Abed Hamed Mowhoush | |
|---|---|
| Native name | عبد حمد مهاوش |
| Born | (1947-07-19)19 July 1947 |
| Died | 26 November 2003(2003-11-26) (aged 56) |
| Allegiance |  Baathist Iraq |
| Branch |  Iraqi Air Force |
| Years of service | 1969–2003 |
| Rank |  Major-generalAir vice-marshal |
| Unit | No.6 Transport Squadron(An-12 ) |
| Commands | Transport and Strategic Airlift Command Eastern Air Command No. 4 Transport Group |
| Battles / wars | Iran–Iraq War First Gulf War |
Abed Hamed Mowhoush (Arabic:عبد حمد مهاوش) was an Iraqiair vice-marshal believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of theIraqi Air Force during the regime ofSaddam Hussein immediately prior to the2003 Invasion of Iraq, until his surrender toUnited States forces on 10 November 2003. He died on 26 November 2003 while in U.S. custody at theAl-Qaim detention facility approximately 200 miles (320 km) northwest ofBaghdad, following a 16-day period of detention.
Mowhoush was commissioned as a heavy transport and airlift pilot officer in 1969 and commanded awing ofAn-12 andAn-26 heavy cargo planes during theIran–Iraq War. He was in charge of airlifting logistics operations in the Iraqi Southern Air Command during the Gulf War. He was promoted tobrigadier/air commodore[clarification needed] rank in 1991 and in 1994 placed in charge of the Eastern Air Command. He was appointed as the commander of the Transport and Strategic Airlifting Command in 1999. He had a total of 3125 hours of logged flying experience on his log from 1969 until 1997 on theAn-12,Il-76, andAn-26.
U.S. forces initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid and that he had died ofnatural causes, butThe Washington Post later reported that he had given himself up in an effort to secure the release of his sons.[1] In 2005, four U.S. servicemen were charged in relation to the killing.[2]
The circumstances of Mowhoush's capture, detention and death appear to have been the subject of a campaign ofmisinformation by U.S. military authorities, who retracted or amended several of their initial claims.
According toThe Washington Post:
Hours after Mowhoush's death in U.S. custody on 26 November 2003, military officials issued a news release stating that the prisoner had died of natural causes after complaining of feeling sick. Armypsychological-operations officers quickly distributed leaflets designed to convince locals that the general had cooperated and outed key insurgents. The U.S. military initially told reporters that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid. In reality, he had walked into the Forward Operating Base "Tiger" inQaim on 10 November 2003, hoping to speak with U.S. commanders to secure the release of his sons, who had been arrested in raids 11 days earlier.[1]
Mowhoush died while being tortured by coalition forces associated with the66th Military Intelligence Brigade, theCIA and a group of Iraqi mercenaries hired by the CIA.[3][4] His death was initially attributed to "natural causes" by coalition forces, with the official military report stated that "Mowhoush said he didn't feel well and subsequently lost consciousness". However, when theAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal erupted,the Pentagon acknowledged that theautopsy report indicated that the cause of death was "asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression", and that his body showed "evidence of blunt forcetrauma to the chest and legs".[5] The report further stated that the general had suffocated "during interrogation by military intelligence, after having been interrogated by the CIA".[3]
In 2004, four arrests were made in connection with Mowhoush's death: Chief Warrant OfficerLewis E. Welshofer Jr., and Chief Warrant OfficerJeff L. Williams, who were alleged to be the two soldiers conducting the interrogation, and Sergeant First ClassWilliam J. Sommer and SpecialistJerry L. Loper, who were assigned to the detention facility at the time of the interrogation, who also faceddereliction of duty charges.[2]
According toThe Washington Post:
Senior officers in charge of the facility near theSyrian border believed that such 'claustrophobic techniques' were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.
The delay in the arrest of the accused was reportedly a result of their commanding officer, Colonel David Teeples, being reluctant to pursue charges and preferring a simple reprimand. It was not until theDenver Post ran a series of articles exposing the lenient treatment of the accused that military lawyers commenced prosecution proceedings undermilitary law.[6] Documents revealed during these proceedings confirmed that Mowhoush wasphysically abused and met his death at the hands of military interrogators:
It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqiparamilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.[1]
In 2005, charges of murder, assault and dereliction of duty were filed by theUnited States Army against Welshofer Jr. and the other servicemen in relation to the death of Mowhoush. This marked the first time that coalition servicemen from either theIraq War orWar in Afghanistan were charged with homicide related crimes.[6]
On January 21, 2006, an American military jury convicted Welshofer ofnegligent homicide anddereliction of duty in the death of Mowhoush but he was acquitted of the more severe charge of murder. The military jury ordered a reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 in pay, and restricted him to his home, office and church for two months however he was not sentenced to time in prison.[7][8]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)