Dead US soldier hung on public display-IRAQ

I dont know if these three stories that I've gather in the internet is somehow connected.. You judge.


But I was uncertain how we would be received by the Iraqi people. Regardless of our stated intentions we were still the invading army. As the war unfolded, reports of atrocities committed by Hussein's henchmen on his own people began to pour in. There was a woman who waved to British forces in Un Qasr and was found hung the next morning. There were mass executions of soldiers for deserting, or failing to stop the advance of coalition forces. Then there were the stories of our soldiers being tortured. One American soldier was stripped naked in the town square and executed in front of a horrified crowd, then his body was dragged through the streets for all to see..

Please check the whole story at the link below.

http://www.amarinestory.com/babtravelogue.html


Death of captured Marine
BY REX BOWMANTIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
WITH THE 1ST MARINE DIVISION, IRAQ

A U.S. Marine captured and supposedly strung up in the middle of the town of Shatrah is dead, military officials in Iraq confirmed yesterday.
Officials also said initial reports were wrong: The Marine was not strung up, though his body was left in view of townsfolk.
The Marine was captured Friday during an attack on a 200-vehicle convoy that was passing through Shatrah on Route 7, on its way north.

"What we can confirm is that some villagers tried to help him - they didn't know if he was alive or dead - and they may even have tried to get him to a hospital," said Maj. Dave Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment.
"But the Republican Guard, or death squads, took him away from the villagers and dumped him on the street. They didn't string him up, as previously stated, they just dumped him in the street."
Military officials are withholding the Marine's name until his family can be notified of his death.
The Marine was part of an air-wing support squadron making its way north late at night when it was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire.
The attack turned over a 7-ton truck, and when members of the convoy repelled the attack and got back on the road, they noticed the Marine was missing.
The attack is an example of the kind of war Marines are fighting as they drive toward Baghdad.
They have yet to face large units of the Iraqi army but are instead being harassed by small-scale attacks in many of the towns they pass through.
Officials said the attacks are being carried out by local militia being forced to fight by local representatives of the Republican Guard.
"The villagers are torn," Holahan said.
"They're glad we're here, but as long as the death squads are around, they can't do anything or say anything. That's why we have to stay in the south and kick some ass."


Marines search for fallen comrade
US Marines moved into the southern Iraqi town of Shatrah today to recover the body of a dead comrade which had been hanged in the town square, officers said.
The Associated Press: From correspondents in southern IraqApril 01, 2003
US Marines moved into the southern Iraqi town of Shatrah today to recover the body of a dead comrade which had been hanged in the town square, officers said.Hundreds of troops were dispatched on the operation after intelligence reports indicated the body of a dead American, who was killed in a firefight last week, had been paraded through the streets and hanged in public.
"We would like to retrieve the body of the marine but it is not our sole purpose," said Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Owen, of the First Marine Expeditionary Force.
Military sources said another part of the operation was to arm local militias to fight against members of the ruling Baath party loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Shatrah is some 40km north of Nasiriyah, where Iraqi forces have been harassing US supply lines and putting up tough resistance for more than a week.