Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre

The Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre[1][2] refers to the American shooting and bombing of a wedding party in Mukaradeeb, a small village in Iraq near the border with Syria, on 19 May 2004. 42 civilians were killed.

Incident

American officials stated that the location was a "suspected foreign fighter safe house."[3]

The wedding united members of the Rakat and Sabah families: Ashad Rakat was the groom and Rutba, his bride. Witnesses report that the American bombing started at 3 am. Local accounts state that 42 men, women and children were killed during the incident. Among the known dead were Iraqi musicians Hussein al-Ali and his brother Mohaned al-Ali. Iraqi officials report 13 children were among the dead. 27 members of the extended Rakat family were killed.[4]

Reaction

The U.S. military took the stance that the location was a legitimate target. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the coalition deputy chief of staff for U.S. operations in Iraq: "We took ground fire and we returned fire. We estimate that around 40 were killed. But we operated within our rules of engagement."[3] American fire included both bullets and bombs, leaving behind craters.[4]

USMC Major General James Mattis said the idea of a wedding was implausible, "How many people go to the middle of the desert ... to hold a wedding 80 miles (130km) from the nearest civilization? These were more than two dozen military-age males. Let's not be naive." The Rakats and the Sabahs were residents of Mukaradeeb.[3] He later added that it had taken him 30 seconds to deliberate on bombing the location.[5]

In the aftermath, Kimmitt said, "There was no evidence of a wedding: no decorations, no musical instruments found, no large quantities of food or leftover servings one would expect from a wedding celebration. There may have been some kind of celebration. Bad people have celebrations, too." Video footage obtained by the Associated Press seems to contradict this view. The video shows a series of scenes of a wedding celebration, and footage from the following day showing fragments of musical instruments, pots and pans and brightly colored beddings used for celebrations, scattered around a destroyed tent.[4][6]

References

  1. ↑ McCarthy, Rory (20 May 2004). "Wedding party massacre". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Cavarero, Adriana (2 January 2011). Horrorism: Naming Contemporary Violence. Columbia University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-231-14457-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Rory McCarthy, '"US soldiers started to shoot us, one by one"', Guardian Unlimited, (21 May 2004). Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 AP, Iraq Wedding-Party Video Backs Survivors' Claims," 24 May 2004
  5. ↑ Bing, West (2008). The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6701-5., p. 245
  6. ↑ McCartyh, Rory (2004-05-25). "Wedding party video casts doubt on American version of attack that killed 42". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-01-11.

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