Rocky Hillside

Original image by Kyle Wegner. Some rights reserved.

From the Washington Post:

On Wednesday, eight people, including two children, were killed when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on a group of Iraqis traveling to a U.S. detention center to greet a man who was being released from custody, Iraqi officials said.

Since late March, the military has fired more than 200 Hellfire missiles in the capital, compared with just six missiles fired in the previous three months.

The military says the tactic has saved the lives of ground troops and prevented attacks, but the strikes have also killed and wounded civilians, provoking criticism from Iraqis.

Translation: It is American policy that the lives of American invaders are worth more than the lives of innocent Iraqis. Or, put another way: the lives of adult Americans who have volunteered to kill people and are pursuing a stupid, unjustifiable war of choice are more important than those of innocent Iraqi adults and children.

The killings are certain to do more than "provoke criticism."

Those civilians include people like Zahara Fadhil, a 10-year-old girl with a tiny frame and long brown hair. Relatives said she was wounded by a missile on April 20 at approximately 8 p.m. in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City. The U.S. military said it fired a Hellfire missile in Zahara's neighborhood at that time, targeting men who were seen loading rockets into a sedan.

Her face drained of color and her legs scarred by shrapnel, Zahara spoke haltingly . . .

. . .

One of Zahara's uncles, Dhia Rahi Shaie al-Koreishi, 34, a taxi driver, and her grandmother, Um Fadhil al-Koreishi, were killed by the blast.

"The heart of this family has been ripped out," said Alaa Rahi Shaie, 29, another uncle, who was stoic in describing the death of his brother. "This is his blood," he said, indicating red splotches in front of his home. "And the remains of his head are over there."

I am ashamed.

[More:]

For the curious, the Geneva Conventions do indeed prohibit what we are doing.

From Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions:

Article 51: Protection of the Civilian Population

1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules, which are additional to other applicable rules of international law, shall be observed in all circumstances.
. . .
4. Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited. Indiscriminate attacks are:

. . .
c. those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.

[According to Article 52, "Civilian objects" are all objects which are not military objectives. Military objectives are those that make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction, capture or neutralization offers a definite military advantage.]
5. Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate:

b. an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

In case you were wondering:

Article 50: Definition of Civilians and Civilian Population

. . .
3. The presence within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its civilian character.