Today’s New York Times brings us a chilling snapshot of the US Army’s program to dole out cold hard cash to compensate for Iraqi civilians’ cold hard bodies.
Of the 500 cases released, 204, or about 40 percent, were apparently rejected because the injury, death or property damage was deemed to have been “directly or indirectly” related to combat.Check out the article to view the claim form, written in English of course, and horrific excerpts of the claims, such as this one:
In the case of the fisherman in Tikrit, he and his companion desperately tried to appear unthreatening to an American helicopter overhead.“They held up the fish in the air and shouted ‘Fish! Fish!’ to show they meant no harm,” said the Army report attached to the claim filed by the fisherman’s family. The Army refused to compensate for the killing, ruling that it was “combat activity,” but approved $3,500 for his boat, net and cellphone, which drifted away and were stolen.
And if that doesn’t shit on your day enough, you can use this searchable database, created by the ACLU, who requested the data, to read about each of the 500 persons’ undeserved injury or demise and the pittance their family received in exchange.
On the other hand, it probably makes sense to the Iraqis. Blood money is a pretty common form of compensation and is specified in the Koran.
Life is cheap. Here is our schedule of fees, check the box that applies to your case.
I don't understand why the NYT is treating the topic so favorably. It's the old "How much is your child or husband's life worth?" question.
Hell, if money for dead relatives is such a great solution to a bad war, shouldn't we then expect people to push their unwanted relatives into the path of a helicopter patrol with a nerf gun in their hands, or prop them up in cars with a brick on the accelerator aimed at a checkpoint?
When we withdraw in defeat & shame it the joy of defeating the Great Satan might make up for it a little.
Then the World Court will extract reparations out of our taxpayer hides for the rest of our natural days.
I agree, we really really suck. But President Narcissist sucks the most.
None of these civilians should be dying in the first place.
That said, paying compensation is at least culturally appropriate. I know it sounds offensive to a lot of people raised in the west who assume everyone has the same expectations they do, but diyat is indeed mentioned in the Koran and Hadith. It is well-established in Arab culture and is really the only way to stop tit-for-tat killings in a tribal society.
Again, there shouldn't be civilian deaths (just like there shouldn't be an invasion) but when it happens the families should be compensated. It is what they expect: it's the only tangible way to show contrition and respect for their loss. It's just like a wrongful death lawsuit in the US, except all the money goes to the next of kin and none goes to lawyers.
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we really, really, really suck