US accused of breeding extremism in Iraq ("17,000 detainees in Buka camp")

[TexasLawyer]

US accused of breeding extremism in Iraq
By Ahmed Janabi

Monday 06 November 2006, 0:24 Makka Time, 21:24 GMT

An Iraqi parliamentary delegation has accused the US army in Iraq of breeding extremism by carrying out an "irresponsible arrest campaign".

The delegation represents the Iraqi Accordance Front, which is the biggest Sunni Arab bloc in the Iraqi parliament, occupying 44 seats in the 275 seat parliament. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the chairman of the Front, said: "There are now around 17,000 Iraqi detainees in Buka camp in the south. Most of them are innocent people. They get arrested and thrown in jail for months and years, and while in prison they are approached by al-Qaeda people.

"When you are forgotten and suffer psychological pressure you tend to go back to religion and appeal to God to end your ordeal, added to that the desire to take revenge on those who illegally threw you in jail, you tend to be a soft target for extremists."

<snip>

Dhafir al-Ani, a member of the delegation, said: "We have hundreds of examples of people who had nothing to do with armed action, taken to jail, and then released just to join al-Qaeda fighters.

<snip>

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/37D62D4A-C9B8-4325-8EE4-76D78CA1C3B7.htm

[ovidsen]

1. Equal opportunity offenders

The US and the Shiites (including Iraqi PM Maliki, and the cleric al-Sadr, whose Mehdi Army is the biggest milita in Baghdad) are going head to head over who's in charge.

Meanwhile, al-Jazeera tells us the Sunnis in Baghdad are now pissed at the US as well.

At least we're consistent.

[libodem]

2. The ones who are not being locked up are fleeing the country

there is a hugh refugee problem as well, creating a desperate humanitarian crisis.

[rodeodance]

3. in the US, so many are 'born again'----seems to be a similiar situation.