Which Way Freedom

                 —for Ali Fadhil

By Rudolph Lewis  

Yesterday they blasted their way

into the home of a journalist

firing bullets into the bedroom

where he, his wife, and child

were sleeping

Two months ago

he won a press award

They hooded

& took him for questioning

He was released hours later

He was investigating claims

tens of millions of dollars of funds

held by the Americans and British

had been misused or misappropriated

The troops said they were looking

for insurgents & seized video tapes

he had shot for TV Channel 4

Only a few days ago

before this raid

he told the authorities

what he was doing

and asked for an interview

about his findings

When the troops forced their way in
they fired into the bedroom

where Zina & Sarah were sleeping

Three soldiers came in

rolled him on to the floor

tied his hands. He asked them

what they looking for. The captain

with the blue eyes said, “Shut up!”

They blew three doors opened

smashed the house windows

trashed the furniture

damaged  the car. After a long

journey, they say with a smile, “It’s

a mistake in address. We apologize.”

Responses

Hi Rudy, this incident needs to be reviewed by the justice department and the FBI. Under our laws, No law enforcement personnel can justify using firearms or force except if their life is threatened. To blast into bedrooms, not identify who they are while firing weapons violates a number of approved procedures. But anything that occurs under the current presidential administration can only be illegally authorized under the "patriot act". --CHA

I ain't no alarmist. But things are getting funky and funkier. Mercenaries everywhere -- Rudy

posted  11 January 2006