Who killed Margaret Hassan?

[Conghaileach]

Leading journalist Robert Fisk asks: Who killed Margaret Hassan?
By Chris Marsden
18 November 2004

Leading Middle East commentator Robert Fisk has questioned just who is responsible for the apparent murder of aid worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq.

In a front-page article in the November 17 Independent newspaper, Fisk raises a number of important questions that throw doubt on the official version of events that Hassan was killed by Iraqi insurgents.

Fisk is a man whose opinions on Iraqi affairs should be taken seriously. Now a journalist for the Independent, he is an expert on the Middle East who has lived in Beirut for more than 25 years and wrote a book on the civil war there, Pity The Nation. He has written extensively on Iraq and the Israeli Palestinian conflict and is one of the most highly decorated British journalists, winning the Amnesty International UK Press Awards in 1998 and in 2000.

The kidnap of Margaret Hassan on October 19 created an understandable outcry and widespread consternation, particularly because she was an outspoken opponent of the US-led war and subsequent occupation of Iraq who had dedicated herself to the cause of the Iraqi people. Hassan had lived in Iraq since 1972 after meeting her husband Tahseen Ali Hassan when he was studying in Britain. She converted to Islam and took Iraqi citizenship. After the 1991 Persian Gulf War, she became a director of the humanitarian organisation Care International and a vocal opponent of United Nations sanctions.

That such a person had apparently been seized by an unnamed resistance group became an invaluable propaganda weapon for the British and US governments, with Prime Minister Tony Blair and others making public statements on what it revealed about the character of the forces opposed to the supposed efforts to establish a democratic government in Iraq.

Following the release of a tape showing a woman being shot through the back of the head, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that Hassan had "probably been murdered, although we cannot conclude this with complete certainty...

"To kidnap and kill anyone is inexcusable. But it is repugnant to commit such a crime against a woman who has spent most of her life working for the good of the people of Iraq,"

In his article "What price innocence in the anarchy of Iraq?" Fisk acknowledges that many will be forced by Hassan's possible death to question "how much further can we fall into the Iraqi pit?" But he continues, "For the bureaucrats and the western leaders who will today express their outrage and sorrow at her reported death, she had nothing but scorn."

He then enumerates a number of factual and political inconsistencies in the events surrounding Hassan's abduction.

Firstly, Fisk draws attention to earlier videos of Hassan released by her kidnappers (on October 19, 22 and 27) in which she is shown crying and pleading for the withdrawal of the UK's Black Watch regiment.

He notes, "In the background of these appalling pictures, there were none of the usual Islamic banners. There were none of the usual armed and hooded men. No Koranic recitations."

He goes on, "And when it percolated through to Fallujah and Ramadi that the mere act of kidnapping Margaret Hassan was close to heresy, the combined resistance groups of Fallujah-and the message genuinely came from them-demanded her release. So, incredibly, did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qa'ida man whom the Americans falsely claim to be leading the Iraqi insurrection-but who has very definitely been involved in kidnapping and beheading foreigners."

Fisk adds, "Other abducted women-the two Italian aid workers, for example-were freed when their captors recognised their innocence. But not Margaret Hassan, even though she spoke fluent Arabic and could explain her work to her captors in their own language."

Why would any group opposed to the occupation proceed so ruthlessly against Margaret Hassan given such widespread demands for her release, including a demonstration by Iraqis in Baghdad on October 25?

Fisk indicates one alternative grouping that could possibly have seized Hassan. He notes what he refers to as "one mysterious video that floated to the surface this year, a group of armed men promising to seize Zarqawi, claiming he was anti-Iraqi, politely referring to the occupation armies as the 'coalition forces.' This was quickly nicknamed the 'Allawi tape': after the US-appointed, ex-CIA agent and ex-Baathist who holds the title of 'interim Prime Minister' in Iraq, the same Allawi who fatuously claimed there were no civilian deaths in Fallujah."

More generally, Fisk concludes with remarks that ask the question: who gains from Margaret Hassan's death?

He writes, "So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder? What more ruthless way could there be of demonstrating to the world that America and Allawi's tinpot army were fighting 'evil' in Fallujah and the other Iraqi cities that are now controlled by Washington's enemies."

Fisk states that "nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan's death," and notes that Iraq is "awash with up to 20 insurgent groups" as well as "rival gangs of criminals seeking to extort money from hostage-taking":

"But still the question has to be answered: who killed Margaret Hassan?"

Should Hassan's death be confirmed, this is a question that must indeed be answered. And it is entirely legitimate to ask, as Fisk does, Cui Bono-who benefits?

