Shooting Gallery

At 9 p.m., an electrical transformer blew up, plunging the neighborhood into darkness. American soldiers, apparently fearing a bomb attack, went on alert. Within 45 minutes, six Iraqis trying to get home before the 11 p.m. curfew were shot and killed by U.S. forces. Anwaar Kawaz, 36, lost her husband and three of four children. “We kept shouting, ‘We’re a family! Don’t shoot!’ But no one listened. They kept shooting” … After the soldiers opened up at near point-blank range from the safety of their check-point, filling the family Volkswagen with holes, they refused to assist the wounded, who were left to bleed to death, despite the moaning cries of their victims. People rushing to assist were driven off by machine-gun fire.