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Mercnbeth -> RE: One or Two Iraq Questions (10/3/2005 11:57:45 AM)
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quote:
We've lost thousands of poor unforunate American soldiers, we've probably killed just as many people or more being there than saddam did when he was in power, and there is no end in sight.
BTF,
You're stating that the US killed more than Saddam's regime? Per this site, obviously NOT pro-war the number is between 26,302 and 29,625. Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/
It's estimated that between 300,000 - 400,000 Iraqis, Iraqi Kurds, Iranian and Kuwaiti were killed by Saddam per this account:
quote:
There was no end to the gruesome creativity of Saddam's secret police. Saddam's methods included using hammers to break bones, ripping out fingernails, amputating limbs with a chain saw, crucifixion, throwing live victims in acid baths and ovens, cutting loose wild dogs to attack victims, raping women in the presence of their children and husbands, cutting off a penis or a breast, and stripping children naked and forcing their parents to watch as they were stung by hornets and scorpions. The graves contain evidence of these and other sadistic crimes. Source: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040312-074010-1766r
But if you still long for the "good old days" of Saddam in power, you may want to first learn more about the regime you are supporting. Under Saddam, the old Roman oratory including the words "...lend me your ears." took on a literal meaning. quote:
Razak, then 21 years old, had been swept up during one of Saddam Hussein’s periodic crackdowns on deserters from the Army. Razak says he was innocently on leave at the time, but no matter; he had been seized by some Baath Party members who earned bounties for catching Army deserters. At Basra Hospital, Razak’s ears were sliced off without painkillers. He said he was thrown into jail with 750 men, all with bloody stumps where their ears had been. “They called us Abu [Arabic for father] Earless,” recalls Razak, whose fiancee left him because of his disfigurement.
As part of the prison routine, Issa was tortured daily, sometimes twice a day. Battery acid was spilled on his feet, which are now deformed. With his hands bound behind his back, he was hanged by his wrists from the ceiling until his shoulders dislocated; he still cannot lift his hands above his head. The interrogators’ goal: “They just wanted me to say I was plotting against the Baath Party, so they could take me and execute me. If they got a confession, they would get 100,000 dinars [roughly $40].”
Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3068571/
If you'd prefer a more formal report you could peruse this dossier, a declassified British government document, click on this link: http://www.streamload.com/jmstein77/TortureDossier.pdf
But this of course can be misinterpreted as "cultural differences". The US prison conditions in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are just as reprehensible. Putting a Koran in the same room as a toilet, serving non-Islamic food, and not letting the prisoners know which way it is to Mecca; equate to the Iraqi prison system under Saddam:
quote:
Saddam Hussein's regime has carried out frequent summary executions, including:
4,000 prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in 1984;
3,000 prisoners at the Mahjar prison from 1993-1998;
2,500 prisoners were executed between 1997-1999 in a "prison cleansing campaign;"
122 political prisoners were executed at Abu Ghraib prison in February/March 2000;
23 political prisoners were executed at Abu Ghraib prison in October 2001; and
At least 130 Iraqi women were beheaded between June 2000 and April 2001. Source: http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/19675.htm
Just having an opinion or saying; "we've probably killed just as many people or more being there than saddam did when he was in power", doesn't make is so.
Yes indeed - let's bring Saddam back.
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