Torture Chamber Found in Iraq

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_torture_chamber

BAGHDAD - Blood-splotches on walls, chains hanging from a ceiling and swords on the killing floor — the artifacts left a disturbing tale of brutalities inside a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq torture chamber. But there was yet another chilling fact outside the dirt-floor dungeon. Villagers say they knew about the torment but were too intimidated by extremists to tell authorities until now.

Stories such as these — claims of insurgent abuses and the silence of frightened Iraqis — have emerged with increasing frequency and clarity recently as U.S.-led forces push deeper into former extremist fiefdoms and forge alliances with tribes seeking to reclaim their regions.

The reports and tips now pouring in build a harrowing portrait of rule under al-Qaida and its backers: mass graves, ruthless punishments, self-styled Islamic courts ordering summary executions.

Such a lead brought soldiers earlier this month to the hidden room in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday. Graffiti on the building proclaimed "Long Live the Islamic State" — a reference to the Islamic governance, or caliphate, sought in Iraq by Sunni extremist groups that include al-Qaida.

Scrawled in white paint above a bed in the torture area was a Quranic phrase in Arabic normally used to welcome a guest. But the context suggested only sadistic mockery: "Come in, you are safe."

The floor was littered with food wrappers, plastic soda bottles and electric cables that snaked to a metal bed frame, presumably where detainees were shocked, according to the U.S. account of the discovery during a Dec. 8-11 mission.

The rooms "had chains, a bed — an iron bed that was still connected to a battery — knives and swords that were still covered in blood," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq.

Nearby were nine mass graves containing the remains of 26 people, he said.

Villagers knew about the torture site, but did not tell authorities as they were afraid of reprisals from the militants, a local policeman told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was still afraid of being targeted by extremists.

He said he thought the chamber had been used for a year.

It was not the first such torture chamber discovered in Iraq. But it serves as a reminder of the extremist grip in parts of Iraq despite growing optimism as violence continues to fall.

And Diyala province — where the grisly discovery was made — remains one of the most volatile regions as U.S. and Iraqi forces struggle to match the clear advances against extremists made in Baghdad and the western desert of Anbar.

The province is mixed between Sunnis and Shiites — often called a "little Iraq" and a remnant of Iraq before sectarian bloodletting partitioned many parts of the country along religious lines. Diyala's capital, Baqouba, also is the self-proclaimed seat of the insurgents' caliphate.

"I think that is why al-Qaida wants that province so very much, because it is 'a little Iraq,'" Hertling said. "It gives them access to Baghdad and it also ... is considered their caliphate capital."

American commanders say they are a long way from declaring victory in Diyala.

The weapons caches found during the Muqdadiyah raids included a surface-to-air missile launcher, sniper rifles, and 130 pounds of homemade explosives, Hertling said.

"You know, there's going to be continued spectacular attacks," he said. "Are we confident we can protect it? As soon as I say, 'Yeah, we're confident,' it's going to blow tomorrow."

It was not the first apparent torture site found after U.S. forces moved into former extremist strongholds.

In March, U.S. troops discovered a similar site in the village of Karmah just west of Baghdad that was used by Sunni insurgents for torture and summary executions. They rescued two Iraqi captives, who apparently had been spared immediate execution because the militants' video camera broke and they wanted to film the killing.

The captives told U.S. soldiers they had been sentenced to death by an insurgent court and had the choice of either beheading or a fatal gunshot.

Both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia death squads regularly torture their captives before killing them — sometimes with power drills. Most of the hundreds of bodies that have turned up in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq show signs of torture.

So?

hrmmmmmmm

Originally posted by Quiero Mota
So?

^ sum people like to villify and blame everything on a bunch of poor limited extremists and turn em into sumthing resembling the third reich so they and the organisations/ideologies/countrie they support has sumbody to blame and use as an excuse for further agression agaiinst more innocent people, for things that they themselves create and are mostly responsible for. {oh my god, its the DEVIL! }

^ ans: sum people wanna turn alqaeda into the new third reich 😄 . hence the reason for propaganda and false accusations. whenever anything bad happens{half of which we make up ourselves} its alqaeda.

