Posted on 04/19/2010 9:02:21 AM PDT by JLWORK
Today’s Los Angeles Times is featuring a report by Ned Parker that reveals the existence a secret prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki (L.A. Times photo above). Sunni Muslim prisoners and others there-in were allegedly tortured by beatings, electrical shocks, and anally raped. I am not surprised by this report. I have long believed that an invading Infidel army would never be able to broker a truce, ameliorate, assuage, mitigate, tranquilize, becalm, or otherwise call a halt to the centuries-old war between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims over the lawful ascension to leadership of the Muslim Umma following Muhammad’s death in 632 A.D.
Al Maliki says that he did not know what was going on inside the prison, and that he has ordered the arrests of prison staff members. How that all will work out and how much of this report is true remain to be seen. The way I see this, we have traded one Sunni Muslim strongman, Saddam Hussein, for another Shiite Muslim strongman, Nuri al Maliki. And with the recent election results still up in the air, not to mention the negotiations that are ongoing in Iran about who is going to be declared the winner, Iraq remains at best a huge question-mark as to where the middle-eastern political situation is headed.
Read the entire L.A. Times story here:
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
They are just waiting for us to leave!
Hey, it's happening on HIS watch, so it's HIS fault. When can we expect investigations and indictments from The Hague?
Those wringing their hands over Abu Ghraib are strangely silent.
Ted Kennedy and Hunter S. Thompson are understandably speechless, but what of the other libs.
I’ve feared for a long time that our sacrifice there would lead to another lousy regime. I guess from now on our policy should be to neutralize threats, like Saddam, but then not give a rip what happens to the people of the country unless it means telling them about Jesus, using our diplomatic power to support missionary work. Enough of nation building. We should deal with threats to our nation by force but forget about setting up western democracies.
PS Abu Ghraib was used by the media to turn the US public against the Iraq War and President Bush. They turned against the war but still voted to re-elect Bush.
It also served as a recruiting effort for terrorists to wage jihad in Iraq.
The 30-days of front page coverage by the New York Times did nothing to “prevent” another Abu Ghraib scandal nor to see to it that the men and woman were prosecuted for their crimes (the trial was already underway and the images were leaked by one of the men who’d tried to secure a plea bargain in exchange for NOT releasing the images, in other words he tried to blackmail the government).
And none of what went on at Abu Ghraib when Bush was in office comes anywhere NEAR the horrors there when Saddam was in charge (Red Ted Kennedy said that AG had simply reopened under new management when MEANT something else to the arab world).
You sound like an anti-war squish, dude. Then on top of it, taking the LA Times as a good source of info. You a Ron Paul fan by chance?
We aren't permitted to rebuild a nation as we should (and did in Japan after WWII) because of "fears" of being branded "imperialist".
Huh? How does abusive treatment in a prison lead one to the above conclusion, as if rape and brutal treatment never occurs in US prisons? I guess US mistreatment of Native Americans invalidated the efficacy and significance of the American Revolution, not to mention slavery? I'd welcome Mr. Horowitz showing us one democratic nation on earth that hasn't seen its government or those who are charged to act for it who haven't on an occassion behaved in a way that's shameful and contrary to the stated values of its peoples and constitution.
And so this abuse in a prison negates all the great strides Iraq has made in building a functioning democracy and the amazing degree of coexistence the Shiites and Sunnis have managed to build there? The 3 or 4 successful democratic elections held there are all now a thing of naught because some haven't yet gotten the memo that the bad old days are over? Sorry, but after decades of Saddam's regime turning an entire nation dysfunctional and abusive, it's going to be difficult to change old habits in just a few years time--especially at the tail end of a brutal war. The pathologies of Saddam's regime are going to continue to show themselves on occassion such as happened here--if indeed this report is even true. Rather than paint it as indicative of a failed vision in Iraq, I think we should actually take comfort and pride in the fact it hasn't happened more often after the way Saddam's regime sullied a nation and after the dysfunction it created.
I like Horowitz, but he or whomever the writer is here is engaging in some real mental gymnastics here to arrived at the bigoted conclusion that democracy only works for white people.
As do pretty much all inhabitants of lands occupied by foreign troops. It’s only normal.
More rubble, less trouble.
This was always the joke of the Abu Graib “scandal”. Prisoner abuse on the part of American guards consists generally of mocking them. Prisoner abuse by arabs usually involves rape and torture at some point and sawing off heads at others.
The press had a field day calling what we did torture while ignoring what typically goes on in an arab prison, and further ignoring what typically happens to Americans who fall into arab hands.
We are training these people and trying to leave behind something better than what we found, but its hard to overcome 1400 years of degraded culture with a few months of hands-on training. We would be wrong if we didn’t try, but we can’t be surprised if it doesn’t take. Even the “good guys” in Iraq are still arabs and they are still muslims.
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss.
“Torture And Rapes Now Alleged In al Maliki’s Secret Prison”
Are we really going to support this crap?
BINGO! And that my friends is the over-riding issue here.
Not at all. I’m a hawk. I think we need to re-evaluate this whole war strategy, listen to Retired Army General Paul Vallely. And Major Stephen Coughlin. And Retired Army Lt. Colonel Allen West. Those are my guys - not the hearts and minds guys we have in there now.
In wars, and in fist-fights, the one who beats down the other into abject submission wins the fight. The way we’re going at this, without taking into acount Islam’s history, doctrines, law and goals, is not going to win the war.
We need a different over-all strategy. And I don’t know that Ron Paul knows a darn thing about Islam or jihad. He’s a doctor, not a warrior.
Best,
JW
“Enough of nation building.”
We were promised no nation building a few elections back. We actually bought that garbage too.
“....we have traded one Sunni Muslim strongman, Saddam Hussein, for another Shiite Muslim strongman, Nuri al Maliki.”
.
The difference between Saddam and Maliki is that the former never claimed to be democratically elected.
We’ve already won that war. We are in the drawdown phase. They have an elected government, a new constitution, a functioning military and police (which we are continuing to train). So any great advice you have for ‘winning’ is about 2 or 3 years late.
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