Two days of brutality in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, made it the most violent epicentre of the insurgency.
It became the scene of the shocking killings of American mercenaries and two major battles which destroyed the city.
The first shooting was on April 28, just days before US president George W Bush made his "mission accomplished" speech on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
Baghdad had fallen and dictator Saddam Hussein was on the run.
As many as 18 unarmed students were shot dead and scores wounded outside a school as they protested against US forces' conduct in the town.
It seems nobody mentioned it to Bush before he made his notorious speech.
After we heard of the school shooting, myself and photographer Julian Andrews witnessed a follow-up protest at the airborne forces' main Fallujah base.
US troops once again opened fire, killing two - one just yards from us, his blood staining the dust.
We returned to the scene and the city's most prominent tribal leader kindly agreed to host us.
Sheikh Ali Hammad Al-Mehamdi is widely respected in Iraq and his clan is the biggest and most important in Fallujah. One local said of the April 2003 killings: "This was a slaughter of innocents - we remember every detail of those incidents. Fallujah will never forget our blood spilling on these streets."
We were the only newspaper team there for a second demonstration, again unarmed, at the US base. As the crowd of mostly young men hurled flip-flops at a passing US Humvee patrol, a young soldier opened fire with a .50 calibre machine gun.
Troops on the rooftops of the base then fired into the crowd with assault rifles, killing another two boys and seriously wounding 18.
この記事は Daily Record の June 30, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Daily Record の June 30, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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