Wait... what? I got absolutely nothing from your posts except "I don't care, America is evil and is spreading propaganda." I mean, we can spend weeks talking about how America is evil for not letting gays get married, but a topic about America's enemies torturing and murdering their countrymen is brushed aside?

^ america's enemies dont exist. thats why they have to make them up.
srry for the double post.

as to the torture chamber, i do not trust the western media enough to beleive the numerous amount of stories like this{and this one included ofcourse} . maybe its true, maybe it isnt. but it is fact that most of these stories are either outright lies or have sum hint of truth but are hugely magnified and added onto.

i think its easy to believe because i have actually seen videos of people connected with al queda, beheading their rivals. I would have agree with your last post leonheartmm about a month ago, because i never truly believed how sick and twisted al queda were.

i think if i was a villager where this took place i would be intimidated too. But somebody should have found this torture chamber, none of the armies in Iraq seem to be doing much to stop the torture chambers and cant control the evil operations in Baghdad.

I could PM you the videos if you want?

i have dialup so thats a no no. people behead other in backwards areas. it has nothing to do with alqaeda. alqaeda is sick, truly. but so is bush and the american military as well as a lot of other forces in this godfrsaken earth. im sorry for not beleiving bull about all this crap being caused by alqaeda thugh. their backwardness has no consquence on this. al qaeda is a hoax created by the western media and bush/blair administration to try and blame a lot of things on them{most of which they themselves organise} and try and motivate their own countries and taxpayers to beleive that there is reason and justification for staying in iraq and doing the unjust things they are doing their and on home soil {illegal prisons etc} as well as the way their foreign policy seems to be working against states like iran etc. it is BULLSHIT, a simple scare tactic. the iraq war was illegal to begin with and there were no weapons of mass destruction. there is no alqaeda in iraq{except for a few insignificant splinter cells} as there is no sunni shiite civil war {nor are most of those bombings SUICIDE bombings. they are propogated by the american military.higher ups themselves to try and blame them on the two faction and fuel tensions} nor a country at war with ITSELF. the fault is america's and all other occupying coalition. but it is a convenient way to deceive a domestic audience. ofcourse, the end goal is making israel happy, smashing ideoligies opposing traditional america who were gaining strength{irrespective of whether they were right and wrong} , and gaining as much free oil from the turmoil as possible. relegious motivation for the right wing evangelists who run the republicans and have vested ideological interests in the area are just icing on the cake.

im sorry i meant to say that "alqaede in IRAQ is a hoax created...... "

also, dont u find it bewildering that shiite and sunni who hardly ever fight in that region in the past and have coexisted for longer than sadam was even born suddenly start killing each exactly WHEN they have a mutual outside agressor killing em both. its like you and your brother who dont like each other but get along for half your life. then suddenly a guy starts beating you both and as a retaliating, exactly AT the time you two wud be united, you start stabbign each other. its stupid.

and forgive me for asking, with constant us presence, why is it that alqaeda was able to set up a stable base with torture chambers and harras a town where every1 was too frightened to fight back{hogwash to try and turn alqaeda into sum types of super villians who mothers use to scare little children into sleeping} and still they had nuthing better to do than torture civilians and fill up body bags with MUSLIMS and turn em into mass graves. on top of failing to cath the attention of american or iraqi domestic police and military forces who are out looking for em.

oh and hey, even having " surface-to-air missile launcher, sniper rifles, and 130 pounds of homemade explosives, " they apparently had nuthin better to do than than sit there and torture civilians and set up islamic COURTS{which again the americans or the iraqi forces failed to notice and the villagers were so hush hush about it that never left the village . COME ON its like ur talking about vampires in a village in transelvania in the dark ages} and judge other people in a volatile region{usually those kinda courts are set up in places where you have significant power like pre occupation afghanistan} . and it just so happens that everytime they conveniently leave the caches of their sophisticated and very expensive weapons as representive to the THREAT that they represent to the world, when they are nowhere to be found themselves.

again im not saying that this specific report in its initial facts is false. im just saying that it probably is not as most others like it are not and even if it is, it is inconsistant and among a minority of true ones out there.

