barge into a home and line the family against the wall at gunpoint. The soldiers are aggressive because they do not know what they will encounter when they raid a house (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009). Despite this information, these acts are unjust and desensitize the Iraqi’s of their rights as human beings. It is hard to prove innocence when soldiers barge into a home and start screaming in a language the Iraqis do not comprehend. This ultimately embarrasses the man of the house in front of his family. According to Hedges & Al-Arian (2009, p.68), Sergeant Bruhns, Sergeant Bocanegra and other veterans added, “physical abuse of Iraqis during raids was common”. Lastly, Specialist Chrystal announced that the troops seek “promotion and recognition for their unit … after a raid to make it appear a success.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.66). This helps to prove the point that many soldiers feel honoured to serve for their country, but do not speak the truth about the way Iraqi citizens are treated. Altogether, raids are a common way to search through the Iraqi’s belongings and to act in an inhumane manner towards them.

Aside from the mistreatment in checkpoints and raids, detentions are another area that show how soldiers treat civilians with racism and injustice. Altogether, roughly 120,000 people in Iraq have been thrown into jails (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009). Most of whom are innocent and do not know why they are serving time. This is a violation of the Habeas Corpus rights which include, the right to a fair and free trial, the right to know what the charges laid against a person are, and the right not to be held unlawfully without charges being brought against a person (Dictionary.com, 2017). Army Maj. Gen – John Batiste explains, “Probably 99 percent of these people were guilty of absolutely nothing, but the way we treated them, the way we abused them, turned them against the effort in Iraq forever.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.72). This quote affirms that Iraqi civilians are stereotyped very quickly by how easily they are thrown in jails based off suspicion and the judgment of army troops. Sgt. Kelly Dougherty further notes “we would arrest people all the time who we didn’t really have solid evidence on, but we just thought that they might be doing something wrong.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.73). This concludes that the innocent civilians living in Iraq are treated with injustice and racism. The American troops mock the people living in Iraq, yet are perceived as powerful, “honorary” men serving for freedom in the western nations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the war in Iraq has killed over 200,000 people, most of whom were innocent families undeserving of the brutal bombings and attacks formed by many racist troops. Specialist Murphy quotes, “You constantly have to remind yourself that these are human beings, as desensitizing as that atmosphere can be.” (Hedges & Al-Arian, 2009, p.84). Overall, there is a lack of information being reported about the brutal killings taking place daily in this horrific environment. The civilians are viewed as less than human which does not help the stressed mentality of the soldiers as they are briefed to enter the society seeing all people as an enemy. Lastly, the innocent Iraqis are mistreated and stereotyped through checkpoints, raids, and detentions. These are all examples of how the Iraqi’s human rights are violated and how the words “honour” and “patriotism” are used to mask the reality occurring in Iraq.

Works Cited

Conflict Casualties Monitor. (2003). Database – Iraq Body Count Project. Retrieved from Iraq Body Count: https://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

Dictionary.com. (2017). Dictionary.com. Retrieved from Habeas Corpus: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/habeas-corpus

Francis, A., Popovski, V., & Sampford, C. J. (2012). Norms of protection : responsibility to protect, protection of civilians and their interaction. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Hedges, C., & Al-Arian, L. (2009, February 10). Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians. New York, United States .

International Coalition For the Respnsibilty to Protect. (2000). Retrieved from International Coalition For the Respnsibilty to Protect: http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/

Lauterbach, C. (2007). The Costs of Cooperation: Civilian Casualty Counts in Iraq. International Studies Perspectives, 8, 429-445.

Rouch, A. F. (2016). ‘We have no voice’: Christians in Jordan 2 years after fleeing N. Iraq. World Watch Monitor.

Smith, T. W. (2008). Protecting Civilians… or Soldiers? Humanitarian Law and the Economy of Risk in Iaq. International Studies Perspectives, 9, 144-164.

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Written by Tessa R. Adamski