Blackwater killed my son

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

On 16 September 2007 private security guards employed by the American firm Blackwater opened fire on civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed, and another 20 injured. The Blackwater guards, who were escorting a convoy from the American embassy, claimed that they had come under attack from insurgents, but eye-witnesses and Iraqi offficials quickly dismissed that version of events. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Mohammed Kinani who was driving through the area at the time, and whose 9-year-old son Ali, was shot dead by the Americans.

Photo: An Iraqi looks at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad on 16 September 2007 (Credit ALI YUSSEF/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless
0:06.8	searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the
0:11.8	telly we share what we've been watching
0:14.0	Cladie Aide.
0:16.0	Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
0:19.0	Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
0:21.0	And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less
0:24.9	searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service
0:40.3	first-hand accounts of events that have shaped our world.
0:44.0	I'm Mike Lanchin.
0:45.7	On September 16, 2007, 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed in Central Baghdad by American security guards employed
0:55.9	by the US private security company Blackwater.
0:59.9	The shooting led to a surge in anger against the ongoing US occupation.
1:05.0	Among the dead was a nine-year-old boy, Ali Kinnani.
1:09.3	I've been speaking to his father, Mohammed, about the terrible events of that day.
1:14.0	Tell me a little bit about Ali. What was he like?
1:20.0	My son Ali like every kid is like nine years old but he have something special.
1:28.0	I don't know he very close to me like when he he wants something from his brothers okay I'm go I will tell my father like he
1:36.5	have power like he have a green light from me to do whatever he wants which often happens
1:41.4	with the youngest yeah, you're right.
1:44.0	He's with God. He's with God. He's happy there. I'm sure he's happy there.
1:51.0	But my heart bleeding always because I lose him.
	...

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