2004-05-11
The Iraqi Holocaust: Mass Graves
Please take a few minutes to look at some of the 56 pages of photographs of Iraqi Mass Graves.
Abu Ghraib abuse: the exception, not the rule
... according to Kathryn Jean Lopez in The Corner.
Here's an e-mail she received, and it's worth reading and thinking about:
"Today you reprinted in the Corner some reactions to the Abu Gharib story from readers actually deployed in Iraq. I've just returned home from my Iraq rotation: when I was there, I worked for a unit that (among other things) interrogated high-value detainees -- the "deck of cards" and others. Not only did we have no abuse problem, we had just the opposite: our MP's were too nice to the detainees. It was sort of a reverse Stockholm Syndrome. We had to screen some raw documentary footage for the MPs, showing them explicitly the sort of atrocities committed by the former regime. After that they understood that no matter how friendly and harmless they might seem now, these guys are seriously bad dudes who did some seriously evil things. Of course we still had to treat them humanely and wouldn't have dreamt of doing otherwise, but we also didn't want the detainees forgetting that they were in prison, not a slightly down-market summer camp or retirement home.
Why was Abu Gharib different? Lots of reasons, probably -- but from my own experience, which included working with detainees and MPs and interrogators, I can say that the abusive behavior by the guards there was not only atypical but exactly the opposite of what I saw."
Here's an e-mail she received, and it's worth reading and thinking about:
"Today you reprinted in the Corner some reactions to the Abu Gharib story from readers actually deployed in Iraq. I've just returned home from my Iraq rotation: when I was there, I worked for a unit that (among other things) interrogated high-value detainees -- the "deck of cards" and others. Not only did we have no abuse problem, we had just the opposite: our MP's were too nice to the detainees. It was sort of a reverse Stockholm Syndrome. We had to screen some raw documentary footage for the MPs, showing them explicitly the sort of atrocities committed by the former regime. After that they understood that no matter how friendly and harmless they might seem now, these guys are seriously bad dudes who did some seriously evil things. Of course we still had to treat them humanely and wouldn't have dreamt of doing otherwise, but we also didn't want the detainees forgetting that they were in prison, not a slightly down-market summer camp or retirement home.
Why was Abu Gharib different? Lots of reasons, probably -- but from my own experience, which included working with detainees and MPs and interrogators, I can say that the abusive behavior by the guards there was not only atypical but exactly the opposite of what I saw."
"It is not work ... it is abuse."
Donna M. Hughes exposes the myths surrounding prostitution and its legalization in National Review Online. As the Czech Republic ponders joining Australia, the Netherlands, and Germany in legalizing the sex trade, Hughes contrasts the "wishful thinking" behind legalization with its results in the real world. Legalizing the bordello sex trade has not, for instance, reduced the street trade appreciably. The promised tax revenues have not materialized, hardly surprising given that pimps are not in the habit of paying taxes. (The German government is thoughtfully looking for ways to extract more tax revenues from the sex workers themselves.)
Nor, argues Hughes, will legalization improve the lives of women driven to work in the sex trade, because:
"The reason has to do with the basic nature of prostitution. It is not work; it is not a job like any other. It is abuse and exploitation that women only engage in if forced to or when they have no other options. Even where prostitution is legal, a significant proportion of women is trafficked. Women and children controlled by mafias and criminals cannot register with an authority or join a union. Women who are making a more or less free choice to be in prostitution do so out of immediate necessity — debt, unemployment, and poverty. They consider resorting to prostitution as a temporary means of making money, and assume as soon as a debt is paid or a certain sum of money is earned for poverty-stricken families, they will go home. They seldom tell friends or relatives what they are doing to earn money. They do not want to register with authorities and create a permanent record of being a prostitute. And unionization of "sex workers" is a leftist fantasy; it is completely incompatible with the coercive and abusive nature of prostitution."
Read the whole article, please, at the link.
Nor, argues Hughes, will legalization improve the lives of women driven to work in the sex trade, because:
"The reason has to do with the basic nature of prostitution. It is not work; it is not a job like any other. It is abuse and exploitation that women only engage in if forced to or when they have no other options. Even where prostitution is legal, a significant proportion of women is trafficked. Women and children controlled by mafias and criminals cannot register with an authority or join a union. Women who are making a more or less free choice to be in prostitution do so out of immediate necessity — debt, unemployment, and poverty. They consider resorting to prostitution as a temporary means of making money, and assume as soon as a debt is paid or a certain sum of money is earned for poverty-stricken families, they will go home. They seldom tell friends or relatives what they are doing to earn money. They do not want to register with authorities and create a permanent record of being a prostitute. And unionization of "sex workers" is a leftist fantasy; it is completely incompatible with the coercive and abusive nature of prostitution."
