Coalition strategy led to hundreds of Iraqi civilian deaths: report

Hundreds of civilian deaths could have been avoided during the US-led invasion of Iraq had the military not used cluster bombs and indulged in opportunistic decapitation strikes against regime leaders, according to the UN's Human Rights Watch.

The use of cluster munitions in populated areas caused more civilian casualties "than any other factor" in the Coalition's conduct of major military operations in March and April, the Human Rights Watch said. The organisation claimed that US and British forces killed or wounded more than 1,000 civilians through the use of almost 13,000 cluster munitions. The bombs contained nearly two million submunitions, or bomblets –of which many did not explode and remain live in areas populated by ordinary Iraqis.

Meanwhile, 50 strikes against top Iraqi leaders failed to kill any of the intended targets, but instead killed dozens of civilians, the Human Rights Watch report claimed.

The US “decapitation” strategy relied on intercepts of senior Iraqi leaders' satellite phone calls along with corroborating intelligence that proved "inadequate", the report claimed. As a result, the US military could only locate targets within a 100-meter radius – which was "clearly inadequate precision in civilian neighbourhoods".

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said: “Coalition forces generally tried to avoid killing Iraqis who weren't taking part in combat. But the deaths of hundreds of civilians still could have been prevented.”

Armed forces are obliged to take all "feasible precautions" for avoiding civilian losses, and to refrain from attacks that are "indiscriminate" or where the expected civilian harm exceeds the military gain, the group said.

The 147-page report, 'Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq', also examined violations of international humanitarian law by Iraqi forces, including use of human shields, abuse of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, use of antipersonnel landmines, and placement of military objects in mosques and hospitals.

Elsewhere, a probe is to be launched into why one third of the first battalion of the new Iraqi army resigned yesterday.

US officials have said that the mass resignation of between 200 to 250 men of the 600-strong battalion, stemmed from a disagreement over pay.

Pentagon officials said that many soldiers were unhappy as they could make about $10 a month more if they entered other Iraqi security forces.

A Pentagon spokesperson dismissed the mass desertion as the actions of "one small unit in a massive security effort".

Around 160,000 Iraqis have signed up with security forces in the country.

There are 68,400 members of the Iraqi police, 65,300 members of the Facilities Protection Service, 13,200 members of the Civil Defense Corps and 12,500 members of the Border Police. Officials said no other security force has experienced the same problem as the new Iraqi army.

(gmcg)