Haditha: Blood Money, Lies and Videotape? - New England Patriots Forums

***IcyPatriot*** · 06-04-2006, 09:27 PM

This article appeared in the LIBERAL FrontPageMagazine.com and was pulled 7 hours later. My "Are these 2 stories connected" appears to be on track.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1642134/posts

This link is from FreeRepublic but copy and paste this in Google and the story appears elsewhere.

"Haditha: Blood Money, Lies and Videotape"?

Quote:

One person, Aws Fahmi, claims to live next door to the house where the massacre allegedly occurred and also claims to be a friend of the men killed in the taxi.

According to the Post, “only 13-year-old Safa Younis lived -- saved, she said, by her mother's blood spilling onto her, making her look dead when she fell, limp, in a faint….Townspeople led a Washington Post reporter this week to the girl they identified as Safa. Wearing a ponytail and tracksuit, the girl said her mother died trying to gather the girls. The girl burst into tears after a few words. The older couple caring for her apologized and asked the reporter to leave.”

This account differs slightly from an ABC News report which shows a video of Safa Younis. She calmly says yes to leading questions from an off-camera interviewer describing Marines throwing a grenade into the bathroom of her home and killing the other seven members of her family. She responds with amazing composure for one who has witnessed the murder of her parents and siblings. She does not mention her mother’s blood spilling all over her. She says she is 12 years old. Is it staged testimony? This can only be discovered in an investigation or trial.

Quote:

Why all the lies? The tribal tradition of demanding “blood money”. A February 2, 2004 BBC article explains the workings of the blood money system:

On the side of a road in a ramshackle tent tribal elders have gathered for a court case, but it is not an ordinary law court, it's a tribal court. The case defies logic - one brother has killed another, but the tribe they belonged to is blaming a rival tribe for the killing.

Their argument is that if there had not been a feud with the other tribe, the killing would not have taken place; they are now demanding $20,000 in blood money….

At the tribal court, the discussion is heated, but not about guilt or innocence. Through a complex network of tribal support, both sides know where they stand, now it is just a matter of agreeing the money.

Eventually the price is knocked down to $4,000 and a woman, her value to be determined in later negotiations.

For many Iraqis it's a system that works, and in a violent region recompense appears much more practical than locking someone away.

Quote:

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia describes blood money traditions throughout the Islamic world:

In Islamic and Arab traditions, blood money is the money paid by the killer or his family or clan to the family or the clan of the victim. It is unlawful for a believer to kill a believer except if it happens by accident. And he who kills a believer accidentally must free one Muslim slave and pay ‘Diyat’ to the heirs of the victim except if they forgive him. The tradition finds repeated endorsement in Islamic tradition; several instances are recorded in the Hadith, which are the acts of the Prophet Mohammad.

The Blood-Money tradition has found its way into legislation in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. Some of these countries also define, by lawful legislation, a hierarchy of rates for the lives of people; religious affiliation and gender are usually the main modulating factors for these Blood Money rates.

SHAME ON MURTHA and any and every American who doesn't give our soldiers the respect of presumptiom of innocence. Shame on all who would believe an Iraqi over an American well before all the facts come out. These same hypocrites will then tell you "I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS"....Oh really...are your sure? Seems to me you cannot tell that LIE any longer...shame on all who are described above.

***patsfan13*** · 06-04-2006, 09:35 PM

I wouldn't describe Front Page Mag as a liberal web site. The publisher is David Horowitz, whose parents were communist, David was a leader of SDS in the 60's and an anti war leader. He grew up and realized how toxic the left was for the country. He is hated by the left in this country for this. He particularly irritates the left on campus for pointing out how they have stifiled debate on American campus's. It is well researched, and written. Good find.