See Also:
US media applauds destruction of Fallujah (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/fall-n17.shtml)
[17 November 2004]
Fallujah in US hands as uprising sweeps Sunni regions of Iraq (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/fall-n16.shtml)
[16 November 2004]


(Source (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/fisk-n18.shtml))

[Skeptic]

<<Fisk states that "nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan&#39;s death," and notes that Iraq is "awash with up to 20 insurgent groups" as well as "rival gangs of criminals seeking to extort money from hostage-taking">>

Good article Conghaileah, Robert Fisk may not be bold enought to say that it was Allawi and his ghouls who killed the brave Margaret Hassan, but many other people are putting forth that it was, Allawi, Coalition forces, U.S. black ops, or the Israelis. Don&#39;t forget the video of the behead of Nick Berg that was revealed in order to take the Abu Grahib torture scandal off the front lines of the U.S. press. That video included hooded men too fat to be Iraqis, standing at the U.S. forces costumary &#39;at ease&#39; position, carrying Israeli weapons and even included a few frames of an American soldier wearing a U.S. military campaign cap, poking his head into the scene and then quickly withdrawing it. What we all know is that the United Snakes is vicious and morally depraved enough to start the beheadings in Iraq with the Berg murder and to continue their cruel kidnappings and murder with this foul deed against a beloved International Aid head.



Who Killed Margaret Hassan? I Know

Sam Hamod

11/19/04 "ICH" -- We condemn the unjust, immoral and brutal killing of Mrs. Margaret Hassan in Iraq. This woman was an angel of mercy, a shining light to those who needed help for decades in Iraq. She stood up to Saddam Hussein and to the U.S.military, she wanted only to help the people of her adopted country.

We also do not believe any Muslims did this. There is an dictum in the Qur&#39;an which forbids the killing of women; also, the killing of hostages. Also, Muslims and Iraqis had nothing to gain by killing this innocent, God-like, saint of a woman.

Just as we learned in Law School at the University of Chicago, one must always look to see who benefits from a crime when you are trying to get to the motive and the perpetrator of the crime. The Iraqi resistance groups had nothing to gain by killing a woman who was trying to help the Iraqi people. Thus, we must look in the direction of those who had the most to gain by making the Iraqi resistance look bestial, cruel and vicious.

In this case, the Americans, Allawi and the Israelis, all of whom are running rampant through Iraq had the most to gain. By these nefarious deed, they could blame the Iraqi resistance fighters, or that myth that America has created, the famous "Zarqawi" or even a "Bin Laden group." Once again, the Iraqis knew the British would not pull out, that there was nothing to gain by holding this non-political person as a prisoner. Then, there is this other point, as most experts have concluded long ago, the Zarqawi pictured is not the real Zarqawi and is an American myth concocted to justify destroying Fallujah and other Iraqi cities and the civilians therein. In this case, even the alleged Zarqawi group called for her release and asked that she be turned over to them. Because it was most likely a zionist, American or Allawi plot, they did not dare come close to real resistance fighters, but kept her apart from them so that they could kill her and blame the Iraqi resistance. Something smells in Denmark, and most of the honest world, the thinking world knows it--except the American media (but I&#39;ll get to that a bit later).

To repeat myself, all the Iraqi resistance groups called for her release and it makes no sense that Iraqi resistance groups or their allies would have killed her. No, it had to be some group that wanted to kill her and use her death to "show the world that the Iraqi resistance fighters are devils," "that they would kill this angel of mercy shows how cruel and bestial they are."

But as usual, the American media points it fingers at Iraqi resistance groups, or Muslim groups, neither of would so such a thing to a person who had been aiding them for decades. Even her husband, in an interview broadcast on short wave radio, but never talked about in the American media, said he was sure it was not Iraqi fighters, but most likely American mercenaries, American dark ops, Allawi&#39;s people or Israelis.

We give our sincere condolences to the family and friends, the many thousands in Iraq and in the world, of the sainted Margaret Hassan, and we condemn to damnation those who did this evil and brutal deed. We also condemn the American media for not asking hard questions or using one iota of intelligence t figure this murder out. We are also sick of the "embedded journalists" who are nothing but flacks for lying military commanders, for Allawi and for the Bush propaganda machine--because of their cowardly lies and because of their unwillingness to search for the truth; we see them as guilty of being complicituous in this dreadful execution. Fie upon such liars as Judith Miller and others at the NY Times, at the Washington Post, at the International Herald Tribune, fie upon the cowardly reporters on CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox who turn a blind eye on the torture, destruction of Fallujah and other Iraqi cities and who don&#39;t have the good moral sense to condemn this American bestiality or to search for the real truth behind the brutal killing of Margaret Hassan.

In the name of God, the almighty, those who did this deed will suffer on the earth and on the Day of Judgement with eternal hellfire and suffering.

Dr. Sam Hamod is the editor of www.todaysalternativenews.com and an expert on the Middle East and Islam; he is also the former Director of The Islamic Center in Washington, DC; also, editor of 3rd World News in D.C. He may be reached at [email protected]


(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed

[fuerzasocialista]

We can only hope that transparency will come after this butchering job by the states and their puppet government in Iraq is defeated by the insurgency. I&#39;m sure that there are violations galore of the Geneva Convention and Bush and his cronies should be brought up on war crimes charges.