Don't know if this has been posted. The filthy truth starts to come out.
From correspondents in London 20jun03
AMERICAN combatants in Iraq shot people in civilian clothes, killed the wounded and left Iraqis to die on the battlefield, US soldiers told the British Evening Standard newspaper today.
"There was no dilemma when it came to shooting people who were not in uniform, I just pulled the trigger... If they were there, they were enemy, whether in uniform or not. Some were, some weren't," Specialist Corporal Michael Richardson told the daily newspaper. Richardson, 22, serves with the 3/15th US Infantry Division in Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad.
"When there were civilians there, we did the mission that had to be done. When they were there, they were at the wrong spot, so they were considered enemy," said Anthony Castillo, who is also in Richardson's company.
Speaking of a battle south of Baghdad, without giving the exact date, the soldiers said that 70 per cent of the 400 combatants on the Iraqi side were dressed in civilian clothes.
According to Sergeant John Meadows, 34, the US army distributed leaflets in the days leading up to the action telling civilians to avoid the area.
"So basically anyone who was there was a combatant," Meadows said before adding that US troops killed women and injured on the ground.
"The worst thing is to shoot one of them, then go help him," he said.
"You didn't want any prisoners of war. You hate them so bad while you're fighting and you're so terrified, you can't really convey the feeling but you don't want them to live," Richardson said.
The soldiers told The Evening Standard how they killed civilians in their cars because they were afraid that they might be attacked.
"When they use white flags we were told to stop them at 400 metres out and then strip them down naked, then bring them through. Most obeyed the order," Meadows said.
"We knew about others who had problems with (Iraqis) carrying white flags and then opening up on our guys ...
"Then they'd use cars to try and drive at us. They were men, women and children. That day, we shot up a lot of cars," Meadows said.
"At night you think about all the people you killed. It just never gets off your head, none of this stuff does. There's no chance to forget it. We're still here, we have been here so long. Most people leave after combat but we haven't," Richardson said.
"They've already seen psychiatrists and the chain of command has got letters back saying 'these men need to be taken out of this situation'. But nothing happened," Meadows said.