Originally posted by leonheartmm
^ ans: sum people wanna turn alqaeda into the new third reich 😄 . hence the reason for propaganda and false accusations. whenever anything bad happens{half of which we make up ourselves} its alqaeda.

atleast they're not blaming it on jews 😄

^ TRUE DAT SONNY!!! lol. wait who are you talking bout, hitler or a percentage of muslims ? 😛

though, its a fact that israel, as a state, truly is evil. a disgrace to the suffering of jews who lived before it and a disgrace to the reasons it was established. they are doing the same thing, if not worse to palestinians, to what was done to them before it was established. ofcourse, "they" might mean just the government and the military....

Good God, I thought it was interesting news. Of course, it's not unexpected, but BLAAARGH.

Originally posted by leonheartmm
i have dialup so thats a no no. people behead other in backwards areas. it has nothing to do with alqaeda. alqaeda is sick, truly. but so is bush and the american military as well as a lot of other forces in this godfrsaken earth. im sorry for not beleiving bull about all this crap being caused by alqaeda thugh. their backwardness has no consquence on this. al qaeda is a hoax created by the western media and bush/blair administration to try and blame a lot of things on them{most of which they themselves organise} and try and motivate their own countries and taxpayers to beleive that there is reason and justification for staying in iraq and doing the unjust things they are doing their and on home soil {illegal prisons etc} as well as the way their foreign policy seems to be working against states like iran etc. it is BULLSHIT, a simple scare tactic. the iraq war was illegal to begin with and there were no weapons of mass destruction. there is no alqaeda in iraq{except for a few insignificant splinter cells} as there is no sunni shiite civil war {nor are most of those bombings SUICIDE bombings. they are propogated by the american military.higher ups themselves to try and blame them on the two faction and fuel tensions} nor a country at war with ITSELF. the fault is america's and all other occupying coalition. but it is a convenient way to deceive a domestic audience. ofcourse, the end goal is making israel happy, smashing ideoligies opposing traditional america who were gaining strength{irrespective of whether they were right and wrong} , and gaining as much free oil from the turmoil as possible. relegious motivation for the right wing evangelists who run the republicans and have vested ideological interests in the area are just icing on the cake.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Good God, I thought it was interesting news. Of course, it's not unexpected, but BLAAARGH.

oh no no.......its interesting. *courtesy smile*

^LOL RAPE!!!

deano? deano who? im the new king of the conspiracy thread baby 😄

no really, im just kidding. this stuff only looks like conspiracy theories to americans and britons. in the greater part of the world, this is about as accepted as usama having bombed the twin towers is, in america.

Evidence? Because I can promise you in South Korea, Thailand and Japan its not. And those I can speak for because I've been there and worked with the people, my profession naturally leading into conversations about government and foreign policy. I'm interested in how you've obtained this knowledge that has so eluded me, and where I might partake in this wonderful revelation with the rest of the world.

^wrong about thailand. south korea and japan are two countries which NEED american support and hence support and propogate such ideoligies. ofcourse in a significant part of europe, people will always be more familiar with anti islamic/alqaeda stuff because they are much closer in culture to america. same with a great part of australia. other than that, i can think of no other significant example{maybe south africa? cant say}

You think people in Thailand believe that America created the idea of Al Qaeda being a fundamentalist terrorist group that murders and tortures people? Obviously, I can't speak for every single person there, but I can tell you not once out of the fifty or so that I did meet, did I ever hear anything remotely close to that. As for Japan needing American support - what world do you live in, again? They're an ally, not a country that we give aid to.

Still waiting for evidence, by the way.