Mutilated bodies of US civilians recovered after Fallujah attack

AFP | 4/02/04

[kattracks]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The remains of four American security contractors ambushed in Iraq (news - web sites) were recovered as US officials vowed to exact vengeance for their gruesome murder.

US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy head of coalition operations, said the remains were handed over to US forces Thursday.

The four, employees of the private US firm Blackwater Security Consulting of North Carolina, were killed Wednesday in an ambush and their vehicles set ablaze in Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

Two of the charred bodies were then dismembered and publicly paraded as a gleeful mob cheered and shouted encouragement.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at Baghdad's police academy, an angry Paul Bremer, the US overseer in Iraq, said: "The acts we have seen (Wednesday) are despicable and inexcusable."

"These murders are a painful outrage for us in the coalition but they will not derail the march toward stability and democracy in Iraq ... Their deaths will not go unpunished," Bremer said.

Kimmitt said, "We will respond. It is going to be deliberate and precise and it will be overwhelming.

"We will re-establish control and will pacify that city," he added. "It will be at the time and place of our choosing."

As horrendous images of the mutilations were splashed across television screens and newspapers, the US security company that employed the four said it would not identify the dead.

"The names of the victims will not be released out of respect for their familes," Blackwater said in a statement.

"The graphic images of the unprovoked attack and subsequent heinous mistreatment of our friends exhibits the extraordinary conditions under which we voluntarily work to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people," the company said.

Iraq's interim interior minister Nuri Badran pledged that his forces would do their best to find the Fallujah killers and bring them to justice.

"Forces will be sent there. We don't know when, but we are planning to do that," he said.

And Iraq's paramilitary Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC) urged restraint in Fallujah in a statement handed out to residents.

Bremer, addressing 479 police academy graduates, said the four civilians, along with five US troops killed in the same area west of Baghdad by a roadside bomb, "have not died in vain."

Describing the Fallujah incident as "inexcusable and despicable," Bremer said insurgents fighting the US-led coalition "will not derail the march toward stability and democracy in Iraq."

As more details emerged on the killings, a hitherto unknown group, the "Brigades of Martyr Ahmed Yassin," claimed responsibility in reprisal for Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

"We advise the US forces to withdraw from Iraq and we advise the families of the American soldiers and the contractors not to come to Iraq," the group said in a statement obtained by AFP.

The statement, entitled "Fallujah, the graveyard of the Americans," claimed the group's fighters in Fallujah killed "members of the Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) and the Zionist Mossad," referring to Israel's foreign intelligence agency.

Yassin, the spiritual leader of the hardline Palestinian militant group, was killed last month in an Israeli air strike as he left a Gaza City mosque.

A source close to private security firms in Baghdad said three Blackwater vehicles each carrying two men were escorting a food supply truck heading for the US military air base in Habbaniya, near Fallujah, when they were attacked.

The Fallujah images evoked inevitable comparisons with Somalia, where the 1993 massacre and mutilation of US troops in Mogadishu led to a US withdrawal.

But the State Department stressed that Mogadishu and Fallujah were not comparable.

"The Mogadishu precedent was that, following attacks we left, and that's not going to happen here, I can tell you right now, number one," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.

And the White House said the United States would not be deterred in its mission in Iraq.

"We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms," said spokesman Scott McClellan.

"These are horrific attacks by people who are trying to prevent democracy from moving forward," he said, adding: "But democracy is taking root.

"There are some who want to intimidate the Iraqi people, who want to intimidate the coalition, they want to intimidate the international community and they cannot. We will not turn back from our efforts."

Elsewhere more violence was reported when three Iraqi police officers were killed and three wounded by gunmen who fired and threw a hand grenade at them late Thursday when a two-car police patrol was manning a key intersection in western Baquba, a restive town north of Baghdad, policeman Adel Jalal told AFP.

"Two cars drove up slowly towards our position and rained fire on us. Then one of the assailants threw a hand grenade, after shouting Allah-o-Akbar (God is the greatest), killing two officers and wounding three among us," he said.

Adel, who was hit in the leg and in the hand, said the car sped away after the attack.

One of the wounded, Mohamed Qasem, later died from his wounds, Lieutenant Falah Hassan told AFP.

Baquba is located within the so-called "Sunni triangle", a hotbed of insurgency against the US-led coalition occupying Iraq.

[KangarooJacqui]

an angry Paul Bremer, the US overseer in Iraq, said: "The acts we have seen (Wednesday) are despicable and inexcusable."

"Completely uncalled-for and absolutely f*&^ing disgusting" were the words that immediately came to this mind, and I haven't even been able to bring myself to look at the pictures yet.

