Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Yay for freedom!

news.bbc.co.uk...

Iraq detainees 'found starving'

There have been persistent claims of abuse by Iraqi security forces
Iraq's government says it has begun an investigation into the alleged abuse of more than 170 detainees held by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.
The prisoners, many malnourished and some showing signs of torture, were found when US troops took control of an interior ministry building on Sunday.

The US raid followed repeated enquiries by the parents of a missing teenager. ...

...Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told reporters: "I was informed that there were 173 detainees held at an interior ministry prison and they appear to be malnourished.

"There is also some talk that they were subjected to some kind of torture."

He said the prisoners had now been moved to a better location and would be given medical care....

...Iraq's new police force has faced repeated allegations of systematic abuse and torture of people in detention by human rights groups, as well as allegations of extra-judicial killings.

A report by pressure group Human Rights Watch earlier this year said methods used by Iraqi police included beating detainees with cables, hanging them from their wrists for long periods and giving electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body.

Um, I really don't know what to say about it. Whose fault is it? Well, clearly the Iraqis who did the starving and torturing, but what responsibility lies with the Occupying Power, with its promises of freedom and democracy?


jako

Um....how about none?

Wow, that's nice and convenient.

We went in to Iraq to make them free. But if we install a puppet government which includes former Baathist party members who end up continuing the reign of terror that Saddam had followed (and which APPARENTLY called for his removal), then hey, big deal. It's their responsibility.

So take credit for the good stuff (oooh lookee, we re-opened a school, yay!), and let the Iraqis be blamed for the lack of security and the torturing.

Except, um, the Occupying Power is actually legally responsible for all of these. They are the law in Iraq and they are the political power.


Logic be damned, I guess, huh?

This didn't start with our arrival. And it won't stop when we leave.

When the Sunnis had power under Saddam, life was hell for Shiites in prison.

The tables have turned, is all; now the Shiites are in power and it's payback time.