Yahoo! News - Marines Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stack

Wergeld:

Marines in Fallujah are paying the diaya, which is the Arabic version wergeld:

The village leader received $15,000 on behalf of residents in compensation for dead livestock, uprooted trees, damaged fields and other losses. The Marines tried to bargain him down to $10,000, but he stood firm.

The son of a man killed by gunfire while driving in a battle zone received $2,500. And a man who said his 7-year-old daughter was killed as she tended the family's sheep also received $2,500.

Now that the fighting between Marines and insurgents has tapered off in the area, the U.S. military is attempting to make amends with noncombatants who suffered. The Americans hope cash will win friends and help bring peace in this part of the volatile Sunni Triangle.

Under Marine rules, a payment for a death goes directly to the family. Payments for community losses can be funneled through an elder, sheik or village leader.

"I know we cannot replace your loss, but we would like to offer a small apology in the form of $2,500 so we can move on in friendship," Capt. Kevin Coughlin, judge advocate general for the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Marine Division, told the man who said his daughter had been killed.

"I accept your apology," said Saady Mohamed Abdala.

This seems oddly mercenary to the modern Westerner, but it is how peace is made in traditional societies. Our own was no exception. The fact that the diaya is accepted means that these persons are honor-bound to respect the peace made through the settlement. It is a very positive sign.

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