<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
Ex-US marine: I killed Iraqi civilians<br>
by <br>
Wednesday 08 December 2004 5:12 AM GMT <br><br>
<br>
<b>A former US marine has said his unit killed more than 30 innocent
Iraqi civilians in just two days.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>In graphic testimony presented to a Canadian
asylum tribunal on Monday, Sergeant Jimmy Massey's evidence appeared to
bolster war crime claims made by fugitive US paratrooper Jeremy
Hinzman.<br><br>
The 26-yea-old Hinzman said he would face persecution if sent home to the
US, in a politically charged case which could set a precedent for at
least two other American deserters seeking asylum in Canada. <br>
<br>
Massey told Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that men under
his command in the 3rd battalion, Seventh Marines, killed 30-plus
civilians within 48 hours while on checkpoint duty in Baghdad. <br>
<br>
"I do know that we killed innocent civilians," he said,
relating the chaotic days after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March
2003. <br>
<br>
<b>Unknown enemy<br><br>
</b>Massey said in some incidents Iraqi civilians were killed by between
200 and 500 rounds pumped into four separate cars which each failed to
respond to a single warning shot or respond to hand signals at a Baghdad
checkpoint. <br>
<br>
At the time, US soldiers feared bombers would try to ram checkpoints, he
said. Searches found no weapons in the vehicles or evidence that those
killed were anything but innocent civilians, he added.<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=2><b>"I was never clear on who was
the enemy and who was not. When you don't know who the enemy is, what are
you doing there?"<br><br>
<br><br>
</b></font>He said marines also killed four unarmed demonstrators and
more Iraqis the following day during another spell of checkpoint duty in
the Iraqi capital. <br>
<br>
"I was never clear on who was the enemy and who was not," said
Massey. <br>
<br>
"When you don't know who the enemy is, what are you doing
there?" asked the 12-year marine veteran, later honourably
discharged from the service with severe depression and post traumatic
stress disorder. <br>
<br>
<b>Hinzman case<br><br>
</b>Hinzman earlier argued at the tribunal, which started on Monday and
was due to end on Wednesday, that he gradually realised after joining the
army in 2001 that he could not bring himself to kill another person.
<br>
<br>
"I was faced with being deployed to Iraq to do what the infantry
does, kill people, and I had no justification for doing so," said
Hinzman. <br>
<br>
Hinzman, his wife and two-year-old son arrived in Canada early this year,
after deserting from his unit, an action which carries a maximum
five-year jail term. <br><br>
<br><br>
<font size=3>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73A4FF53-81F7-4FA0-B02B-3681C801F778.htm" eudora="autourl">http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/73A4FF53-81F7-4FA0-B02B-3681C801F778.htm</a>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>