The Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre[1][2] (Arabic: مجزرة حفلة عرس مكر الذيب, romanized: Majzarat haflat eurs Makr Alldhiyb) refers to the U.S. military's attack on a wedding party in Mukaradeeb, a small village in Anbar Province, Iraq near the border with Syria, on 19 May 2004. The attack killed 42 civilians and wounded many others. The U.S. military denied that a wedding had been hit, claiming the location was a legitimate military target and that insurgents had been killed. U.S. military generals refused to apologize for the massacre.[3]
| Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Iraq War | |
  Mukaradeeb | |
| Location | Mukaradeeb, Anbar Province, Iraq |
| Coordinates | 34°0′28″N 40°12′08″E / 34.00778°N 40.20222°E |
| Date | 19 May 2004 |
| Target | Iraqi civilians |
Attack type | Mass shooting, bombing |
| Deaths | 42; including 11 women and 14 children |
| Perpetrator |  United States |
Incident
editThe wedding brought together members of the Rakat and Sabah families: Ashad Rakat was the groom and Rutba Sabah the bride.[citation needed] Witnesses report that the American bombing started at 3:00 AM. Witness at the wedding said that guests had fired weapons into the air. The attack begun at 2:45 AM from the air. Local accounts state that 42 people, including 11 women and 14 children,[1] were killed during the incident. Iraqi officials reported 13 children among the dead. 27 members of the extended Rakat family were killed.[4] Following the attack, U.S. officials stated that the location was a "suspected foreign fighter safe house." They stated that "anti-coalition forces" fired first, and that they returned fire killing numerous insurgents and destroying many vehicles. They further said that weapons, foreign passports and money, and a radio were recovered.[1]
Reaction
editThe 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."[1][5] U.S. fire included both bullets and bombs, leaving behind craters.[4]
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." USMC Major General James Mattis asserted that even 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.[1] Mattis later added that it had taken him 30 seconds to deliberate on bombing the location.[6]
Video footage obtained by the Associated Press contradicts this. The video shows a series of scenes of a wedding celebration, and footage from the following day shows fragments of musical instruments, pots and pans and brightly colored beddings used for celebrations, scattered around a destroyed tent.[4][7]
Despite evidence against U.S. military, its generals refused to apologize for the actions.[3]
See also
editIncidents
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e McCarthy, Rory (20 May 2004). "Wedding party massacre". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ Cavarero, Adriana (2 January 2011). Horrorism: Naming Contemporary Violence. Columbia University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-231-14457-5.
- ^ a b "US soldiers started to shoot us, one by one". The Guardian. 20 May 2004.
- ^ a b c AP, Iraq Wedding-Party Video Backs Survivors' Claims," 24 May 2004
- ^ "Forty killed after American helicopter opens fire on wedding party, claim Iraqis".
- ^ 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
- ^ McCartyh, Rory (25 May 2004). "Wedding party video casts doubt on American version of attack that killed 42". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2013.