Americans in Iraq adopt local blood money custom

Every morning, dozens of Iraqis go to the Falluja city council headquarters and enter a room across the hall from the mayor's office. On the door, a notice invites residents to claim compensation for "damages caused by US armed forces by mistake or through negligence".


Some have had their cars impounded or their houses damaged in raids. But the most noteworthy are the claims of relatives of Iraqis killed by American soldiers.

"This compensation money will put an end to attacks against US soldiers by relatives of those killed by Americans," explains Taha Bdawi, the city's US-backed mayor. "This is a tribal, traditional society, where the principles of tha'r (revenge) and fidya (blood money) are still in force."

Tribal custom demands that for every man killed, four men from the enemy tribe must die, or one man if it was an accidental death. But a vendetta can be avoided through financial compensation - the current price tag is 1m Iraqi dinars (about £388) for an accidental killing and 4m dinars for premeditated murder.

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To date, the U.S. has spent around $12,000 on this issue...a relatively pawltry sum. As I recall, about 20% of the claims filed are dismissed by the U.S.

BTW, the $12,000 figure (I recall) could be a bit higher...but, not by much.

on edit: my figures are wrong. I don't recall where I got them originally. But, they're wrong. I guess I need a few days off. :sigh:

:crazy:

get more? Say $150,000 American money.

P

...for deaths incident to combat operations.