In Iraq, a battle for credibility

According to a narrative compiled for the US military's Baghdad legal office by the US units involved in the arrest and detention of the five Iraqis, a copy of which was provided to the Monitor, the reason for the raid was information that 20 people reportedly linked to Islamic militants were "training to go against coalition forces." During interrogation, the narrative states, one detainee, Assad Tali al-Duleimi, said they were "instructed to collect weapons and await the arrival of a sheikh from Iran who would lead them against the coalition."

While Hamza claims that he was pelted with rocks while handcuffed and that a burning chemical was applied to his eyes, the US military narrative paints a different picture. It describes how detainees were asked if they needed medication, and noted that one was a diabetic, and that they received daily medical checks. Hamza "was caught numerous times faking convulsions" and "observed to attempt to bite his knees and hitting [sic] himself on the head with his knees," the narrative states. He was released June 9, when he was deemed to be of "no further military intelligence value."

Hamza's version of events has convinced his colleagues from the Islamic Cultural Center, however: "I think this was against Islam, because we have nothing to do with terrorism," says Said Mahdi al-Hassani.

Another case of the gap between facts and beliefs involves Tariq Hussein al-Mashledani, a junior officer in the disbanded Iraqi army who died June 18 as US troops fired into a crowd during a protest for pay. Calling him a "martyr," Mr. Mashledani's family suspects that he survived the protest with two gunshot wounds, but was killed by US troops while in medical custody. They say there were only two wounds when he was taken away on a stretcher by US troops, but when they collected the body the next day there was a third wound - to the head. "I suspect that [the Americans] killed him inside," says family member Hassan Ghanem Khalaf.

That alleged third wound is news to the US medics who treated Mashledani. "We tried like hell to save his life," says Sgt. Guillermo Patino. "When he came in here, there were two [wounds]. No other gunshot wounds." Surgeon Lt. Col. Stephen Marks also voiced shock at the family reaction: "They are wrong about that."

Another story making the rounds began when the Assaah newspaper - the second most popular newspaper in Iraq - ran an account by "eyewitnesses" who said that more than 18 US troops had raped two Iraqi girls, aged 14 and 15, in Kut, southeast of Baghdad. European correspondents who pursued the story in Kut last week found that the story was completely false. Nobody in the hospital had heard of the incident, and local police dismissed the claims. Local television reported the police position. The US issued a statement saying it was not true. But floating around Iraq are 18,000 copies of a story that simply confirms to many Iraqis - who may not hear the factual version of events - that their worst fears about the US are being realized. Assaah's editors promised to print a retraction.

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