[lit-ideas] Re: House of Horrors
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:54:00 -0500
I'll read this later. I think the obvious answer is, war makes people crazy.
Or maybe crazier.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 11/18/2005 6:10:44 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] House of Horrors
This is today's post from Riverbend, the gal in Baghdad. I don't understand
what the Iraqis are doing, why this is going on... but the line re. crying
"fire" instead of "rape" in NY, equating to crying "terrorist cell" in Iraq,
is, well....... interesting. If anyone cares to enlighten me re. why the
Iraqis are torturing their own, I would certainly be interested.
Julie Krueger
<<Friday, November 18, 2005
House of Horrors...
The talk of the town is the torture house they recently found in Jadriya.
The whole world heard about the one in Jadriya, recently raided by the
Americans. Jadriya was once one of the best areas in Baghdad. It's an area on
the river and is special in that it's greener, and cleaner, than most areas.
Baghdads largest university, Baghdad University, is located in Jadriya (with a
campus in another area). Jadriya had some of the best shops and restaurants-
not to mention some of Baghdad's most elegant homes...? and apparently, now, a
torture house.
We hear constantly about these torture dungeons. Right after the war, certain
areas became infamous for them. The world knows them as 'torture houses' for
the obvious reasons- they were once ordinary homes, and now they've become
torture centers for suspects and innocents alike. The Iraqi government
conveniently calls them 'detention centers' and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior
oversees and funds them.
One area which was well-known for its torture houses immediately after the war
was Sadir City in Baghdad. Except they weren't called torture houses back then.
The people who ran them called them 'ma7akim' or 'courts'. They would bring
'suspects' in for interrogation- often ordinary citizens- and beat and whip
them for various confessions involving accusations and alleged crimes. A
'Sayid' would then come in and sentence the culprit- the sentence would
sometimes involve cutting off a hand or a foot and at other times it might be
death. We heard this from an aunts neighbor who was mistakenly taken in and
beaten as a suspected former security agent. His family connections with
influential Shia clerics in the area were the only things that got him out
alive- bruised and broken- but alive.
These torture houses have existed since the beginning of the occupation. While
it is generally known that SCIRI is behind them, other religious parties are
not innocent. The Americans know they exist- why the sudden shock and outrage?
This is hardly news for Americans in the Green Zone. The timing is quite
interesting- it shouldn't matter that this raid came immediately after the
whole white phosphorous story came out, but the Pentagon and American military
have proven to be the ultimate masters of diversion.
Only last year in an area called Ghazaliya, one such house was discovered. It
was on a smaller scale though. My cousin lives in Ghazaliya and he said that
when the Americans got inside, they found several corpses and a man hanging
from the ceiling on a makeshift noose. The neighbors had tried to get the
Americans to check the house for months- no one bothered. They finally raided
it because they got information from someone in the area that it was an
insurgents hiding place. I read once that in New York, if a woman is being
raped, she should scream 'fire' instead of 'rape' because no one would come to
save her if she was screaming 'rape'. That's the way it is with Iraqi torture
houses- the only way they'll check it is if you tell them it's a terrorist cell.
And another thing- you know when they say 'men dressed in Ministry of Interior
uniforms' or 'men in official cars claiming to be from the Ministry of
Interior', etc. when describing some horror committed by the new Iraqi security
forces in the news? Here's a thought: they aren't 'claiming' and they aren't in
costume- they actually ARE from the Ministry of Interior! One would think
they'd do this covertly so as not to enrage Iraqis or humanitarian
organisations, except that it doesn't matter to them because SCIRI and Da'awa
aren't out to win hearts and minds. They have American favor- what more does
one need in the New Iraq?
For over a year corpses have been turning up all over Baghdad. Corpses of
people who are taken from their homes in the middle of the night (lately
they've been more brazen- they just do everything in the light of day), and
turn up dead somewhere. That isn't as disturbing as the reports about the
bodies- the one I can't get out of my head is that many of the corpses are
found with holes in the skull left by an electric drill.
I guess the lucky ones go to Abu Ghraib...?
And it's not only 'suspected insurgents' who disappear- Iraqi security forces
have been known to raid complete areas and detain any males from the ages of 12
to 60- especially in Sunni areas. Those 'suspected terrorists' that are rounded
up and taken away- you know where they disappear to now.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr (SCIRI
Thug-Made-Government-Official-In-Italian-Suits) is mollifying Iraqis with this
little gem,
...the group included Shiites as well as Sunnis...?
I'm sure we can all sleep better at night with the knowledge that SCIRI/Da'awa
torturers don't discriminate according to religious sect- under the new
constitution, American military guidance, and the blessings of the Pentagon-
all Iraqis will be tortured equally.>>
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