“We had to send [the security men] phone cards so they could call us. They said: ‘Your son is being tortured – he will die if you don’t pay.’ So we paid and paid. What could I do? He is the last I have. I said I would sell myself in the streets, just bring him back to me.”
Yassir’s case is part of a growing body of evidence collected by the Guardian that shows Iraqi state security officers are systematically arresting people on trumped-up charges, torturing them and extorting bribes from their families for their release. Endemic corruption in Iraq has created a new industry in which senior security service officers buy their authority over particular neighbourhoods by bribing politicians, junior officers pay their seniors monthly stipends and everyone gets a return on their investment by extorting money from the families of detainees.
See some of my previous writing on what a gift we’ve given the Iraqis:
US Approves of Maliki’s Consolidating Dictatorial Power in Iraq
US Sending $11 Billion in Arms, Despite Maliki’s Turn Towards Dictatorship
Sounds like what's in store for us here in Amerika once the dollar implodes and armies of "law enforcement" types find themselves officially unemployed, with no means of earning an honest living.
This story simply reinforces the fact that invading Iraq in 2003 was the correct and 'noble' decision. As an unrelated side note, I particularly liked Bill Kristol’s Tuesday morning appearance on C-SPAN's 'Washington Journal':
http://thehill.com/video/campaign/204565-bill-kri…
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