U.S. Military Called On to Compensate Iraqi Civilians

U.S. Military Called On to Compensate Iraqi Civilians

NEW YORK - U.S.-based humanitarian groups are urging the administration of President George W. Bush to compensate the families of innocent Iraqi citizens killed as a result of aerial bombings by the U.S. military.

"Out of 50 so-called "decapitation strikes" against members of Saddam Hussein's regime, none were hit, but 40 civilians were killed because planners relied on rough Global Positioning System locations derived from satellite phones."

2005 report, Human Rights Watch The call comes after U.S. military officials admitted that they had mistakenly bombed a civilian residence in the northern Iraqi town of Baiji over a week ago. The air raid that killed at least six people in their home prompted widespread anger among local communities.

"When mistakes happen, we have a responsibility to help the victims and their loved ones," said Sarah Holewinsky, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Innocent Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC).

The raid was conducted after seeing three men suspected of planting a roadside bomb near the house, U.S. officials told reporters after the incident. They said the suspected men were assessed as a threat to civilians and military forces.

U.S. officials on the ground have discretionary powers to compensate innocent people who have suffered losses as a result of U.S. actions, including the family members of those killed, CIVIC said in a statement released this week.

The group urged a thorough investigation of the Baiji incident so that assistance can be provided to surviving family members, citing a $38 million fund created by the U.S. Congress in 2003 to help civilian victims of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and named after CIVIC's late founder, Marla Ruzicka, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq last April.

Last year the New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report deploring the U.S. military for resorting to indiscriminate aerial strikes. It accused the U.S. of "imprecise targeting" of strikes against Saddam loyalists.

Out of 50 so-called "decapitation strikes" against members of Saddam Hussein's regime, none were hit, the group said, but 40 civilians were killed because planners relied on rough Global Positioning System locations derived from satellite phones.

"Any attacking force has a duty to do this kind of analysis," HRW director Kenneth Roth told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in an interview after releasing the report.

"What is amazing is that the U.S. does nothing of that sort," he added.

Also, this week, the U.S. came under heavy fire for its military behavior in Iraq from no less close an ally in the battlefield than a senior British official.

"(U.S.) officers displayed cultural ignorance, self-righteousness, overoptimism and unproductive management," Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster said in an article published by the U.S. Army's Military Review magazine.