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[SkyPilot]

You don't need to see the pics KJ--they are incredibly disgusting. There is something noble about honoring the dead--I guess it appeals to our sense of God-given dignity and thankfulness for our very existence and life.

To degrade it so shows neither reverence, nor humanity. The charred wreckage of those poor men are but a Dorian Gray mirror reflection of the twisted and wicked visages that did this to them.

[Mark17]

Kimmitt said, "We will respond. It is going to be deliberate and precise and it will be overwhelming.

I think this rhetoric needs to be backed up with action.

[Choose Ye This Day]

I think this rhetoric needs to be backed up with action.

I have no doubt it will be.

[KangarooJacqui]

Thanks for the warning. I don't think I could have coped with the pictures anyway.

(Call me a typical woman - you'd be wrong in that, by the way, but given death scenarios right now I range from helpless grief-stricken angst to "hand me a gun, somebody, I'm going after these scumbags" anger...)

[johnmorris886]

Army Vets, Ex-SEAL Among 4 Killed in Iraq
By CONNIE MABIN

Associated Press Writer

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio (AP)--Two Army veterans and a former Navy SEAL were among four American contractors killed in Iraq, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets.
Family members and a spokesperson said Thursday that Jerko ``Jerry' Zovko, 32, Michael Teague, 38, and Scott Helvenston, 38, died with another civilian Wednesday after they were hit by rocket-propelled grenades in a rebel ambush. The victims worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, one of five subsidiaries of Blackwater USA based in North Carolina.

Zovko's mother said she and her husband had suspected their son might be among the dead, but their fears were confirmed Thursday morning when the president of Blackwater USA knocked on their door.

``It was the hardest day of my life,'' Donna Zovko said during an interview in her suburban Cleveland home.

``Jerry was a man with a principle, an idea,'' his mother said. ``He loved people. He wanted the world to be without borders, for everybody to be free and safe.''

Zovko's family wouldn't say whether he was married or had children.

``My brother was an exceptional individual,'' Tom Zovko said. ``He did what he thought was right.''

Jerry Zovko joined the Army in 1991 at age 19. He spoke five languages fluently--English, Croatian, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Tom Zovko said.
Teague, of Clarksville, Tenn., was a 12-year Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan and also served in Panama and Grenada, his wife, Rhonda, said in a prepared statement. She called her husband a ``proud father, soldier and American.''

``I, his son Brandon and his friends and family will miss him without measure,'' her statement said.
Teague had worked in the security business since he left the Army six years ago, but he joined Blackwater Security only two months ago, WTVF-TV of Nashville reported.
A third victim was identified as Helvenston by a family spokesperson who said the family would comment on Friday.
Helvenston lived in Leesburg, Fla., before joining the Navy when he was 17. He served with the Navy SEALs for 12 years and later worked as a fitness promoter, starting a company called Amphibian Athletics. He also was an actor and stunt man for movies including ``G.I. Jane,'' according to a company Web site.

The names of the four victims were not officially released because all family members had yet to be notified, U.S. officials said.

In Moyock, N.C., where the security company is based, residents said Wednesday that the shocking way the bodies were treated helped bring the conflict in Iraq closer to home. Jubilant Iraqi residents dragged two of the charred corpses through the streets and strung them up on a bridge, acts the U.S. government denounced as ``horrific.''

``With what's been going on in Iraq I'm not surprised at anything,'' said 72-year-old Howard Forbes. ``But I was surprised at what they did to the bodies.''

The company provides security training and guard services to customers around the world. Blackwater President Gary Jackson and two other company leaders are former Navy SEAL commandos.

The company declined to comment beyond a statement that acknowledged it was a government subcontractor providing security for the delivery of food in the Fallujah area.
Privately owned Blackwater USA's range of paramilitary services include providing firearms and small-groups training facilities for Navy SEALs, police department SWAT teams and former special operations personnel.

AP-NY-04-01-04 2228EST
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[johnmorris886]

Oceanside Resident Killed in Iraq

By Mason Stockstill
ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:57 p.m. April 1, 2004

LOS ANGELES – Reality show producer Mark Burnett remembers Scott Helvenston as a passionate athlete who was dedicated to his country.

So Burnett was upset to learn Thursday that Helvenston, who was on his 2002 series "Combat Missions," was among the four American contractors killed in Iraq in an ambush the day before.

"It makes it all seem so much closer," Burnett told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "It reminds me of 'Black Hawk Down.'"

