Al Qaeda Torture Chamber Found In Iraq

Sur le même thème que "Al Qaeda Torture Chamber Found In Iraq"

Torture in Iraq

Al-Qaeda took up where Saddam Hussein left off. Actual evidence was uncovered of very real and very recent torture in Iraq, the BBC reported. I am outraged. Official Washington should do something to prevent this. Congress should return from its vacation and begin immediate hearings and investigations into how this could happen. And then re-double the efforts to rid the world of al-Qaeda. For it is not the CIA, Marines or KBR who are doing this. It is al-Qaeda. Reported the BBC: US and Iraqi forces have discovered a “torture complex” in an al-Qaeda safe haven near Muqdadiya in central Diyala province, the US military has said.Three buildings containing chains on the walls and ceilings, and a metal bed connected to a power supply were found during an operation on 9 December. [lien] [EN]

Come to Think Of It, All That Death and Torture in Iraq Really Is Kind of Hilarious [Laugh Riots]

There's plenty of studio hand-wringing and noose-tying to go around as movies about the Iraq War yield one box-office bomb after another. But a feature in this week's Village Voice reveals a new strategy for getting over those wartime blahs and rolling back into the black: Make 'em laugh! Not that the heirs to Dr. Strangelove or M*A*S*H are any new breed, of course, but if we can't cash in on grave exposes of torture and failed diplomacy (not to mention Ryan Phillippe's abs), we may as well have fun with them, say filmmakers like Morgan Spurlock: "It's the Mary Poppins idea that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," [Spurlock said]. In his latest nonfiction adventure, Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, Spurlock recounts the U.S.'s long history of backing despots and dictators by showing an animated Uncle Sam drinking at a bar with "our S. [lien] [EN]

Female Muslim Bomber Kills 10 Iraqi Muslims

From a delighted Reuters: The coffin of a victim killed in Tuesday’s bomb attack is placed on the top of a vehicle after his body was claimed from al-Kindi hospital morgue in Baghdad January 2, 2008. Female suicide bomber kills 10 in Iraq By Peter Graff BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A female suicide bomber killed 10 people in Iraq on Wednesday, the latest in a string of suicide bombings that has seen a major strike nearly every day of the past week despite an overall decline in violence. The woman blew herself up with an explosive vest at a checkpoint of neighborhood patrol volunteers in Baquba, capital of the restive Diyala province. Twenty-eight people were wounded including some women, police said. The attack came the day after a bomber detonated his explosive vest in a tent crowded with mourners at a Baghdad funeral. [lien] [EN]

Iraqi Interior Ministry Claims 75% Reduction in Al Qaeda Network

[Guest post by DRJ] An Interior Ministry spokesman claims the Al Qaeda network in Iraq has been reduced by 75% and, in equally good news, the criminal networks that support it are being broken up: “The Iraqi interior ministry lauded its achievements over the past year on Saturday, saying that 75 percent of Al-Qaeda’s networks in the country had been destroyed in 12 months. Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf also outlined sharp falls in the numbers of assassinations, kidnappings and death squad murders. He told a news conference that increased patrols along the borders with Saudi Arabia and Syria had slowed infiltration by militants and played a key role in Iraq’s improved security situation. “We have destroyed 75 percent of Al-Qaeda hide. [lien] [EN]

How Many Muslims Has al-Qaeda Killed In Iraq? WHO Decides

How Many Muslims Has al-Qaeda Killed In Iraq? WHO Decides [lien] [EN]

al-Qaeda Retreating From Iraq To Set Up Cells Elsewhere - Now We Need The NSA Like Never Before

al-Qaeda Retreating From Iraq To Set Up Cells Elsewhere - Now We Need The NSA Like Never Before [lien] [EN]

