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Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It'

By TChris, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 07:48:22 AM EST
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by TChris

Allegations that Iraq's Interior Ministry is operating death squads that target Sunni Arabs have prompted the Ministry to "open an investigation." How comforting.

There have been previous investigations of alleged abuses by the Interior Ministry. But none led to significant changes, prompting accusations that the ministry is shielding killers within its ranks and fueling distrust in a public already reeling from the rise in sectarian killings.

The Interior Ministry includes many members of Shiite militias. Many critics and some officials in the ministry say its paramilitary units often work in tandem with members of two of the most feared militias, the Badr Organization and the Mahdi Army, to carry out widespread killings of Sunni men.

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    • Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' (none / 0) (#1)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 08:47:33 AM EST
    Negroponte should be so proud! Monkey Boy's episode of "I love the 80's"

    Re: Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' (none / 0) (#2)
    by jondee on Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 11:17:58 AM EST
    Same way they "looked into" Operation Phoenix and The School of the America's. Thank God for David Brooks and the WSJ op-ed writers etc for keeping us on track by reminding us that only "they" can be terrorists.

    Re: Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' (none / 0) (#3)
    by Sailor on Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 02:21:09 PM EST
    Ahh yes, the standard perpetrator/investigator dual role. What confidence iraqis must have in such a system.

    Re: Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' (none / 0) (#4)
    by john horse on Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 03:46:41 PM EST
    2,272 American soldiers died and over 16,000 American soldiers have been wounded to establish an Iraqi government that tortures prisoners just like Saddam used to. Prisoners that have been held by the Interior Ministry have been found with broken bones, cigarette burns to the back and neck, fingernails pulled out, holes in the arms and skull caused by an electric drill, and starved down to skin and bones. The Interior Ministry forces has been accused of kidnappings, killings, torture and unwarranted detentions. To quote the song from the Who, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Once again the Iraqi Interior Ministry promises to investigate itself despite the fact that many of the members of the Interior Ministry come from the very Shiite militias that have been accused of forming the death squads. The prospects for these investigations are no better than previous investigations which have found nothing and led to nothing. The prospects for human rights remain bleak. What is sad is that this is happening in a country that we are supposedly in control of. Throughout this war, we have been told that part of the reason that we invaded was to end human rights abuses. So if we now have a government that abuses human rights, that what did the 2,272 Americans who have been killed in Iraq die for?

    Iraqi Death Squads: 'We'll Look Into It' | 4 comments (4 topical)