Helvenston, 38, and the others were working for Blackwater Security Consulting when their vehicle was hit by rocket-propelled grenades. A mob dragged their bodies through the streets of Fallujah and hung two of the bodies from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

Helvenston had served 12 years in the U.S. Navy, and was a member of the elite Navy SEALs special forces before leaving the service for a career in Hollywood.

He lived in Oceanside, south of Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, and worked as a trainer and stunt man on movies including "Face/Off" and "G.I. Jane," where he helped prepare star Demi Moore for her role as the first woman to join the SEALs. He also appeared on two reality series: "Man vs. Beast" and Burnett's "Combat Missions."
Burnett had met Helvenston during the 1993 Raid Gauloises, a precursor to the Eco-Challenge, and said he remembered the former SEAL when casting the later series.

He said he was disturbed by the images of the Iraqi mob dragging the Americans' bodies through the streets and stringing them up on a bridge.

"It's not only horrible when someone dies who you know and respect, but in the way it happened, it makes you sick," he said.

Helvenston had also founded a fitness company, Oceanside-based Amphibian Athletics, that promised to bring a Navy SEALs-style workout regimen to his customers.

It was not surprising that Helvenston had gone to Iraq to help his country after years out of the service, Burnett said.

"That's what, in a time of need, true American warriors like Scott would do," he said.

[SpyGuy]

You don't need to see the pics KJ--they are incredibly disgusting.

I disagree. Every decent person person on this planet should look long and hard at those photos--and often. Only then will people start to understand this enemy we are facing. Only then will people be able to shed the blinders of political correctness that prevent us from truly fighting and killing our enemies before they kill us (and burn us and mutilate us and hang us from bridges). Only then will people grow the stomach and resolve to stop these sub-human maggots that are threatening our countries, our cultures, and our very existence.

[SkyPilot]

"hand me a gun, somebody, I'm going after these scumbags"

I don't doubt that for a minute KJ. Good to hear from you--have a nice weekend.

[Finalapproach29er]

I'm glad we care about not hurting any innocent Fallujah residents. (disgust)

Pershing would have those bastards begging us to spare them. How times have changed.

[CatoRenasci]

I agree with you. The pictures convey graphically the sort of evil animals -- there is no other word for them -- we are dealing with in Fallujah. Just reading about it does not really convey the horror. The truth hurts, sometimes. We must know the depth of depravity we face in order to steel ourselves for the whining and gnashing of European and Demoncrat teeth that will accompany our necessary reduction of Fallujah to a peaceful village.

Fallujah should be a name that inspires fear of the West in Arab hearts for 1,000 years!

[KangarooJacqui]

Um, what are you picking on ME for?

I may not be old enough to remember Pershing as anything other than a missile, but I'm on YOUR side in this argument...

Try reading the whole thread.

[MEG33]

I saw the pictures,KJ.I did not view the Daniel Pearl video,I only looked at our executed soldiers pictures after my distressed daughter wanted me to explain the implications of mutilation.I did not look as a rebellion against the murderers' pride in their brutality.

I am not sorry I saw the pictures.I am sorry I cannot bring the men back or give comfort to the family.I am sorry I cannot see the perps and the celebrators executed publically and soon for their depravity.

[Maigrey]

Lemme chime in, from the "gentle side" of this discussion.

I've been horrofied over what happened, and appalled over the carnage that occurred. I also felt that, if people are there, sacrificing, and giving their lives, to help keep my family free, and safe, then I owed it to the men who were murdered to view it, and reinforce my resolve to support the administration for their efforts.

See, it could have been a family friend - who was in the area until recently - or my cousin, who was in-theatre for a year - who could have suffered this fate. I was fortunate, but those affected families weren't.

If you think that you can understand what happened, without viewing the carnage, that is your choice. Stand with it, and then do something about it.

If you decide that you want to see the pictures, then be prepared for those consequences.

[samtheman]

Two of the charred bodies were then dismembered and publicly paraded as a gleeful mob cheered and shouted encouragement.

Don't we have Predators in the skies? Aren't they armed with Hellfire missles? What's missing here?

[daybreakcoming]

I'm with you - I don't need these photo glimpses of hell to know what happened to these men - couldn't be much angrier about it.

May God comfort their families.

[Psalm 73]

Kimmitt said, "We will respond. It is going to be deliberate and precise and it will be overwhelming.
"We will re-establish control and will pacify that city," he added. "It will beat the time and place of our choosing."

Makes sense, we don't want to just go in swinging wildly, and we don't want them to dictate our timing.
When the response comes, (very soon) it WILL be unmistakable, and on OUR terms.
Remember, the adults are in charge now.

[sarasota]

I hope it's not televised by the same animals that were invited to this despicable atrocity. They should be eliminated first.