Read the whole article, please, at the link.
The Iraqi Holocaust
THE IRAQI HOLOCAUST: LIFE UNDER SADDAM
Sam of Hammorabi Lists "Points for the Prosecution"
For those who may have forgotten, or not known, about the atrocities committed under the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein, Sam of the Hammorabi blog lists specific crimes:
1. Hanging in the public places
2. Charging the families the price of the bullets used to kill their beloved ones. The family have to sign a statement that their son is a traitor and are prevented from mourning the death. (This happened to my grandfather after Saddam's regime executed his two sons. Few days after their execution the security men informed him of the death by requesting the price of the bullets).
3. Using the rat poison to kill the detainees. It happened to my uncle who was only 13 years old.
4. Undercover killings by poisoning food or drink. It happened to many highly educated people e.g. university lecturers etc.
5. He killed his cousin Dr Raji Tikriti after Kuwait invasion by putting him in a cage with 25 starved dogs. The dogs attacked Raji Tikriti in front of Saddam ministers. After few minutes Raji was bones with out meat!
6. They could arrest up to the 6th degree relatives of the detained person for no reason but to make him confess by torturing and humiliating them in front of him. This happened to my father's cousin and his 15 years old son after they arrested his eldest son.
7. Smuggling escaped people from outside Iraq and killing them. This happened to my cousin after they arrested and killed his brother who was only a teenager. His family only discovered that he was killed after the liberation of Iraq in 9th April 2003. Before that they thought that he was in the Europe. He was in fact smuggled from Kuwait when the relations were OK between Saddam and the Kuwaiti government in 1980s and executed by Saddam's Mukhabarat.
8. Putting many prisoners in one small cell as to deprive them from rest and sleep.
9. Using dark and isolated cells deep under ground. The prisoner receives a piece of bread and water or soup through a hole opened once a day.
10. Horror cells by using different ways to horrify the prisoner.
11. Teeth pulling
12. Immersion of the person in a tank filled with strong acid until he or she dissolves away
...
This is only the beginning.
...
Sam of Hammorabi Lists "Points for the Prosecution"
For those who may have forgotten, or not known, about the atrocities committed under the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein, Sam of the Hammorabi blog lists specific crimes:
1. Hanging in the public places
2. Charging the families the price of the bullets used to kill their beloved ones. The family have to sign a statement that their son is a traitor and are prevented from mourning the death. (This happened to my grandfather after Saddam's regime executed his two sons. Few days after their execution the security men informed him of the death by requesting the price of the bullets).
3. Using the rat poison to kill the detainees. It happened to my uncle who was only 13 years old.
4. Undercover killings by poisoning food or drink. It happened to many highly educated people e.g. university lecturers etc.
5. He killed his cousin Dr Raji Tikriti after Kuwait invasion by putting him in a cage with 25 starved dogs. The dogs attacked Raji Tikriti in front of Saddam ministers. After few minutes Raji was bones with out meat!
6. They could arrest up to the 6th degree relatives of the detained person for no reason but to make him confess by torturing and humiliating them in front of him. This happened to my father's cousin and his 15 years old son after they arrested his eldest son.
7. Smuggling escaped people from outside Iraq and killing them. This happened to my cousin after they arrested and killed his brother who was only a teenager. His family only discovered that he was killed after the liberation of Iraq in 9th April 2003. Before that they thought that he was in the Europe. He was in fact smuggled from Kuwait when the relations were OK between Saddam and the Kuwaiti government in 1980s and executed by Saddam's Mukhabarat.
8. Putting many prisoners in one small cell as to deprive them from rest and sleep.
9. Using dark and isolated cells deep under ground. The prisoner receives a piece of bread and water or soup through a hole opened once a day.
10. Horror cells by using different ways to horrify the prisoner.
11. Teeth pulling
12. Immersion of the person in a tank filled with strong acid until he or she dissolves away
...
This is only the beginning.
...
Morning Report: May 11, 2004
- Return to Fallujah. (Belmont Club) As Fallujah residents weary of the presence of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, US forces have recruited officers and soldiers from their former opponents, raising eyebrows at the Pentagon, Wretchard reports. Noting that both al-Sadr and the killers of the four Blackwater contractors remain at large, BC also cautions that US divide-and-conquer tactics may backfire. “The Iraq America set out to build” must ultimately be unified and centrally governed; “erecting a nation from the center” will lead more lasting results than a patchwork of local alliances.
