Millions of dollars are spent searching for WMD in Iraq; they may not exist. When I was in Iraq looking for something that does (my daughter), I was captured by the US Army and held as a terrorist suspect for three weeks. Mr Bush, Mr Blair, search for the truth, not a lie. Where's Mr Daughter?
WMD - WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER ? WHERE'S MY DADDY ?
I ask 'Where's My Daughter'. She asks 'Where's My Daddy'. She exists, I exist, but WMD probably don't. Time to search for the truth; it's a lot cheaper that trying to prove a lie is true !
Millions of dollars are spent searching for WMD, things that probably don't exist in Iraq. When I went to Iraq to search for something that does, my daughter, I was captured by the US Army and held as a 'terrorist suspect', an 'ememy prisoner of war' and held under armed guard for three weeks at Baghdad Airport.
Mr Bush, Mr Blair, will you finally answer my question and divert some time to answering the REAL WMD question? WHERES MY DAUGHTER ?
Many of you will have seen this story unfold on Indymedia over the last few weeks. I'm the english guy who was captured by the US Army in Iraq while searching for my missing 2 year old daughter, a child I have never seen. Despite the Coalition Provisional Authority and the US Army knowing exactly why I was in Iraq and despite carrying 100% documentation, I was captured along with the Turkish Special Forces at Sulaimaniyah (North Iraq) on 4th July and held under armed guard for 24 hours each day for three weeks.
Thanks to all who have responded with messages of support and also to those who have warned me against making the trip to Washington DC to lobby the Whitehouse. In response to the many requests I have received, here is the full text of what exactly happened. The exact same text was sent (on the 17th September 2003) to President George Bush, Tony Blair and seven US Senators. No direct replies have been received from any of them; no-one wants to apologise and no-one is offering to help me find my missing daughter. No-one is prepared to answer this important 'WMD' question.
The US media have not carried this story and I want to know the real reason why? Of course I can guess, but I wonder if the fact that the grandfather of my child is a US Cabinet Member has anything to do with it?
I want nothing more than my daughter in my arms, but clearly, political and corporate advancement are more important that the life of an innocent little girl. I am afraid, but I will return to Iraq to find my child or death. You have a right to know the truth, before the corporate media distort it.
The text follows immediately below. If you have theory as to why the US media is thus far ignoring this story, then mail me on mto...@linuxmail.org. Thanks.
After receiving final clearance from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and making final arrangements for the otobus journey from Ankara, I
actually left the Turkish capital on the 12th of July, traveling overnight and arriving at Silopi the next day. I joined two Iraqi men who were returning home from Europe and shared a taxi cross the border at Harbor. The crossing and border formalities were very smooth; I was very pleased indeed that the faxes from the Turkish
Government had indeed arrived at the Police Chiefs Office there; I was allowed to enter north iraq after a relative short period of time. It is appropriate for me to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan and to Mr Alp Ay of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; both of who showed great humanity and kindness in
allowing me to enter Iraq.
At the Iraqi border the heat was intense, it really was, despite the time of my crossing been just around 17.00 hours. Our taxi took us to
a taxi terminal inside north iraq where we were dropped off. I said goodbye to the Turkish taxi driver and then tried to explain that I wanted to get to the nearest large town in order to catch a bus to Erbil. My intention was to go straight to this town as this is where the ICRC (Red Cross / Red Crescent) have their main office in North
Iraq. Once there I planned to register my case with them and gain their assistance in finding my daugter.
At the taxi station I met an Iraqi man who spoke good english and said that he'd been working in England for the past few years. After I had told him the reason I was in Iraqi he offered to take me to his home, look after me and help me find my daughter. At first I was a little nervous but eventually trusted him and agreed to go with him.
Within 10 kilometres of entering Iraq we saw an American Humvee vehicle on patrol..We were all surprised how close this US Army vehicle
was to the Turkish border.
The name of the Iraqi man who helped me was Rafiq; he lived in Sulaymaniyah. On the way there we drove through the towns of Mosul, Kirkuk, Erbil and then on to Sulaimayiyah where I was looked after very well indeed.
The hospitality in this Iraqi home was fantastic; everything I wanted was provided and they never asked me for any money whatsoever. They were very concerned about my story and admired my courage in entering Iraq to find my daughter and to give out soft toys to Iraqi children.
In the house lived several small children so I was happy to give some toys to them. The Iraqi man (Rafiq) and his whole family helped me very much. In his car we drove all over the north of Iraq, searching many areas and villages for my daughter and for information about where she might be. We also registered my missing daughter /
dead girlfriend at the ICRC (Red Cross / Red Crescent) by visiting their offices in both Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. I made an appeal for
information about my daughter on local radio and television and also used the internet each day to keep up to date with events in Iraq and also to contact the media in the UK and those who were helping me.
Each day I saw American Army vehicles and spotted them throughout the area, especially in Kirkuk. Often we would see US military operations and saw some local men kicked and beaten at the side of the road.
Some locals welcomed the American presence but others did not trust them at all.
