An Article You Will Not See in WaPo or NYTimes

Fatal shooting of teacher illustrates why Iraqis fear U.S. convoys

Knight-Ridder is a good source for both sides of the story on Iraq and elsewhere.

No one knows what Khinaisar saw or thought. She was shot once in the head, and she died five days later, on June 3. She spoke only once during that period, when her husband arrived at the hospital. When she heard him speak, she quietly called out his name: Mohsen.

In the car, the soldiers found only a purse and a Quran on the dashboard. They found no evidence that the 57-year-old teacher was a suicide bomber.

It's not clear how often American soldiers, strangers in a strange land where it's virtually impossible to distinguish friend from foe, mistakenly kill Iraqi civilians. U.S. officials say they keep no statistics, and since last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has refused to release the ones it keeps.

At the Iraqi Assistance Center, which pays families for damage caused by American forces, the head of the compensation section said the center receives 1,000 requests a month, but most of them are for property damage. The head of the center, Col. Chester Wernicki of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command from Staten Island, N.Y., said he doesn't keep information on how many claims have been filed for deaths.

Many Iraqis say they understand why U.S. forces must be here: to keep the country intact, protect its fragile new government and stop the violence.

But enough civilians have been killed in one-sided encounters with scared American troops that Baghdadis cower whenever Americans are near. Whenever American troops leave their bases, they say, everyone is vulnerable.

This is the reality in Iraq. We make enemies of those who would support us by sending a too-small, poorly trained force. Not enough troops to make the streets safe. Not enough who speak the language. No intelligence on the opposition. Car bombings kill dozens every day. To compensate, our troops become trigger-happy and shoot people because they don't know who they are or if they can trust them. When in doubt, shoot. So the Bush Administration can hide this truth, they don't keep the statistics on how many innocent Iraqis are killed in this manner.

Clusterfuck.