Team Infidel
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Washington Times
February 27, 2008
Pg. 1
Sum covers 'collateral' damage; number compensated unknown
By Sharon Behn, The Washington Times
The Pentagon has paid more than $40 million to Iraqis whose family members were accidentally killed or their property destroyed by coalition military action since the beginning of 2005, according to interviews and documents that provide a glimpse into the extent of continuing civilian casualties in the conflict.
The condolence payments are meant to mitigate anger against the U.S. military as it works to reduce violence in Iraq. They are in keeping with a system in Iraqi Muslim culture in which a payment for damage or death eliminates the need for revenge.
Though they have spent the money, military officials say they can't account for how many victims it covered. "The specific numbers of people or families compensated by the U.S. military and [coalition forces] is not known," military spokesman Maj. Winfield S. Danielson III told The Washington Times. TWT Gallery + Audio: Reporter Sharon Behn discusses condolence payments and interviews Iraqi Red Crescent
The lack of oversight concerns many who worry that inconsistency in the way payments are made can negate the success of a well-intended program.
"When records of condolences are kept accurately, they tell us how many people who need help actually got it, and how many didn't. Those numbers should be important to the U.S. military," said Sarah Holewinski, executive director of the Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict (CIVIC), an American advocacy group.
"Did a family in Baghdad get the same as a family in Anbar? Who was ignored? Where did the money go? Based on their record-keeping, I can't imagine they know the answers to those questions," she said.
The payments — which provide the first rough measure of confirmed "collateral" damage during the war — are capped at $2,500 for a loss of life and $1,500 for a loss of property. Payments can also be made for personal injuries.
Based on those figures, the $42.4 million paid since January 2005 could account for as many as 16,960 deaths, or 28,266 homes destroyed.
But Defense Department officials say they have never compiled a comprehensive record of the payments, which are handled at the commander level, or broken them down by category of claim.
When a congressional office asked for a breakdown of the payments into deaths, injuries and property damage, the Defense Department said it would "take months" to fulfill the request, a House congressional member said.
The Iraqi ambassador the United States, Samir Sumaida'ie, whose 21-year-old cousin was killed by a U.S. Marine during a search of his family's home near the town of Haditha in 2005, declined to comment on the issue.
Maj. Alayne Conway, deputy public affairs officer for the 3rd Infantry Division based in Baghdad, said soldiers carry claims cards when on missions. When an accident occurs, a soldier fills out the cards and hands them to the individuals involved.
Those individuals then make their way to a "claims intake office" and submit the cards to the brigade involved. The claim is investigated by Judge Advocate General officers, and a payment is made if the claim is found to be legitimate.
Said Hakki, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent in Baghdad, said the claim process is slow, but he applauded the effort to offset the cost of war to those caught in the crossfire.
"It is very difficult in a war zone like Iraq to apply rules," he said, but the condolence money, when paid, "absorbs some resentment."
But many Iraqis who have received the payments are reluctant to talk about them, fearing they will become targets for insurgents or robbers.
Feras, a young Baghdad resident who asked that his full name not be published, said he has heard of many Iraqis who received condolence payments, but those living "in hostile areas couldn't go to the Americans to ask them for a payment."
"Some people refuse ... payment because they will feel insulted if they took such money," he added.
Others Iraqis say they didn't receive payments because they were unable to complete the paperwork properly.
Hussein Ali, 42, a father of nine children, was shot and seriously wounded by U.S. soldiers a year ago when he got out of his bus after being ordered to pull over by an American convoy. He told his story to The Washington Times through an Iraqi interpreter based in Baghdad.
Mr. Ali was rushed on a U.S. helicopter to the American-run hospital in Baghdad's secure Green Zone, where doctors amputated his right leg.
Although he was given an artificial leg, Mr. Ali said, he did not receive any money because he did not have the correct documentation when he arrived at the appropriate U.S. office at the Baghdad airport to make his claim.
No figures are available on the percentage of claims that are turned down, and persons familiar with the program said it varies widely from unit to unit.
"The program was started from scratch and it was not well administered. It was very uneven," said Tim Rieser, a top foreign policy aide to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat.
"Some [Judge Advocates General were] awarding every dollar they were given, while others did very little. There were few guidelines and it was too arbitrary."
Mr. Rieser said the system has been improved but still lacks adequate oversight. "Our JAG officers can't be forensic investigators. They need to be able to use judgment," he said.
But, he said, "We need to know how many claims are filed, whether for death, injury or property damage, what the circumstances were, how many claims are awarded, and for how much. Otherwise, how can we know if the program is working properly?"
