It is easy to get numbed by reports of violence in Iraq and by stories about the lack of governance there. Or caught up in the debate over “its bad/its not so bad,” as suggested by Senator McCain’s visit on Sunday to an Iraqi market to declare “encouraging signs” after an hour in a protective vest – and accompanied by armed soldiers and armored vehicles.

In contrast, I was struck this week by a gripping radio interview with an Iraqi man, Saleem Amer, who serves as an interpreter for National Public Radio (NPR) in Baghdad and has become, himself, a journalist.

He tells the simple story of going to the market with his wife the week before. On the way, they see a group of kids playing soccer in their mixed Sunni/Shiite neighborhood. Suddenly, a group of men jump out of cars and gun down the young children, firing repeatedly. Saleem and his wife, hidden behind a tree, watch in horror:

“I start looking and they are shooting on the kids,” he said. “Eight of the kids fell already on the ground. The guys kept shooting — they just wanted to make sure that everybody is dead.” NPR News goes on to report that “The houses around the empty lot are owned by families of both sects. They have known each other for years. Until then, sectarian tensions had been kept in check, but the savagery of this attack sent them over the edge.”

It is worth listening to the radio interview by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro to hear his voice as he tells what happens next. Upon discovering the death of the children, their parents use arms to go after one another.

“And that is when I saw something that I will never forget in my whole life — they just went crazy,” Saleem said. “Fathers, brothers, they get quickly inside their houses, they take their weapons and they start shooting on their neighbors.” He then explains it turned into a sectarian free-for-all.

Worse, he reports that more men with guns have since arrived, strengthening the divisions between the Shiite and Sunni families. Without a government “its like living in a zoo,” says Saleem.

NPR’s efforts to get a government explanation of the original event has led to very little – only a report that the children had been victims of random shootings.

How do people seek remedies in such environments?

The story drives home the huge consequences for the people of Iraq when the government can not function and when there is little public information about the violence faced by many communities. Senator McCain is not yet walking in these people’s shoes.

With more American and Iraqi deaths reported over the weekend, it is clear that a desire to reduce the violence unites most people. The Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard is trying to identify the specific ways that US military actions can succeed at both their missions and reduce casualties and fatalities for civilians, whether strategic or tactical. The Center’s director, Sarah Sewall, runs pioneering workshops and research in this area, partnering with both US military leaders and human rights experts. Yet the US military has not reportedly collected data even in the area it can – on the civilian casualties of the war. As she wrote in 2005 in The Washington Post, however, the US military should collect data to gauge their impact on civilians, and thus, know which strategies work or not as the US strives to win hearts, minds, and battles. And to be better humanitarians.

That data would not substitute for the non-answer given NPR about their reporter’s horrific experience or his suggestion that Iraq “is about to explode.” One shudders to think about all the communities facing such zoo-like situations and knowing that no one may investigate such crimes or provide basic safety and security.
I hope that we hear more from Saleem Amer.

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3. War’s Brave New World
4. Getting History Right