Chris Hondros, Staff Photographer (New York City) with Getty Images News Service, very kindly allowed me to reproduce a stunning photo he took in Liberia in 2003 of a government militia commander exulting after scoring a direct hit on enemy positions. Today, he emailed me to say:
… if you're getting this email you wrote me in the aftermath of the terrible incident I photographed in Tal Afar, Iraq, in January. If you recall, five children were orphaned by U.S. troops who mistakenly shot up their car when they approached a foot patrol. The pictures of the incident have run all over the world and already done much to address the issue of checkpoint shootings in Iraq.
Many of you expressed a desire to help the family; I'm happy to report that a website for donations has now been set up, http://www.hassanfamilyfund.org/. Money donated to the cause will first go to arranging medical care for Racan, a boy in the car who's spinal column was damaged by one of the bullets and will never walk again unless treatment outside of Iraq is arranged for him. (Humanitarian workers and others in Iraq are working toward this now.) Excess funds will go to the extended family (the Hassan's had nine children) and to civil projects in Tal Afar itself, most likely a school built to commemorate the deaths. Any help you can give will be appreciated.
More information about this story is available in this week's Newsweek magazine, on newsstands now or available online at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7245228/site/newsweek/.
Chris's account of the shooting in Tal Afar can be read here, where there are also links to the photographs he took.