Poor accounting for the condolence payments has been an issue at least since May 2007, when the Government Accountability Office objected that Defense Department reports do not differentiate among the categories of payment.
The U.S. Army comptroller's office subsequently said it had issued "revised guidance which will facilitate accurate reporting from the field."
Even the total amount of the payments is the subject of some confusion.
A Jan. 30 report by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR), said a total of $33.65 million had been appropriated by Congress and distributed in condolence payments under the Commander's Emergency Response Program over the four years since the start of 2004.
Pentagon officials provided the higher total — $42.4 million over three years from the start of 2005 — after requests from The Washington Times and a member of Congress. Neither the Pentagon nor the auditor's office could account for the discrepancy.
"We are literally just reporting it as we receive it. So we are not really in a place to comment on it," said Kristine Belisle at the SIGIR office in Washington.
According to Mr. Bowen's report, payments under the condolence program spiked in fiscal year 2005, when $14.58 million was handed out. The figures provided to a congressional office by the Pentagon last week put the total for that year at $19.7 million.
Maj. Danielson, the military spokesman, could not explain the spike in 2005, but CIVIC analysts and a former JAG officer for the Army said a lot was spent following two major military campaigns in Fallujah, in western Anbar province.
Press reports at the time said some 300 Iraqis were killed in the first week of the Marines' 2005 siege of the city. An earlier battle took place in 2004.
"In Anbar province, they sometimes make bulk payments," said Jon Tracy, a former army captain who was in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and now is studying at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In his experience, Mr. Tracy said, the condolence payment program includes records of every payment made and a separate memo signed by the brigade commander or higher.
Mr. Tracy said that during one year in Iraq with the 2nd Brigade 1st Armored Division, he processed well over 1,000 claims for compensation from Iraqis. But, he said, each unit set down its own rules regarding claims and how they were addressed.
The U.S. military did not release any documents detailing claims for civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan until April 2007, after a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Even then, CIVIC said, the documents released by the military covered only a portion of the claims filed from 2004 to 2006. The group said most of the files consist of only the original claims form, with no medical reports or death certificates. Others do not detail specific instances or harm suffered.
Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a spokesman with the Pentagon's Public Affairs Office, said that because "every case is unique," the military might not be able to provide a standard answer as to how long a claim takes, what the average payment may be, or how the military distinguishes false claims.
Sara Carter contributed to this report.
February 27, 2008
Pg. 1
Sum covers 'collateral' damage; number compensated unknown
By Sharon Behn, The Washington Times
The Pentagon has paid more than $40 million to Iraqis whose family members were accidentally killed or their property destroyed by coalition military action since the beginning of 2005, according to interviews and documents that provide a glimpse into the extent of continuing civilian casualties in the conflict.
The condolence payments are meant to mitigate anger against the U.S. military as it works to reduce violence in Iraq. They are in keeping with a system in Iraqi Muslim culture in which a payment for damage or death eliminates the need for revenge.
Though they have spent the money, military officials say they can't account for how many victims it covered. "The specific numbers of people or families compensated by the U.S. military and [coalition forces] is not known," military spokesman Maj. Winfield S. Danielson III told The Washington Times. TWT Gallery + Audio: Reporter Sharon Behn discusses condolence payments and interviews Iraqi Red Crescent
The lack of oversight concerns many who worry that inconsistency in the way payments are made can negate the success of a well-intended program.
"When records of condolences are kept accurately, they tell us how many people who need help actually got it, and how many didn't. Those numbers should be important to the U.S. military," said Sarah Holewinski, executive director of the Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict (CIVIC), an American advocacy group.
"Did a family in Baghdad get the same as a family in Anbar? Who was ignored? Where did the money go? Based on their record-keeping, I can't imagine they know the answers to those questions," she said.
The payments — which provide the first rough measure of confirmed "collateral" damage during the war — are capped at $2,500 for a loss of life and $1,500 for a loss of property. Payments can also be made for personal injuries.
Based on those figures, the $42.4 million paid since January 2005 could account for as many as 16,960 deaths, or 28,266 homes destroyed.
But Defense Department officials say they have never compiled a comprehensive record of the payments, which are handled at the commander level, or broken them down by category of claim.
When a congressional office asked for a breakdown of the payments into deaths, injuries and property damage, the Defense Department said it would "take months" to fulfill the request, a House congressional member said.
The Iraqi ambassador the United States, Samir Sumaida'ie, whose 21-year-old cousin was killed by a U.S. Marine during a search of his family's home near the town of Haditha in 2005, declined to comment on the issue.