- Sharon’s “non-plan”. (Debka) Debka says that President Bush will have little time to hear details of Sharon’s revised Gaza disengagement plan – or “non-plan”, a term Debka attributes to Condoleezza Rice. Rice’s Israeli counterpart, Giora Eiland, questioned the likelihood of the plan’s being “applied at any time in the near future”. The Israeli analysis further suggests that the May meeting between Rice and Palestinian leader Ahmed Qureia might have been an attempt by Sharon to “persuade former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan to re-instate himself in the Gaza Strip and generate conditions suitable for implementing disengagement.” Debka caustically cites this move as “a further sign that [Sharon] is at his wits’ end.”
- Iranian activists mull response to possible air strike. (Free Iran) Rumors of a possible airstrike by Israel or the US, aimed at crippling the Iranian regime’s suspected nuclear weapons program, draw discussion on the Free Iran message board.
- Myth of unity. (Healing Iraq) Zeyad reports that the past weekend saw a show of unity between anti-American Sunni and pro-Sadr Shia groups in Baghdad. The event culminated in the formation of an alliance called Hai’yat al-Ulema al-Muwaheda, whose Sunni contingent was led by Harith al-Dhari, known for his connections with the former regime. Historically, Zeyad says, such alliances have proved shallow and short-lived.
- Emmett Till case reopened. (Reuters) The US Justice Department on Monday reopened an investigation into the sadistic 1955 killing of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, whose death energized the civil rights movement.
- Sharon’s “non-plan”. (Debka) Debka says that President Bush will have little time to hear details of Sharon’s revised Gaza disengagement plan – or “non-plan”, a term Debka attributes to Condoleezza Rice. Rice’s Israeli counterpart, Giora Eiland, questioned the likelihood of the plan’s being “applied at any time in the near future”. The Israeli analysis further suggests that the May meeting between Rice and Palestinian leader Ahmed Qureia might have been an attempt by Sharon to “persuade former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan to re-instate himself in the Gaza Strip and generate conditions suitable for implementing disengagement.” Debka caustically cites this move as “a further sign that [Sharon] is at his wits’ end.”
- Iranian activists mull response to possible air strike. (Free Iran) Rumors of a possible airstrike by Israel or the US, aimed at crippling the Iranian regime’s suspected nuclear weapons program, draw discussion on the Free Iran message board.
- Myth of unity. (Healing Iraq) Zeyad reports that the past weekend saw a show of unity between anti-American Sunni and pro-Sadr Shia groups in Baghdad. The event culminated in the formation of an alliance called Hai’yat al-Ulema al-Muwaheda, whose Sunni contingent was led by Harith al-Dhari, known for his connections with the former regime. Historically, Zeyad says, such alliances have proved shallow and short-lived.
- Emmett Till case reopened. (Reuters) The US Justice Department on Monday reopened an investigation into the sadistic 1955 killing of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, whose death energized the civil rights movement.
2004-05-10
Zeyad Lays Down the Law
Healing Iraq is now off-limits to trolls! And good riddance to them, too. For those of you just joining us, the prominent Iraqi blogger Zeyad has been experiencing an ever-increasing volume of off-topic and hostile traffic in his Comments corner. He's just announced a policy of "no more Mr. Nice Guy" which will make life easier for those of us who want to have a real discussion.
On a more serious note, Zeyad also discusses the US reaction - and in the view of some Iraqis, perhaps over-reaction - to the Abu Graib scandal. He notes that many former prisoners of the Ba'athist regime contrast the present international outcry with the silence that surrounded far greater atrocities under Saddam. Zeyad also warns of an upsurge in banditry - already a serious problem - if large numbers of dangerous criminals are released as a result of the scandal.
On a more serious note, Zeyad also discusses the US reaction - and in the view of some Iraqis, perhaps over-reaction - to the Abu Graib scandal. He notes that many former prisoners of the Ba'athist regime contrast the present international outcry with the silence that surrounded far greater atrocities under Saddam. Zeyad also warns of an upsurge in banditry - already a serious problem - if large numbers of dangerous criminals are released as a result of the scandal.
Morning Report: May 10, 2004
- Chechen president Kadyrov assassinated. (Various) Ahmad Kadyrov, the pro-Russian president of Chechnya appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, was killed on Sunday along with an uncertain number of other VIPs and citizens. A bomb planted at the Dynamo stadium in Grozny, the Chechen capital, exploded at 10:35am local time (0635 GMT) at a ceremony commemorating victory in WWII. Analysts say the assassination represents a devastating blow to prospects for peace in Chechnya. Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov will take over as acting leader.
Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3697715.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/05/10/grozy.blast/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119394,00.html – Contains very good analysis.
Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3697715.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/05/10/grozy.blast/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119394,00.html – Contains very good analysis.
2004-05-09
Morning Report: May 9, 2004
- NYT, Stuttaford call for prison reform. (New York Times, National Review) Andrew Stuttaford joins the New York Times in calling for reform in American prisons.
- Ali: a conversation about AG. (Iraq the Model) Ali recently spoke with another Iraqi doctor about the revelations from Abu Ghraib. The usually apolitical friend responded with surprising fervor. Ali recalls the conversation, and also echoes the theme stressed in this site, that the American investigation must serve as a model for Iraqis when they gain control of their own affairs.
- VDH on America’s war. (National Review) Victor Davis Hanson reflects on the enemy’s tactics: “their modus operandi is to push us all the way up to war”, wearing us down rather than facing us on a traditional battlefield. VDH concludes that we must not stand down, and that we need “more democracy in the Middle East, not less”. Above all, he says, we must “return to an audacious and entirely unpredictable combat mode” in order to finally secure this “weird peace” in Iraq.
- Crowd attacks regime speakers in Tehran. (SMCCDI/Daneshjoo). Following a protest from families of victims of Islamic regime violence, SMCCDI reports that Iranian citizens attacked officials and clashed with security forces at an event in Tehran. The latest incident comes as an increasingly nervous regime anticipates unrest on the anniversary of last year’s uprisings, and a possible American or Israeli response to its nuclear program.
- Pride in Rhea County. (AP) Friday’s anti-gay demonstrations in Rhea County, Tennessee were answered by a rally of more than 400 gay people and their allies on Saturday, AP reports. Rhea County gained notoriety in March for having adopted a resolution that would have banned gay people from the county; the resolution was overturned two days later.
- Oregon connection in Madrid bombing. (The Oregonian) The May 8 print edition of The Oregonian reports that a fingerprint has linked former US Army officer Brandon Mayfield to the March 11 bombing attacks in Madrid, Spain. Mayfield, a 37-year-old resident of Aloha, Oregon, is thought to be linked to other Portland-area residents who have not yet been charged.
- Ali: a conversation about AG. (Iraq the Model) Ali recently spoke with another Iraqi doctor about the revelations from Abu Ghraib. The usually apolitical friend responded with surprising fervor. Ali recalls the conversation, and also echoes the theme stressed in this site, that the American investigation must serve as a model for Iraqis when they gain control of their own affairs.
- VDH on America’s war. (National Review) Victor Davis Hanson reflects on the enemy’s tactics: “their modus operandi is to push us all the way up to war”, wearing us down rather than facing us on a traditional battlefield. VDH concludes that we must not stand down, and that we need “more democracy in the Middle East, not less”. Above all, he says, we must “return to an audacious and entirely unpredictable combat mode” in order to finally secure this “weird peace” in Iraq.
- Crowd attacks regime speakers in Tehran. (SMCCDI/Daneshjoo). Following a protest from families of victims of Islamic regime violence, SMCCDI reports that Iranian citizens attacked officials and clashed with security forces at an event in Tehran. The latest incident comes as an increasingly nervous regime anticipates unrest on the anniversary of last year’s uprisings, and a possible American or Israeli response to its nuclear program.
- Pride in Rhea County. (AP) Friday’s anti-gay demonstrations in Rhea County, Tennessee were answered by a rally of more than 400 gay people and their allies on Saturday, AP reports. Rhea County gained notoriety in March for having adopted a resolution that would have banned gay people from the county; the resolution was overturned two days later.
- Oregon connection in Madrid bombing. (The Oregonian) The May 8 print edition of The Oregonian reports that a fingerprint has linked former US Army officer Brandon Mayfield to the March 11 bombing attacks in Madrid, Spain. Mayfield, a 37-year-old resident of Aloha, Oregon, is thought to be linked to other Portland-area residents who have not yet been charged.
America the Model
As I’ve stated in various points around the blogosphere, the most important thing for America to do in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal is to practice “leadership by example” and make an example of those who were involved in the abuse. We must at all times bear in mind that not only will the world judge us by our handling of this matter, but – perhaps even more importantly – the new Iraqi nation will look to us for real-life instruction in how a free and democratic society purges itself of fascist tendencies. It is safe to say that the “six morons” of Abu Ghraib are the most hated people in America today. We must demonstrate that the due process of law and a fair, impartial trial are what is needed to bring them to justice. We must also learn hard lessons about the horrific conditions in our own prison system – and make changes fast.
2004-05-07
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