Chain wrapped around 'old man's body' found in mosque (torture room discovered in Baghdad mosque)

[sabra]

Source: CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," Abu Muhanad said as he walked through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found.

"And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave."

Chunks of hair waft lazily across the floor in the hot Baghdad breeze.

...

The horrific scene at this southwestern Baghdad mosque is what officials say was the work of a Shia militia known as the Mehdi Army. Residents who live near the mosque say they could hear the victims' screams.

...

"We found this chain on an old man's corpse that we dug out of the grave," he said, gesturing to a bloodied chain on the floor. "We recovered about 22 corpses and then another five."

Only now are people able to understand the true magnitude of the Shiite militia's atrocities and the brutal laws they were enforcing on the people.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/19/iraq.mosque/index.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. Torture! The republicons will cream their jeans over this

They just love them that torture evil.

[Hulk]

7. PLEASE!! "enhanced interrogation" Let's get the vocabulary right.

[dysfunctional press]

12. the vocabulary is HEAVILY dependent on who's side they're on...

our side- enhanced interrogation techniques.

their side- torture.

[MichiganVote]

2. That is just so sad. People are not made for torture. A woman and an old man. Very sad.

[The Stranger]

3. Genocide.

Isn't the Medhi Army the group the U.S. has been supporting?

[TNOE]

4. Doesn't really matter

since the US is also guilty of their own torture. We hardly have the moral authority to rage.

[1monster]

6. So what should we do? Shrug our shoulders and say, "Well, everybody else does it too..."

We not only have to right, but the moral duty to rage over this torture, which, by the way, was only possible because of the US invasion of Iraq, but also over the torture sanctioned by the Bush Administration and done by its agents.

[sabra]

5. the group the US currently backing is the "Sons of Iraq" - a Sunni militia

[bemildred]

10. Why that's the source of this story, isn't it?

The guy quoted is said to be a leader of "Sons of Iraq". What a coincidence.

[Mabus]

9. IIRC, yes because it is al-Sadr's army

just as I was getting ready to post I thought I'd do a quick search, here's an example from Feb. of this year:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has extended for six months the cease-fire he imposed last summer on his Mehdi Army militia, al-Sadr's office in Baghdad said Friday.

The official said a letter was distributed to all al-Sadr offices announcing the extension of the suspension, credited by the U.S. military with helping reduce the sectarian violence that has engulfed Baghdad and other hot spots across the country.

***

"This step will contribute to the establishment of security and support of the national unity, and push forward the efforts of rebuilding and construction," Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a statement.

He called the Sadrists a "cornerstone in the political process."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/22/iraq.main/index.html

I guess the answer to question is actually, it depends. We claim them when we need to and disavow them when it is convenient.

[tblue37]

11. No--that's the Sunni Awakening Council. The Mehdi Army is

the militia commanded by the Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. The Shiite dominated Iraqi government that the US backs has often gone after the Mehdi Army--sweeping the slums of Baghdad and trying to capture Muqtada al-Sadr himself. He usually maintains a cease-fire with the Americans, but the US tends to press him, and then he sometimes retaliates.

Some of his followers might not actually be completely udner his control, but he is the leader of the Mehdi Armi.

[Posteritatis]

8. Gee aren't I glad that the invasion ended the torture chambers oh wait what. (nt)

[ohio2007]

13. No mention that the mosuqe is in Sadr city .

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/19/iraq.mosque/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

[bertman]

14. I have to say I'm shocked that this is News. Everybody who thinks this isn't still going on all over

Iraq, please raise your hand.

It's awful stuff and has been since the civil war and ethnic cleansing started. It's just not getting much coverage now that Peace has broken out and all--due to the Scourge, of course.

OOPS. I meant Surge.

[Barrett808]

15. Haven't heard much about Interior Ministry torture lately...

I guess Maliki got those reports under control.

[bertman]

16. Yeah, or maybe he "subbed" them out to the Mehdi Army.

It wouldn't be the first time this shit has happened. I mean, the CIA wouldn't sub out torture to the Egyptians or Saudis, would they??