On the ground in Iraq, from a hostage who survived

[yvr girl]

This is the story of a Canadian journalist who was held hostage in Iraq. He was one of the lucky ones, he was released, but the story is worth the read.

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Harrowing days in Iraq

Scott Taylor

FROM SEPT. 7 to 11, I spent four harrowing days as a hostage of the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group in northern Iraq. Originally captured in the embattled enclave of Tal Afar, I spent a lot of my captivity being transported between various safe houses, farms and hideouts before eventually being released beside a highway in the city of Mosul.

Although I spent a lot of that time blindfolded and bound, I was still able to get a first-hand view of the Iraqi resistance and how it operates.

According to the Turkish intelligence official who debriefed me after my release, the Ansar al-Islam organization has never before freed a westerner, so I realize that such insight is extremely rare. The most startling observation that I made was that members of the mostly American-funded, newly constituted Iraqi Police Service are working openly alongside the resistance.

http://www.espritdecorps.ca/new_page_245.htm

[RoyGBiv]

1. Fascinating ...

" support the Emir (resistance leader) in Mosul," I was told by one of my captors. "Many of the police here donate part of their U.S. salaries to our cause. So, indirectly, America is paying to fund the Iraqi resistance."