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American, British troops open fire on Iraqi rioters
By Larry Kaplow Atlantic Journal-Constitution, October 5, 2003 BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. troops fired on Iraqis here Saturday, after a huge crowd of former soldiers waiting for unemployment payments turned into a stone-throwing mob -- rioting that officials suspect was incited by anti-American insurgents. A similar scene played out against British troops in the southern city of Basra. Two Iraqi men reportedly died in the separate incidents and dozens were injured. Also on Saturday, U.S. Central Command announced that a soldier from the 4th Infantry Division was killed and another was wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire attack late Friday in As Sadiyah, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. The soldiers' names were withheld pending notification of next of kin. The incident Saturday in western Baghdad occurred among thousands of former Iraqi soldiers at a payment station where Iraqis frequently complain of harsh treatment, including shoving and shouting, from troops wielding batons and rifles. Army officials said that Iraqis had fired at them and thrown rocks. Iraqi witnesses said the stone-throwing started only after U.S. troops beat an Iraqi man. The skirmishes continued for about two hours on a major avenue, with the crowd swelling into the thousands, according to U.S. and Iraqi accounts. The mob burned two Iraqi police cars and a small guard post and also ransacked four liquor stores nearby. It was the third time in a week that crowds turned to violence against U.S. troops or Iraqi police. The spate of riots introduces a new and dangerous element to the Iraqi-American divide here, with evidence that the crowds are possibly being incited by organized insurgents, U.S. officials said. U.S. Army Maj. Scott Patton said troops shot four Iraqi men who were throwing stones from close range. One of the men also had a firearm, he said. Patton said all the men were in stable condition and receiving medical treatment. He said no soldiers were seriously wounded. Iraqi doctors at the nearby Al Yarmouk Hospital said they received four patients with gunshot wounds and that one had died. In addition to the soldiers, witnesses said they saw Iraqi police firing at the crowd and they could have accounted for some of the wounded. A similar riot occurred Saturday in a pay office in the southern city of Basra, where British troops reportedly killed one Iraqi, The Associated Press reported. Long lines are common at the Baghdad pay station, where the U.S.-led coalition pays former members of the dissolved Iraqi army their monthly unemployment cash. Patton said that there were more than 16,000 Iraqis gathering for payment and about 1,000 may have been there "to cause trouble." He said some started inciting the crowd with rumors that payment had been suspended and encouraged the crowd to throw large rocks at the soldiers. The rioters broke apart planters and tore concrete from the median, hurling the chunks at the soldiers, sometimes from close range. "They were like bricks that could kill people," said Patton, an officer with the 4th Battalion of the 27th Field Artillery. "I was very impressed by the restraint of our men." But Iraqis said the fighting started when troops beat an elderly man who was walking near the line. "They don't have any respect for the people here," said Tariq Hussein al-Mohammedawi, who was in the line. "[The Iraqis] didn't have any weapons. They just came for their salaries."
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