2003 U.S. raid in Iraqi town serves as a cautionary tale – washingtonpost.com

The soldiers shouted in English. Most of the residents stared back in frightened incomprehension. Like others, Jabbouri raised a white handkerchief, in a universal sign of surrender. With hundreds of others, he was blindfolded, bound with plastic cuffs and forced to lie on his stomach. Helpless, he listened as his wife and five children cried nearby.

“I was afraid they were going to line us up on the wall and shoot us as revenge,” he said. Lying next to him was his cousin, Saad Salah Ali, short and balding.

“What do you do?” an interpreter barked at Ali. “I’m a taxi driver,” he replied.