Death Squads Return to Iraq. Now working for our side.

[Spence]

Death squads have returned to Iraq and this time they're working for the Iraqi government the U.S. is supporting and defending.

Shiite Muslim militia members have infiltrated Iraq's police force and are carrying out sectarian killings under the color of law, according to documents and scores of interviews.

The abuses raise the specter of organized retaliation to attacks by Sunni-led insurgents that have killed thousands of Shiites, who endured decades of subjugation under Saddam Hussein.

And they undermine the U.S. effort to stabilize the nation, and train and equip Iraq's security forces — the Bush administration's key prerequisites for the eventual withdrawal of American troops.

In recent months, hundreds of bodies have been discovered in rivers, garbage dumps, sewage treatment facilities and alongside roads and in desert ravines. Many of them are thought to be victims of Sunni insurgents, who are known to target Shiite civilians and Iraqi security forces, and even Sunni Arabs believed to be collaborating with U.S. forces or the Iraqi government. But increasingly, the Shiite militias operating within the national police force are also suspected of committing atrocities.

The Baghdad morgue reports that dozens of bodies arrive at the same time on a weekly basis, including scores of corpses with wrists bound by police handcuffs.
...
U.S. officials have long been concerned about extrajudicial killings in Iraq, but until recently they have refrained from calling violent elements within the police force "death squads" — a loaded term that conjures up the U.S.-backed paramilitaries that killed thousands of civilians during the Latin American civil wars of the 1970s and 1980s.

But U.S. military advisors in Iraq say the term is apt, and the Interior Ministry's inspector general concurs that extrajudicial killings are being carried out by ministry forces.

"There are such groups operating — yes, this is correct," said Interior Ministry Inspector General Nori Nori.
...
This month, U.S. forces raided a secret Interior Ministry detention facility in southern Baghdad operated by police intelligence officials linked to the Badr Brigade, a Shiite militia that has long-standing ties to Iran and to Iraq's leading Shiite political party. Inmates compiled a handwritten list of 18 detainees at the bunker who were allegedly tortured to death while in custody. The list was authenticated by a U.S. official and given to Justice Ministry authorities for investigation. It was later provided to The Times.

The U.S. military is investigating whether police officers who worked at the secret prison were trained by American interrogation experts.

An Aug. 18 police operations report addressed to Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, who has ties to the Badr militia, listed the names of 14 Sunni Arab men arrested during a predawn sweep in the Baghdad neighborhood of Iskaan.

Six weeks later, their bodies were discovered near the Iranian border, badly decomposed. All of the corpses showed signs of torture, and each still wore handcuffs and had been shot three times in the back of the head, Baghdad morgue officials said.

Source

[Paintedbird]

Originally Posted by Spence

Death squads have returned to Iraq and this time they're working for the Iraqi government the U.S. is supporting and defending.Source

Is there anyone out there who still believes that Iraq is better off today than it was under Saddam? Rough scorecard: up to 100,000 Iraqis dead, app.35,000 imprisoned. Rampant torture and terrorism...U.S. air strikes on the way...widespread murder of Sunnis anticipated... death squads. Future rule by Islamic government to include suppression of women and alliance with Iran.

Iraq could well prove to be the worse debacle in U.S. history.

[Spence]

Well, one would have to say Iraq has more hope now than it did under Saddam Hussein. Any country ruled by Saddam Hussein has no hope at all, so that's an improvement. However, the country is producing and exporting less oil than it did just before the war and it is actually producing less electricity to its citizens than just before the war. The fact that we still can't keep the lights and power on longer than Saddam did is pretty embarrassing.

[fent]

Originally Posted by skinsrule33

GOOD,WE should have started this a long time ago

apparently spence and dave are both gone, so you get to live longer than 1 post today.

[RedskinsDave]

Originally Posted by fent

apparently spence and dave are both gone, so you get to live longer than 1 post today.

Damn, missed it!

[VTBob]

Iraq is a hellhole now...well, more of a hellhole than before anyway.


sigh.