On the 4th of July at 15.00 my friend drove me to the Internet Cafe as usual. I used the internet every day; it was very important for me to keep in touch with friends and with those who were helping me. I had much to do that day so I told him to come back and collect me at 19.00. I logged on but the server crashed at 15.20. At 15.22 I left the Internet Cafe and decided to go shopping. Accidentally I had broken a picture frame in the house and thought it would be a kind
gesture to buy a new one for my friend and his family. I walked down the main street (a dual carriageway) searching for a suitable shop,
struggling in the afternoon heat. On my left before me was a green sign. pointing the way to a an official building that dealt with foreigners. I decided to visit this office and register details of my missing daughter and to ask their help in finding her.
I turned left off the main road. The heat was very intense and the road was straight before I came to a nice area where flowers grew. I heard a lot of shouting and gunfire ahead but decided to carry on towards the office as the gunfire stopped. I walked on and approached a road junction where one road veered off left and the road I was on bent around the the right. Near this junction I saw soldiers but I did not know the uniform they were wearing. They were dressed in brown military uniforms: I later found out that they were PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) soldiers. They were fully armed with rifles and looking all around very carefully with their guns at the ready. I was not sure what was happening but they didn't smile at me; they looked very worried but I continued, seeing hundreds of people
at the side of the road junction, all without smiles and all still and silent.
I continued walking but slowed down and smiled at the soldiers. If they had any qeuestions about why I was there then I would be able to answer them. Always when I went out of the house I carried ALL documents relating to my trip. This included all communications with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Erdogans office, faxes to George Busg and Tony Blair, my passort, letters from my Iraqi girlfriend to me, newspaper articles about the search for my daughter, a photograph of my daughter and a picture of me handing out toys to some Iraqi children who I met in Syria (Damascus) when I tried to cross into Iraq from there. I also had a copy of an email the American Embassy had sent to Paul Bremers office in Baghdad (US Administrator of Iraq / head of Coalition Provisional Authority); it told him why I was in Iraq and was also sent to about 8 US Military Units in Iraq. I had 100% ocumentation.
Just around the corner I then saw that the road was blocked off by 5 or 6 American Army humvee vechles. There were very many soldiers who were clearly American with several PUK soldiers on the edge of this operation, perhaps securing the area. All soldiers were very alert and pointing their guns at a building that everyone was staring at.
The humvee vehicles were fully armed with weapons and all pointed them towards this building. (This building was the Turkish Bureau of course, but I didn't know this at the time).
What was happening was none of my business; I had no interest whatsoever in this war and had already said in media interviews that I did not support it; I am infact a pacifist.
I recognised that it was not a good situation but continued to smile at the people watching and continued to the office gate. The men outside said it was closed so I said 'thank you' and turned around to walk back the way I came. They men at the door were very unfriendly and quite hostile; I didn't understand this but I was soon to find out.
As I turned away to walk away slowly two PUK soldiers rushed towards me with their guns pointing at me. They grabbed my arms very tightly
and dragged me across the road very quickly. They were hurting me but I tried to stay calm, explaining that I was English, that I had my
passport and was searching for my little girl. They ignored me, dragging me further and refusing to listen. They told me to shut up and gestured ahead.
As I looked up I saw another humvee and more American soldiers. Many weapons were pointed at me and there were many angry looking faces. Suddenly it was time for me to stop smiling and realise that my life was now under threat. The PUK soldiers pushed me along and then stood me before a soldier who looked about 18 years old. The PUK men would not let me go. I explained to the American soldiers that I was english and had 100% docuements to prove my story. They too refused to listen and told me to 'shut the fuck up'. They grabbed me and took me away; all the time weapons were pointed at me and I thought they were going to kill me.
We turned a corner to the back of a house which had a black metal gate.I was shocked to see many more American soldiers, all with weapons pointed and fingers on the triger. The weapons pointed at me which was just crazy - why didn't they check my documents and find out that even Paul Bremer knew about my mission to find my daughter.
I was shocked to see a US Army truck full of men with plastic bags on their heads and their hand tied behind their backs. This truck was parked just outside the gate and was a very heavy and serious situation. It was heavily guarded by American soldiers and had two humvees pointing weapons at it too. Some soldiers were shouting at
the men in the truck and I saw one soldier spit at them. They were been treated as if they had comitted some serious criminal act and I feared for their future. As I got close to the truck one man was pulled out, thrown to the floor and kicked in the head while three other soldiers kicked him in the stomach. He was then spat and called a “Bin Laden motherfucker
Dossier G20
Nous vous offrons plusieurs reportages indépendants et témoignages...
Ceci est un média alternatif de publication ouverte. Le collectif CMAQ, qui gère la validation des contributions sur le Indymedia-Québec, n'endosse aucunement les propos et ne juge pas de la véracité des informations. Ce sont les commentaires des Internautes, comme vous, qui servent à évaluer la qualité de l'information. Nous avons néanmoins une
Politique éditoriale
, qui essentiellement demande que les contributions portent sur une question d'émancipation et ne proviennent pas de médias commerciaux.
This is an alternative media using open publishing. The CMAQ collective, who validates the posts submitted on the Indymedia-Quebec, does not endorse in any way the opinions and statements and does not judge if the information is correct or true. The quality of the information is evaluated by the comments from Internet surfers, like yourself. We nonetheless have an
Editorial Policy
, which essentially requires that posts be related to questions of emancipation and does not come from a commercial media.