West turns blind eye as police put Saddam's torturers back to work

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

IRAQI security forces, set up by American and British troops, torture detainees by pulling out their fingernails, burning them with hot irons or giving them electric shocks, Iraqi officials say. Cases have also been recorded of bound prisoners being beaten to death by police. In their haste to put police on the streets to counter the brutal insurgency, Iraqi and US authorities have enlisted men trained under Saddam Hussein’s regime and versed in torture and abuse, the officials told The Times. They said that recruits were also being drawn from the ranks of outlawed Shia militias.

Counter-insurgencies are rarely clean fights, but Iraq’s dirty war is being waged under the noses of US and British troops whose mission is to end the abuses of the former dictatorship. Instead, they appear to have turned a blind eye to the constant reports of torture from Iraq’s prisons.

Among the worst offenders cited are the Interior Ministry police commandos, a force made up largely of former army officers and special forces soldiers drawn from the ranks of Saddam’s dissolved army. They are seen as the most effective tool the coalition has in fighting the insurgency.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1683578,00.html

[Son of California]

1. For a while, I was thinking

that despite how stupid the war was to begin with, we had no choice but to stick around and try to help hold Iraq together long enough for them to get a government and police force in place, but Christ, looking at this, it just feels like our presence there is only making things worse.

[LiberalVoice]

2. Now I dare any asshole to say "We're the good guys."

Fucking pigs.

[enough]

3. Our dirty war, our torture policy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1542927,00.html

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Aw heck - this is just a sort of free "extraordinary rendition" for the US

.
.
.

We all know that the US Guvment would torture people right out on the main street if they could get away with it

wake up Murikka

I'll say it again

Y'all got Hitler2 at the helm

I don't think I'd be far off in saying that the only thing stopping the USSA from overrunning Canukistan is China and Russia . .

Ten years ago ( well more accurately, before Bush-Co took over Amerika) I woulda never even thought such a thing . . .

Let alone say it out loud . .

(sigh)

[Gronk Groks]

5. Oh Lord, it can't of gotten this bad....

...we are hiring torturers now. We know they are torturing people and we do nothing. We have become as bad as Saddam Hussein...

Where is the Moral outrage from the (so-called) Evangelical Christians??? Are they so deep in denial that we can now torture people to death and it does not bother them ???

The shining city on the hill has become the road to Hell. :rant:

[xray s]

6. eventually they'll come around to you know who

"Saddam, welcome back! Sorry about the underwear pictures. You know how the American public likes their funny celebrity photos! No hard feelings, ok Big Guy?"

[daleo]

7. And one more phony excuse for the war falls by the wayside.

WMD? Nope, there never were any.
Prevent another 911? Nope, just gave Al Qaeda more energy.
Democracy? Nope, elections were meaningless.
Women's rights? Nope, Saddam did more for women.
Rape rooms and torture chambers? Nope, Abu Graihb.
Human rights? Nope, re-hiring the torturers.

I don't know what's left. Oil and a crusade, I guess.

[Gronk Groks]

8. When all other options have been disproved...

...what is left is what really happened.

IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE OIL !!!

[UpInArms]

9. blind eye, my ass

we are allowing and encouraging this type of atrocity.

[AtomicKitten]

10. what is TRULY disgusting

is that Republicans remain in denial about this. It is absolutely amazing. When confronted, the truth comes out, and that is they really have no problem with the torture.

[Fridays Child]

11. Why does the Times Online hate America?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458452/posts

[Barrett808]

12. My LTE from last week

To the Editor:

While it is a welcome development to have a conservative demanding the immediate withdrawal of US forces from Iraq ("Out of Iraq," July 27 - August 2, 2005, http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0530/050727_news_mossback.php), I wonder if Mr. Gold still labors under some of the illusions conjured by the neo-cons he criticizes. The most persistent illusion is that we did the Iraqis a favor by invading, and what the Iraqis now experience is "freedom."

The unpleasant fact is that Iraq is now a failed state of our own creation, and the frail central government has largely reverted to its former brutality. There are credible reports of widespread torture and extra-judicial executions by US-trained Iraqi police and "elite" forces like the Wolf Brigade. Former Mukhabarat agents have been reinstalled in a desperate bid to use the old ways -- Saddam's ways -- to uproot the insurgency. BBC reported last week that these methods include drilling holes in elbows and knees before execution.

Contrary to optimistic appraisals by those who hope to find some silver lining in the illegal invasion, the people of Iraq have little reason to be grateful. Not only has this criminal act produced a catastrophe, it has not even achieved the modest goal of eliminating Saddam-style tyranny.

There must be accountability. Withdraw, yes. But withdraw, prosecute our war criminals, and pay reparations.

Barrett808

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=143550

[eridani]

13. Meet the new boss; same as the old boss n/t

[PurityOfEssence]

14. Suddenly, we were them

We did exactly the same thing with ex-Nazis and Croatian Fascists after WW2: the important thing was containing the Soviets.

Oh no, history doesn't repeat itself. Nope. Where'd ya get that crazy idea?

[Solly Mack]

15. U.S. Courting Former Baath Party Members (links from 2004)

WP: Former Baathists May Be Tapped for Leadership Roles

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=502449

U.S. Courting Former Baath Party Members

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=503803#504357

Saddam-Era General Not in Charge: Myers (the spin)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=525519

Anti-Terrorist Death Squad?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=668049

[NNN0LHI]

16. They hate us for our freedoms

Our freedoms to kill, torture, rape, and mutilate that is.

Don