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May 30, 2006
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush welcomed
the new Iraqi ambassador to the United States at a White House
credentialing ceremony Tuesday, saying, "The United States stands
ready to help the Iraqi democracy succeed."
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer
spoke later in the day with Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie about U.S.
military investigations into alleged killings of Iraqi civilians in
Haditha last year by U.S. Marines.
BLITZER: What do
you know about what happened at Haditha?
SUMAIDAIE: Well, I
heard the report very soon after the event in November from some
relatives. And as it happened, my own security detail [man] comes from
that neighborhood. And his home is hardly a hundred yards from the
home which was hit.
And he was in touch
through the Internet with his folks and neighbors. And the situation
which he reported to me was that it was a cold-blooded killing.
BLITZER: By who?
SUMAIDAIE: By the
Marines, I believe. Now, at that time, I dismissed the initial reports
as incredible. I found it unbelievable, frankly.
BLITZER: You were
at the United Nations then?
SUMAIDAIE: I was
at the United Nations, and I found it unbelievable that the Marines
would go in and kill members of a family who had nothing to do with
combat. But I was under pressure by my friends and relatives to raise
this issue.
Without any evidence in
my hand, I didn't really want to make any claims that I could not
substantiate. That was, remember, before any video came out. It was
just word of mouth, people telling me what happened.
And I know the power of
the rumor and the power of allegations without foundation. But in this
case, it was more than that.
BLITZER: Well, you
didn't raise it?
SUMAIDAIE: I did
not raise it. I noted it. But I did not raise it. I raised it
unofficially by -- through private conversations.
BLITZER: But even
months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha
in a separate battle involving United States Marines.
SUMAIDAIE: Well,
that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house
searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the
door for them.
His mother, his siblings
were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he
was shot.
BLITZER: Who shot
him?
SUMAIDAIE: A
member of the Marines.
BLITZER: Why did
they shoot him?
SUMAIDAIE: Well,
they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to
believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the
boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university.
Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and
intellectual work.
Totally unbelievable.
And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon
which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it
had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to
them.
BLITZER: So what
you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what
you're saying, by United States Marines?
SUMAIDAIE: I
believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed
unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place
after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there
was no unlawful killing.
I would like further
investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last
investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.
[Gen. George Casey, the
top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's
kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the
first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but
it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.
BLITZER: Did you
raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at
the White House presenting your credentials?
SUMAIDAIE: No, I
did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much
wider brief that I have here.
BLITZER: But what
I hear you saying -- and I don't want to put words in your mouth -- is
there maybe, in Haditha, at least, a pattern to what happened to your
nephew, what happened apparently in November when these other Marines
went in?
Are there any other
examples of cold-blooded murder that you are familiar with in Haditha?
SUMAIDAIE: I am
familiar with at least one other killing of three youths, which
happened very soon after the killing of my cousin. They were in a car.
They were unarmed, I believe. And they were shot.
Now, in that case, there
could be possibly [an] excuse or explanation that the Marines were
afraid. They were approaching them too fast, or whatever. But the
details as they were related to me were such that there was no
possibility of misunderstanding.
But in all these
situations, you know, you have the word of the community, people
around, civilians around -- and you have the word of the individuals
in the Marines. ...
When it comes to
comparing these two sources, I mean, if my uncle, whom I have known
all my life since childhood, and I know he would not make up stories,
and I know he would not lie, and I know what is at stake is the life
of his grandson, then, you know, I know which word to take.
BLITZER: Do you
have confidence the U.S. military will do a thorough investigation?
SUMAIDAIE:
Ultimately, possibly, yes. But in situations like this, the
ramifications are so profound that they -- they would initially take
the attitude that they hope this would go away.
If it can be swept under
the rug, it would. But when -- when it goes up higher in the
hierarchy, then there are people who recognize the potential damage of
cover-up, and there is a better possibility of it being opened up.
BLITZER: So you're
concerned there could be a cover-up?
SUMAIDAIE: There
is always a concern against cover-up. But let me say this, Wolf,
events like this, Abu Ghraib, killing, intentional killing like this,
... as I said in my statement at the time in July of last year, ...
are a betrayal to the American people. They're a betrayal to what the
Marines are doing and what the American Army is doing.
On the whole, the United
States and the military are doing an honorable job on an honorable
project, which is of immense potential benefit for the United States
and for us. Such crimes detract from that.
The focus in all the
international media has been on these things, not on the good things.
And I do believe that for every bad apple, bad Marine, there are
thousands and thousands of good -- good ones doing [a] good job, doing
the best they can under difficult circumstances.
However, it is absolutely
imperative that we remove the bad apples and we expose them and we
don't try to cover them up.
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