While Anti-American Democrats Worry about Mike Huckabees Ad with a bookshelf cross.....
Harry Dope
on the killing floor - the artifacts left a disturbing tale of brutalities
inside a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq torture chamber. But there was yet
another chilling fact outside the dirt-floor dungeon. Villagers say they
knew about the torment but were too intimidated by extremists to tell
authorities until now. Stories such as these - claims of insurgent abuses
and the silence of frightened Iraqis - have emerged with increasing
frequency and clarity recently as U.S.-led forces push deeper into former
extremist fiefdoms and forge alliances with tribes seeking to reclaim their
regions.
The reports and tips now pouring in build a harrowing portrait of rule under
al-Qaida and its backers: mass graves, ruthless punishments, self-styled
Islamic courts ordering summary executions.
Such a lead brought soldiers earlier this month to the hidden room in
Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said
Thursday. Graffiti on the building proclaimed "Long Live the Islamic
State" - a reference to the Islamic governance, or caliphate, sought in Iraq
by Sunni extremist groups that include al-Qaida.
Scrawled in white paint above a bed in the torture area was a Quranic phrase
in Arabic normally used to welcome a guest. But the context suggested only
sadistic mockery: "Come in, you are safe."
The floor was littered with food wrappers, plastic soda bottles and electric
cables that snaked to a metal bed frame, presumably where detainees were
shocked, according to the U.S. account of the discovery during a Dec. 8-11
mission.
The rooms "had chains, a bed - an iron bed that was still connected to a
battery - knives and swords that were still covered in blood," said U.S.
Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq.
Nearby were nine mass graves containing the remains of 26 people, he said.
Villagers knew about the torture site, but did not tell authorities as they
were afraid of reprisals from the militants, a local policeman told The
Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was still afraid
of being targeted by extremists.
He said he thought the chamber had been used for a year.
It was not the first such torture chamber discovered in Iraq. But it serves
as a reminder of the extremist grip in parts of Iraq despite growing
optimism as violence continues to fall.
And Diyala province - where the grisly discovery was made - remains one of
the most volatile regions as U.S. and Iraqi forces struggle to match the
clear advances against extremists made in Baghdad and the western desert of
Anbar.
The province is mixed between Sunnis and Shiites - often called a "little
Iraq" and a remnant of Iraq before sectarian bloodletting partitioned many
parts of the country along religious lines. Diyala's capital, Baqouba, also
is the self-proclaimed seat of the insurgents' caliphate.
"I think that is why al-Qaida wants that province so very much, because it
is 'a little Iraq,'" Hertling said. "It gives them access to Baghdad and it
also ... is considered their caliphate capital."
American commanders say they are a long way from declaring victory in
Diyala.
The weapons caches found during the Muqdadiyah raids included a
surface-to-air missile launcher, sniper rifles, and 130 pounds of homemade
explosives, Hertling said.
"You know, there's going to be continued spectacular attacks," he said. "Are
we confident we can protect it? As soon as I say, 'Yeah, we're confident,'
it's going to blow tomorrow."
It was not the first apparent torture site found after U.S. forces moved
into former extremist strongholds.
In March, U.S. troops discovered a similar site in the village of Karmah
just west of Baghdad that was used by Sunni insurgents for torture and
summary executions. They rescued two Iraqi captives, who apparently had been
spared immediate execution because the militants' video camera broke and
they wanted to film the killing.
The captives told U.S. soldiers they had been sentenced to death by an
insurgent court and had the choice of either beheading or a fatal gunshot.
Both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia death squads regularly torture
their captives before killing them - sometimes with power drills. Most of
the hundreds of bodies that have turned up in Baghdad and other parts of
Iraq show signs of torture.
Mitchell Holman
news:476d324c$0$11104$4c36...@roadrunner.com:
> BAGHDAD - Blood-splotches on walls, chains hanging from a ceiling and
> swords on the killing floor - the artifacts left a disturbing tale of
> brutalities inside a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq torture chamber. But
> there was yet another chilling fact outside the dirt-floor dungeon.
> Villagers say they knew about the torment but were too intimidated by
> extremists to tell authorities until now. Stories such as these - claims
> of insurgent abuses and the silence of frightened Iraqis - have emerged
> with increasing frequency and clarity recently as U.S.-led forces push
> deeper into former extremist fiefdoms and forge alliances with tribes
> seeking to reclaim their regions.
>
>
> Both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia death squads regularly torture
> their captives before killing them - sometimes with power drills. Most
> of the hundreds of bodies that have turned up in Baghdad and other parts
> of Iraq show signs of torture.
Sunnis killing Shites, Shites killing Sunnis. Maybe if the
US left the Iraqis would solve their own problems for a change, no?
Christopher Helms
> "Harry Dope" <DemsHateAmerica...@aol.com> wrote innews:476d324c$0$11104$4c36...@roadrunner.com:
I'd settle for Harry and his ilk coming to a conclusion about whether
torture is torture or not. It's torture when Al Queda does it, it's
torture when Nancy Pelosi doesn't object to it to his satisfaction, it
was reprehensible when Saddam Hussein did it but it's not torture at
all when George Bush orders it. Then Chimp goes on TV and says "We
don't torture." Then a couple days later it's suddenly a "necessary
tool" to get information. They're all over the motherfucking board
with "We don't do it," "Nancy Pelosi is for it too," "We're not
allowed to do it" and "We have to do it." Then they start making up
scenarios about "There's a nuke in new York, it's going to go off and
you've got a guy in custody who knows where it is. What do you do?" in
order to defend something they'll be claiming they can't or don't do
in the next breath. Then they'll assert that Chimp has the power to
unilaterally order it without telling anybody. John Kerry never
flipped around like this.
Frank Pittel
: "Harry Dope" <DemsHateA...@aol.com> wrote in
: news:476d324c$0$11104$4c36...@roadrunner.com:
Of course you like the idea of them "solving their own problems for a change"
by electorcuting or drilling holes into each other.
--
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Keep working millions on welfare depend on you
Mitchell Holman
news:zOCdneOfF8jI3fDa...@giganews.com:
What makes that a problem only Americans can solve?
Frank Pittel
: news:zOCdneOfF8jI3fDa...@giganews.com:
What can Americans do to "solve" your perversions?
Mitchell Holman
Aren't you supposed to be in Iraq fighting in the war you support?
Mio Myopic
"Mitchell Holman" <Noe...@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A12EF54...@216.196.97.131...
for endless war and torture? Our NOT molesting children, or NOT looking for
illicit sex in public toilets? Maybe it's our desire to restore the
Constitution.
Frank Pittel
: "Mitchell Holman" <Noe...@comcast.com> wrote in message
If you can't figure out what I meant you may want to register for a remedial
reading class.