Unjust detentions were no mistake

The AP reports on a new International Red Cross report released today:

The report by the International Committee of the Red Cross supports allegations that abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers was broad and “not individual acts” – contrary to President George W. Bush’s contention that the mistreatment “was the wrongdoing of a few.”

It also quoted U.S. officers as admitting that up to 90 per cent of the detainees had been arrested by mistake.

By “mistake?” Hardly. It has been extensively reported that Americans routinely rounded up whoever fell into their clutches during their raids. Iraqis have told their stories of disappeared relatives, friends and entire neighbourhoods repeatedly, but were ignored or ridiculed as unreliable Arabs by the war-supporting American public, the Likudnik-Republican neocons running Operation Crush Iraqi Untermenschen in Washington and Baghdad, and the neocon infested American military command in Iraq. 90% is far beyond a “mistake,” it is evidence of a systematic policy of collective punishment, a pervasive mindset of total disregard for Iraqi dignity and life, and irrefutable proof that the justification for the American presence in Iraq (after the WMD lie was exposed) is yet another lie.

The agency said arrests allegedly tended to follow a pattern.

“Arresting authorities entered houses usually after dark, breaking down doors, waking up residents roughly, yelling orders, forcing family members into one room under military guard while searching the rest of the house and further breaking doors, cabinets and other property,” the report said.

“Sometimes they arrested all adult males present in a house, including elderly, handicapped or sick people,” it said.

“Treatment often included pushing people around, insulting, taking aim with rifles, punching and kicking and striking with rifles.”

It said some coalition military intelligence officers estimated “between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.”

“They also attributed the brutality of some arrests to the lack of proper supervision of battle group units.”

We knew this all along, but it is good that the story is finally given credence in the mainstream media, though the fact that it took pictures of graphic abuse to force the truth to be admitted discredits the too-late reporting.

There was plenty of evidence out there, well known to anyone who cared enough to look. Remember Zeyad’s cousin who was killed by American troops who forced him to jump from a bridge?

Look at this picture, blatantly, casually posted on an American soldier’s internet journal, with the caption “wake up, haji…. hahaha.” Or, these. blowndooriraq

How about this story, documented with photos? Notice the circumstances of Mr. Abrahim’s arrest and detention

Here’s another typical ignored report, by David Hilfiker, M.D.:

The most vociferous complaints, however, concerned nighttime raids and detentions. Military people had previously acknowledged to us of implementing a policy of “45 seconds of rage and fury” on entering a house. They consider this necessary to obtain immediate submission and keep their troops safe. Soldiers break down doors, yell commands to lie on the floor, run through the house, and generally try to frighten the occupants into submissive behavior. “Why do the soldiers break down our doors and smash our cupboards. We would give them the key if they just asked?” was a typical question from the outraged lawyers.

“When Saddam raided,” said one, “he took only the person he was after. Now the whole family is taken, even when the soldiers know they have the wrong house.” The treatment of women infuriated some of these men. With embarrassment, one lawyer claimed that when the U.S. troops had raided a house and found a couple naked in their bed, they arrested them and took them away unclothed. “This is not acceptable in our culture,” he said.

Sounds much more credible now that the Americans have displayed their naked Iraqi pictures, doesn’t it? Hilfiker goes on to describe a meeting he arranged between the Iraqi lawyers and Colonel Nate Sassaman. The result of the meeting?

At 4 a.m. that morning, Sassaman’s men had staged a raid in Abu Hishma, a town over ten miles from the base. (It was the same town that Sassaman had previously ordered encircled with razor wire to pressure inhabitants into giving information about the insurgents.) Perhaps a hundred soldiers in fifteen to twenty vehicles entered the town, surrounded Mohaned’s father’s house, broke down the door, and smashed some of the family’s belongings. They took Mohaned and his five brothers at gunpoint out to the yard, handcuffed them, put hoods on their heads, had them sit in the rain while the house was searched, and then carted them off to the base.

You might remember Sassaman from this quote: “With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them.”

We must challenge the lies currently being peddled about “bad apples,” “wrongdoing of a few,” and “mistakes.” The evidence is there. Those of us who rightly opposed the invasion and subsequent maltreatment of Iraqis and disgusting behavior of the occupation troops must oppose the substitution of an altered and propagandistic version of history for the truth we’ve repeatedly documented.