Salon: "I know God will hate me for this, but God is unfair."

[kskiska]

On May 18, 21-year-old Rasheed Sahib, a U.S. G.I. and a Muslim, was fatally shot in the chest by a member of his unit in Iraq. His mother doesn't know how she'll go on.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- In the early evening of May 18, 40-year-old Fizoon Ashraf was cooking steaks in the small kitchen of her Brooklyn home when there was a knock at the front door. Her two youngest children -- Safraz, age 7, and Shavana, 10, jumped up from the TV to answer it while she continued draining vegetables over the sink.

They returned to the kitchen, confused. "Mom," Shavana said, "two strangers dressed in uniforms like Rasheed are at the door."

That was all Fizoon needed to hear to know something very bad had happened to her son, 22-year-old Rasheed Sahib. Fizoon's eldest, and a specialist with the Army's 4th Infantry Division, Rasheed had shipped out to Iraq on April 1. Fizoon had been deeply against his going; she worried constantly about his safety and about his being so far away from his family. Two days before he left, she had demanded, "How will I know if something bad happens to you?"

(snip)

Since President Bush declared the end of major hostilities in Iraq on May 1, 149 American troops have been killed. But Rasheed Sahib's death is something of an anomaly. He was fatally shot in the chest by another soldier in the unit who was cleaning his gun. While a criminal investigation by senior Army officials is still underway, the Department of Defense has so far declared the incident an accident. Rasheed's family isn't convinced. They worry the Army is withholding the truth from them and that perhaps Rasheed was even targeted because he was a Muslim.

"My son is being treated like no one," Fizoon says now, her voice breaking. "But he is someone to me. There have been hundreds of deaths and the government says it will help families, but no one is trying to help us. Bring the truth to me! That's the least you can do for me!"

more…
http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/09/10/sahib/index.html

[benfranklin1776]

1. That was a heartbreaking article.

What makes it worse is it seemed that the family was being kept in the dark with few details available to them about what really happened. Methinks they should talk with their Congressman posthaste to stop the Pentagon merrygoround of obfuscation and get some answers. They also need a support network to help them through this. One would hope that the Veterans Administration would have help for families coping with this but since veterans themselves are having difficulties getting the services they need thanks to budget cuts I am not optimistic.

The circumstances of his death are damn peculiar to say the least. Shot by someone cleaning their weapon. You hear this again and again and again. Doesn't anyone unload the damn things before cleaning them??

[i have issues]

2. Saddest thing i've read...

today. :-(

[lcordero]

3. THIS IS GARBAGE

Clearing a weapon is a customary safety measure that is done when entering a camp, barracks, dining facility or entering an armsroom area.
If a person is CLEANING a weapon in the first place then the weapon is going to be DISASSEMBLED. Ms.Fizoon is being fed a bunch of SHIT.

On edit: there is no excuse for carrying a bullet in the chamber.

[benfranklin1776]

4. Thank you for confirming that. I rather had the same reaction myself.

What you say makes infinitely more sense than the crap she is being fed.

To wit, to quote from the article:

"According to the Pentagon, one of Rasheed's fellow soldiers (whose
name has not yet been released to the public, or to Rasheed's family) was cleaning a gun that
accidentally discharged. The bullet entered Rasheed's chest and killed him, although it has yet
to be revealed if he died immediately."


* * * * *

"According to Marc Raimondi, spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division,
Rasheed's death is part of an ongoing investigation. "We have a lot of pieces of the puzzle
together, but not all, although I fully anticipate we will," he says. "We have a very, very good
idea of what happened and who is involved."

Asked if Rasheed may have been targeted because he was Muslim, or whether his death may
not have been accidental, Raimondi declines to speculate. "At this point in time, we have no
reason to believe it was anything but a tragic occurrence, but there won't be any questions left
unasked by our agents. I understand the family's desire to have every bit of information they
can. They deserve no less. And I can assure them that we are doing everything in our power
to get them the answers they want."

[kskiska]

5. There was no mention

of anything from the White House – no call, no communication of any kind. Where are those hugs?