Story About Supplier of Mentally Ill Bombers in Iraq Largely Ignored

This one has an interesting twist relating to Google News that I will get to later. It should be no surprise that the so-called “newspapers of record” did very little with the news earlier this week that the actiing director of an Iraqi psychiatric hospital had been arrested for allegedly supplying mentally ill patients for use as, for lack of a better description, unwillingly co-opted “suicide bombers.” Here’s the essence of the story, in case you missed it, from the Times of London: Iraq Hospital Chief Allegedly Supplied Patients for Bombings The acting director of a Baghdad psychiatric hospital has been arrested on suspicion of supplying Al Qaeda in Iraq with the mentally impaired women it used to blow up two crowded animal markets in the city on Feb. [lien] [EN]

US admits it fired on anti-Qaeda fighters in Iraq

Source: [b]AFP[/b] BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military acknowledged on Sunday that it fired on a group of its anti-Qaeda allies in Iraq in an attack the leader of the group said killed three people and sparked angry protests. Military spokesman Major Brad Leighton said members of the Awakening grou... [lien] [EN]

Cheney: Was There ‘A Link Between Iraq And Al Qaeda? Seems To Me Pretty Clear That There Was’

Before the Iraq war began, Dick Cheney was among the most prominent messengers of the false claim that Saddam Hussein had a relationship with al Qaeda. For example, he said it was “pretty well confirmed” that a 9/11 hijacker met with Iraqi intelligence officials before 9/11. Over the past five years, numerous intelligence reports have conclusively [...] [lien] [EN]

Crocker: Al Qaeda on Afghanistan-Pakistan border bigger threat than in Iraq.

During this afternoon’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) forced Ambassador Ryan Crocker to acknowledge that al Qaeda in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region poses a larger threat than al Qaeda in Iraq: SEN. BIDEN: Mr. Ambassador, is Al Qaeda a greater threat to US interests in Iraq, or in the Afghan-Pakistan border region? … [...] [lien] [EN]

Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Captured in Mosul

[Guest post by DRJ] Iraqi sources report that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been captured in Mosul. If this report is correct, al-Masri almost made it to his 2-year anniversary as commander. He took over al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed June 7, 2006 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad. As discussed in this post, al-Masri’s top two aides were killed in October 2007, including one who was in charge of foreign suicide bombers. Apparently al-Masri is in Iraqi custody. Imagine the information al-Masri could share regarding plans for suicide attacks and the identities of possible suicide bombers. If he is turned over to the Americans, what interrogation techniques should be allowed to get information from al. [lien] [EN]

Iraq myths

Juan Cole knocks down all 10 strawmen he set up. I respect Professor Juan Cole’s knowledge of the Middle East but his post today on “Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007” was propaganda disguised as scholarship. His myths were myths. His No. 1 myth: “The reduction in violence in Iraq is mostly because of the escalation in the number of US troops, or ‘surge’.” He should know that the Surge was not just sending a bunch of troops into Iraq but also to work with the Iraqi people to get them to turn on al-Qaeda. That worked. I’m curious as to what caused the reduction in Cole’s opinion. They ran out of IEDs? The real myth is that the Surge failed. That’s what the left keeps telling itself. His No. 2: “Iraq has been ‘calm’ in fall of 2007 and the Iraqi public. [lien] [EN]

So what’s up in Iraq?

It’s that time again - let’s take a look at progress in Iraq. Today, USA Today is reporting that 75% of Baghdad is "under control" per MNFI. Other than the obvious, what does that mean in terms of progress?The military classifies 356 of Baghdad’s 474 neighborhoods in the "control" or "retain" category of its four-tier security rating system, meaning enemy activity in those areas has been mostly eliminated and normal economic activity is resuming.An the elimination of the threat and the return of normal economic activity signals dramatic improvement and a shift in priorities for normal Iraqis. As MG Rick Lynch said last week, Iraqis aren’t taking about security anymore, they’re talking about jobs. That’s a very important development. So how much progress has been made in Baghdad? Well consider that almost a year ago. [lien] [EN]

Graham: Al Qaeda wants the U.S. to leave because we’ve been ‘kicking them all over Iraq.’

Today during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) couldn’t contain his excitement over the progress in Iraq. In a moment reminiscent of President Bush’s overblown war rhetoric, Graham declared: If you put a list of people who wanted us to leave, the number one group would be Al Qaida, because you’ve [...] [lien] [EN]