American troops in Baghdad [Sunday] blasted their way into the home of an Iraqi journalist working for the Guardian and Channel 4, firing bullets into the bedroom where he was sleeping with his wife and children.
Ali Fadhil, who two months ago won the Foreign Press Association young journalist of the year award, was hooded and taken for questioning. He was released hours later. . .
Dr Fadhil was asleep with his wife, their three-year-old daughter, Sarah, and seven-month-old son, Adam, when the troops forced their way in.
"They fired into the bedroom where we were sleeping, then three soldiers came in. They rolled me on to the floor and tied my hands. When I tried to ask them what they were looking for they just told me to shut up," he said.
I'm glad we're making Iraq safe for democracy.
I heard an interview with him regarding this on NPR yesterday morning. Unbelievable. He said that when they finally released him, they sent him on his way with $1500 to cover the damages to his home and for his time they wasted, yet -- as far as he knew -- no similar offer had been made to the three other families from his neighborhood who suffered a similar fate. The interview can be found here, if you want to hear the whole thing.
Posted by: czeltic girl | January 11, 2006 at 02:34 PM