Via Chris at AMERICAblog, Ed Johnson of the Associated Press reports,
Human rights abuses in Iraq are as bad now as they were under Saddam Hussein, as lawlessness and sectarian violence sweep the country, the former U.N. human rights chief in Iraq said Thursday.
John Pace, who last month left his post as director of the human rights office at the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, said the level of extra-judicial executions and torture is soaring, and morgue workers are being threatened by both government-backed militia and insurgents not to properly investigate deaths.
“Under Saddam, if you agreed to forgo your basic right to freedom of expression and thought, you were physically more or less OK,” Pace said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But now, no. Here, you have a primitive, chaotic situation where anybody can do anything they want to anyone.”
Sounds pretty grim.
Update: See also the BBC, “Gangs ‘Kill Freely’ in Iraq Chaos.”
In the Harpers before, the story on the prosecutions for Abu Ghraib told how the trial was set up to insure only the photographed mistreatment was at point though clearly the CIA/CID had murdered at least one and probably three prisoners during the same time frame. The only crime brought forwards was that of prisoner mistreatment by the perverted enlisted that had been photographed.
Just to be clear, Ed Johnson is writing about stuff Iraqis are doing to other Iraqis, not about bad acts by U.S. military.
yeah, but the wolf brigade is carrying out their executions wearing Iraqi police uniforms and with a blind eye from the Americans. Half of the equation in the carnage has been stood up and sanctioned up by the US military.
Geez if that doesn’t even include the stuff we are putting Iraqis thru, one wonders how those people are able to hold up.Imagine JUST the emotional toll this must be taking…..Chilling and sad.
Yet the Sean Hannity’s of the world are the first to call a person out if they dare to suggest Iraq was a mistake by saying “Are you suggesting Saddam should have been left in power?”or “This is someone who thinks Iraq would be better if we had left saddam in power.”……..No one ever has the balls to stand up and say” You know what?, maybe so.” or point to articles like these.
Say what you want about Saddam(WAS he any worse then our dear leader?, and if so it is only because ours in still a despot in training)…but there was none of these “Iraqi on Iraqi” crimes, no car bombings, no torn apart cities, ,,I could go on but you get the point…IF the neo”CONS” gave a shit about the people in Iraq maybe instead of using those questions to call one unpatriotic, they would consider maybe the world was better off with LESS mid east instability and maybe the Iraqis were better of with the despot they had , then sharing a despot in training with us.
We have all seen the photos ..and they aint pretty.Imagine how much worse the powers that be have seen that they will not allow us to see.I don’t care who it is commiting these acts,, we are responsible,,, WE caused the problems that are occuring there now,we created the climate for these actions,, saddam was not having this…No matter who’s face is put on these acts, the blood is all over Americas hands.
Another great post Maha, Thanks ….Can’t imagine how you keep up with all the messes Bush has made, but I am glad you do!
We know that the Bush neoCON administration put torture policies in place, beginning at Gitmo, which policies then ‘migrated’ to Iraq…..we know that only the grunts at Abu Ghraib got punished….we know that all the high-up torture-promoters are still in place in Bush’s inner circle……we know that Bush maintains the right to continue to torture…..if he, as a ‘unitary executive’, deems it necessary for ‘national security’……..we know that the ‘greatest, most powerful military in the world’ is occupying the country of Iraq ….w..h…i…l…e….some 7,000 Iraqis have lost their lives to death and torture squads of Iraqi police/militia groups.
To repeat this important point: Death and torture squads in Iraq are moving around unrestrained by the ‘greatest, most powerful occupying military in the world’
What does this really mean? First sub-question to answer is, ‘Who profits?’ The second sub-question to answer is, ‘What sort of life-path best prepares one to be able to ignore human rights abuses and human suffering and/or even to benefit from same?’ Oh, yeah….the answer to each is the same………international corporate decisionmaking.. Worshiping the bottom line eventually dissolves those so-yesterday sentimentalities about human rights.
Uh, let’s take another look at the Dick…..
Anyone else remember Cheney’s behavior in Myanmar in the mid ’90’s? Yep, Cheney was then head of Halliburton. Halliburton was, mid-90’s, hiding behind the smoke-screen of a foreign named wholly-owned subsidiary, quietly setting up business with the military junta in Myanmar…the very junta that had seized power and kept it by murdering thousands of citizens who were aggrievedly marching and protesting the military overthrow of their duly elected president
At the very time that Cheney and Halliburton were, around 1995-96, behind the scenes playing footsy with the vicious junta [even benefiting corporately from slave and child labor offered up by the junta, the slave labor being one perk for Halliburton in developing that country’s offshore oil lines], the democratic governments of the world, including the United States, were putting their heads together to try to solve the blatant problem of Myanmar’s vicious murdering junta.
I have studied Cheney’s positions on many issues…..to me he is the scariest person in our country. It is no secret why Cheney and his ‘junta behind the scenes’ are so intent on guarding their covert practices.. His evil could never stand in the sunshine that still wants to and can shine across this land.
Anyone who could sneak past the wall around Cheney’s secret behavior could probably get the inside skinny on what is really happening in Iraq.
Very well said, Donna. Cheney is indeed one of the scariest and repulsive officials this country has seen in a long long time. Four heart attacks, and I’m holding out for my lucky number five.
I have studied Cheney’s positions on many issues…..to me he is the scariest person in our country. It is no secret why Cheney and his ‘junta behind the scenes’ are so intent on guarding their covert practices.. His evil could never stand in the sunshine that still wants to and can shine across this land.
And Bush is perfect as the petulant, spoiled rich kid, the glad handling cheerleader, who draws the public’s attention away from Darth Cheney, the man behind the curtain (if you’ll allow me to mix movie metaphors).