posted on February 23, 2004 03:47:59 PMWhat Iraqis receive for their losses
So far, the US military has paid out $2.2 million to Iraqi civilians in response to a flood of claims of wrongful or negligent injuries or death at the hands of US forces. In total, the military has received 15,000 claims, 5,600 of which it has accepted.
In distributing such payments, the military says they are not accepting liability or responsibility, and in fact no soldier has ever faced charges for illegally killing an Iraqi civilian. In some cases, victims must waive their right to take further legal action in order to receive the money.
Iraqis can receive payments under a US law called the Foreign Claims Act, which states that the military may pay claims for wrongful or negligent acts of soldiers in noncombat situations in foreign countries. The US Congress has appropriated funds for this 1982 statute.
However, it is more common for payments to be made under a category called "sympathy pay." Under this, victims of "combat-related" incidents in which the soldiers were deemed fully justified in acting can receive a maximum "sympathy pay" of $2,500. Monies come from a commander's discretionary funds, supplied by seized Iraqi assets.
I feel sorry for the families but I also feel sorry for the soldiers involved in this, some of them must feel terrible. It's going to be a big job to sort through the phoney claims too and not everyone will be treated fairly.
posted on February 23, 2004 04:16:58 PM
No matter how many people we 'pay off' there'll be no end to the 'insurrectionists' (or are they called 'rebel forces' this week? ) that continue to bomb and ambush Iraqi citizens and American soldiers alike.
Just as no amount of 'advance money' ensured a 'popular uprising' against Saddam or the predicted 'parade in the streets' when U.S. forces took control of the country.
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