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| Iraq-Jordan |
| The Next Atrocity Story |
| 2005-05-25 |
| May 25, 2005: The next big thing in news headlines denouncing the American military will be horror stories about how Iraqi soldiers and police treat terrorism suspects. While the Iraqi security forces have been given training, by Americans, on how to be kind and gentle with the suspects they pick up, old habits die hard. In the Middle East, actually, in most of the world, brutal treatment of prisoners is pretty routine. But because American troops are working with the Iraqis, the Americans will be blamed for any bad treatment (by Western standards) terrorist suspects get. Journalists love stories like this, because if the Americans did try and control the way Iraqi police dealt with suspects, the Americans could be accused of "interfering with Iraqi sovereignty." In a practical sense, the American troops could not stop what the Iraqi cops and troops do to prisoners, because there are not enough American troops to be there for every arrest, and watch over the prisoners as long as they are in custody, and at risk. U.S. troops have been told to get out of the way when Iraqi cops or soldiers "interrogate" prisoners. American officers and NCOs serving as advisors in Iraqi police and army units are told to, well, advise the Iraqis that there are better, and less brutal, ways to get information from prisoners. This won't get American troops off the hook with the media. In fact, there's no way that the army can win in this game of guilt by association. So don't be surprised when the stories begin to appear later this year. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Seems like a foregone conclusion to me. Remember El Mozote? Salvadorean counter-terrorist units trained by the US? I think the answer is for the Iraqi government to get on with the swift, sure, and transparent administration of righteous justice leading to the televised execution of captured insurgents. |
| Posted by: markb 2005-05-25 16:24 |
| #5 I prefer to think of this as "showing cultural sensitivity." "Hey, I didn't want the Iraqi Wolf commandos to string this guy up by his dingus, but then I remembered my diversity training and thought, 'Who am I to judge?' That had to hurt, though." |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-05-25 13:08 |
| #4 The best part is that Iraqis can now pick up |
| Posted by: ed 2005-05-25 10:47 |
| #3 prisoners should enjoy it while it last. While I hope not, it's highly possible that the Iraqi soldiers will soon be engraving it with a different type of "sharpie". |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-05-25 10:07 |
| #2 On the FoxNews.com site today there was a picture of a GI using a Sharpie to label a prisoner's forehead, which I can imagine is going to lead to even more seething. I can just picture some Mo screaming to Al-Jiz, "They wrote 'Pig F*cker' on my forehead in permament marker!" I bet you this happens within the next week. |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-25 10:03 |
| #1 I've already seen a couple. The quote from the NCO was, "It is their country. We just advise, we don't order them around." Of course, the AP guy cruisified the army for that. We are seen as horrible people for letting it happen, and seen as horrible people for making it stop and being an occupying forgien power. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Goddamn liberal journalists.... |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-05-25 09:42 |