[Marxism] Thieves fall out: Allawi blames US in 'Iraq' govt troop executions

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Is Allawi trying to make nice with Kerry?
Fred Feldman

October 27, 2004
REBELS
Iraq's Prime Minister Faults U.S. Military in Massacre
By EDWARD WONG

AGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26 - Prime Minister Ayad Allawi blamed the
American-led military forces on Tuesday for the weekend massacre of 49
freshly trained Iraqi soldiers, saying the military had shown "major
negligence."

In a speech before the interim National Assembly, the prime minister
said a committee had begun investigating the ambush, the deadliest of
the guerrilla war. The assault took place Saturday night in remote
eastern Iraq, as three minibuses of unarmed Iraqi soldiers were heading
south on leave. Insurgents dressed as policemen waylaid the men at a
fake checkpoint, killed all 49 soldiers and their three civilian
drivers, mostly with shots to their heads, and burned the vehicles.

"I think there was major negligence by the multinational forces," Dr.
Allawi said before the 100-member assembly. "It was a way to damage Iraq
and the Iraqi people."

The massacre took place in an area of the country under the command of
Polish forces.

Dr. Allawi did not elaborate on his statement, and his aides could not
be reached by phone for further comment. The prime minister's lacerating
words marked the first time he has publicly criticized the American-led
forces, disclosing his profound frustration at the assault and perhaps
the deteriorating security situation as well.

The American military defended itself in a statement released Tuesday
evening. "This was a cold-blooded and systematic massacre by
terrorists," the statement read. "They and no one else must be held
fully accountable for these heinous acts."

An American military official said the ambushed soldiers were members of
the 16th Iraqi Army Battalion, Seventh Iraqi Army Brigade, and not of
the Iraqi National Guard, as had been widely reported. They had left the
main Iraqi Army training base in Kirkush, northeast of Baghdad, about 15
miles from the Iranian border. They were ambushed on an isolated road
southeast of Baghdad, he said, not far from the border.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said officers in his
United States Army division, which has trained Iraqi national guardsmen,
were baffled by the utter lack of protection given the Iraqi soldiers.
He said when Iraqi guardsmen under his division's watch go on leave,
they are sent off in armored convoys bristling with heavy guns. "We
provide the gun trucks and protection, like when we go out ourselves,"
he said.

"There's a lot of people stunned by this," he added. "There's a lot of
people scratching their heads. It's a strange one."

Capt. Steven Alvarez, a spokesman for Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, whose
command includes the Kirkush base, said in an e-mail message that the
general was deferring all comment to the main military press office.

The relentless assault on Iraqi security forces continued Tuesday, as a
militant group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna posted photos on the
Internet showing that it had captured 11 Iraqi security officers. A
message on the Web site said the insurgents had snatched the "infidels"
of the "crusaders' militia" on a road between Baghdad and Hilla, about
50 miles south, where the men were apparently on patrol. The posting
said the hostages were national guardsmen and part of an outfit called
the Legion Security Force.

In the photos, some of the guardsmen look frightened, sitting in a dirt
pit at the feet of three guerrillas wearing black ski masks and
brandishing AK-47's. Most of the hostages have on white T-shirts with
"LSF," for "Legion Security Force," emblazoned across the chests. Two
are wearing the brown camouflage uniforms of Iraqi national guardsmen,
and one has on a plain khaki uniform with a blue "LSF" armband.

[snip]
Full article: www.nytimes.com


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