Mike Ferner

This gentleman is the father of Taha Lateef. One day, men from Lateef’s village of Abu Hishma came knocking on the door of the CPT apartment in central Baghdad, asking them to come to their village to witness and investigate the deaths of the two young men reportedly killed by U.S. troops. I accompanied the CPT group to Abu Hishma, and as we pulled up on the outskirts of the village, we saw a huge, striped tent with a couple hundred men of all ages sitting inside. Taha Lateef’s father was in the seat of honor since it was a wake for his son, whom we were told, was killed by a U.S. helicopter gunship one day earlier as he returned from the mosque where funeral services were being held for two young men reportedly killed by U.S. troops. Because we were visitors and because of the respect they had for the CPT we immediately became honored guests. A young boy brought us water and soap to wash our hands, a pack of cigarettes was placed on the ground before us, and we were served a meal of lamb stewed in tomatoes over rice and urged to eat our fill before anyone else could be served.

Photo by Mike Ferner