Robert Fisk has written a harrowing account of one Iraqi family’s ordeal at the hands of foreign mercenaries, in today’s Independent.
What happened to the children of Marou Awanis, when she took 40 bullets from an Australian security firm, is a sobering reminder of the human tragedy gripping that country.
The family – who lost their father a few years ago but have relatives in the UK – boarded a flight to Jordan on the understanding they may be able to get British visas from our embassy in Amman.
They were turned away at arrivals – without even being allowed to speak to their uncle, who was at the airport to greet them.
And the response from their mother’s killers?

The Australian “security” company whose employees killed Mrs Awanis and her friend – “executed” might be a better word for it, because that is the price of driving too close to armed Westerners in Baghdad these days – expressed its “regrets”…
Westerners in Baghdad – especially those who kill the innocent – are once they are known, rich in regrets. But they are less keen to ensure that the bereaved they leave behind are cared for.

Nice. Makes you really proud to be Western.