“He was so polite and religious, but he was not a fighter,” said Um Haider, crying as she spoke of her dead son.
The day Ahmed was killed a tank had been destroyed by the Mahdi Army. She went outside with him to see what happened, and he was struck in the head by shrapnel from a rocket fired at fighters from a US helicopter.
“His blood was all over me while he prayed for God to save us,” she said...
Abu Khadim, sitting nearby sipping tea, spoke of his nephew’s death. “The Americans were taking everyone from the hospital in Sadr City if they were wounded, because they thought they were all Mahdi Army,” he said.
“So we took him out of Sadr City. But the next day, he died anyway.”
Ali, Ahmed’s 22-year-old brother, expressed the rage held by so many Iraqis who have lost loved ones to coalition forces. “When I grow older I will buy a Kalashnikov and I’m going to use it to shoot the Americans,” he said."
Post a Comment