Maj. Alayne Conway, deputy public affairs officer for the 3rd Infantry Division based in Baghdad, said soldiers carry claims cards when on missions. When an accident occurs, a soldier fills out the cards and hands them to the individuals involved.
Those individuals then make their way to a "claims intake office" and submit the cards to the brigade involved. The claim is investigated by Judge Advocate General officers, and a payment is made if the claim is found to be legitimate.
Said Hakki, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent in Baghdad, said the claim process is slow, but he applauded the effort to offset the cost of war to those caught in the crossfire.
"It is very difficult in a war zone like Iraq to apply rules," he said, but the condolence money, when paid, "absorbs some resentment."
But many Iraqis who have received the payments are reluctant to talk about them, fearing they will become targets for insurgents or robbers.
Feras, a young Baghdad resident who asked that his full name not be published, said he has heard of many Iraqis who received condolence payments, but those living "in hostile areas couldn't go to the Americans to ask them for a payment."
"Some people refuse ... payment because they will feel insulted if they took such money," he added.
Others Iraqis say they didn't receive payments because they were unable to complete the paperwork properly.
Hussein Ali, 42, a father of nine children, was shot and seriously wounded by U.S. soldiers a year ago when he got out of his bus after being ordered to pull over by an American convoy. He told his story to The Washington Times through an Iraqi interpreter based in Baghdad.
Mr. Ali was rushed on a U.S. helicopter to the American-run hospital in Baghdad's secure Green Zone, where doctors amputated his right leg.
Although he was given an artificial leg, Mr. Ali said, he did not receive any money because he did not have the correct documentation when he arrived at the appropriate U.S. office at the Baghdad airport to make his claim.
No figures are available on the percentage of claims that are turned down, and persons familiar with the program said it varies widely from unit to unit.
"The program was started from scratch and it was not well administered. It was very uneven," said Tim Rieser, a top foreign policy aide to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat.
"Some [Judge Advocates General were] awarding every dollar they were given, while others did very little. There were few guidelines and it was too arbitrary."
Mr. Rieser said the system has been improved but still lacks adequate oversight. "Our JAG officers can't be forensic investigators. They need to be able to use judgment," he said.
But, he said, "We need to know how many claims are filed, whether for death, injury or property damage, what the circumstances were, how many claims are awarded, and for how much. Otherwise, how can we know if the program is working properly?"
Poor accounting for the condolence payments has been an issue at least since May 2007, when the Government Accountability Office objected that Defense Department reports do not differentiate among the categories of payment.
The U.S. Army comptroller's office subsequently said it had issued "revised guidance which will facilitate accurate reporting from the field."
Even the total amount of the payments is the subject of some confusion.
A Jan. 30 report by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR), said a total of $33.65 million had been appropriated by Congress and distributed in condolence payments under the Commander's Emergency Response Program over the four years since the start of 2004.
Pentagon officials provided the higher total — $42.4 million over three years from the start of 2005 — after requests from The Washington Times and a member of Congress. Neither the Pentagon nor the auditor's office could account for the discrepancy.
"We are literally just reporting it as we receive it. So we are not really in a place to comment on it," said Kristine Belisle at the SIGIR office in Washington.
According to Mr. Bowen's report, payments under the condolence program spiked in fiscal year 2005, when $14.58 million was handed out. The figures provided to a congressional office by the Pentagon last week put the total for that year at $19.7 million.
Maj. Danielson, the military spokesman, could not explain the spike in 2005, but CIVIC analysts and a former JAG officer for the Army said a lot was spent following two major military campaigns in Fallujah, in western Anbar province.
Press reports at the time said some 300 Iraqis were killed in the first week of the Marines' 2005 siege of the city. An earlier battle took place in 2004.
"In Anbar province, they sometimes make bulk payments," said Jon Tracy, a former army captain who was in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and now is studying at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In his experience, Mr. Tracy said, the condolence payment program includes records of every payment made and a separate memo signed by the brigade commander or higher.
Mr. Tracy said that during one year in Iraq with the 2nd Brigade 1st Armored Division, he processed well over 1,000 claims for compensation from Iraqis. But, he said, each unit set down its own rules regarding claims and how they were addressed.
The U.S. military did not release any documents detailing claims for civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan until April 2007, after a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Even then, CIVIC said, the documents released by the military covered only a portion of the claims filed from 2004 to 2006. The group said most of the files consist of only the original claims form, with no medical reports or death certificates. Others do not detail specific instances or harm suffered.
Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a spokesman with the Pentagon's Public Affairs Office, said that because "every case is unique," the military might not be able to provide a standard answer as to how long a claim takes, what the average payment may be, or how the military distinguishes false claims.
Sara Carter contributed to this report.