Posted on 05/21/2008 8:58:29 AM PDT by old-and-old
BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- The man, blindfolded and handcuffed, crouches in the corner of the detention center while an Iraqi soldier grills him about rampant crimes being carried out by gangs in the southern city of Basra.
"How many girls did you kill and rape?" the soldier asks.
"I raped one, sir," the man responds.
"What was her name?"
"Ahlam," he says.
Ahlam was a university student in the predominantly Shiite city of Basra. The detainee said the gang he was in kidnapped her as she was leaving the university, heading home.
"They forced me, and I killed her with a machine gun, sir," he says.
The suspect, who is unshaven and appears to be in his 20s or 30s, was arrested by Iraq security forces after they retook most of Basra in April.
CNN was shown what authorities say was his first confession. On it are the names of 15 girls whom he admitted kidnapping, raping and killing. The youngest girl on the list was just 9 years old.
Basra turned into a battleground between warring Shiite factions vying for control of the country's oil-rich south after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Basra's streets teemed with Shiite militias armed with weapons, mostly from Iran, according to the Iraqi forces and the U.S. military.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I was surprised today by an unexpectedly positive report on Basra by CNN International. They showed cheering Iraqis finding work, cleaning the city from trash and Iraqi Army clearing militia areas.
It’s worth noting that the British troops in Basra followed our old strategy of hunkering down inside fortified outposts, which didn’t work, and let Basra descend into the hellhole it’s become. After the aggressive sweeps by the Iraqi Army, if the returning Brits get out there among the people the same way General Petraeus deployed our American troops, and work with the Iraqi forces in the same way, they’ll almost certainly have similar success.
I expect they’ll be teaching Petraeus’ “surge” strategy at military academies around the world for a very long time.
}:-)4
More love from the Cult of Death tm
I was equally surprised hearing a positive report on NPR a day or so ago. I guess the liars need to maintain some credibility as the truth outs...
The Brits were reined in by their politicians and forced to hunker down and not do anything in Basra. Show what can happen in the name of democracy.
We and the Iraqi’s are now cleaning up their mess.
Send the Brits home..we don’t need troops that won’t patrol, fight and protect the people.
They are needed on the streets of the UK to take control back from the Muslims..if they dare.
I've also been critical of single women but not to that extent. Sorry for their families but at least criminals are caught and there is a new admin in southern Basra.
Someone tell me “why” Mookie is still breathing and his rabble army is above ground.
you may have hit on the real reason for going to iraq. these troops and their newly acquired experience will be needed someday at home to fight the same enemy.
“you may have hit on the real reason for going to iraq. these troops and their newly acquired experience will be needed someday at home to fight the same enemy.”
I think our troops should get a little bit more practice though. I’d suggest Saudi Arabia would be just perfect.
Given the Koran’s sanction of a husband treating his wife horribly, I would stay single too. Very sad for the woman who lost her sons and sister.
Good to hear things are getting better.
The criminal element will ALWAYS be present in every society and it's why government is necessary to protect those who observe the law and would become the first victims if police/order were absent.
Unfortunately, in Iraq and elsewhere in the ME this element is lionized and seen as ‘freedom fighters’.... they are hiding behind the ‘pro-Al Qaida/anti-coolition’ banner for now...what a laugh. These same losers would be killing, stealing, pillaging and worse no matter what society they lived in, if they were not controlled. They are just criminals who gain whenever the law goes to sleep. They foment discord, corruption, violence, brutality and lawlessness because these situations offer them the best chance of power over the vulnerable and opportunities for gain at the expense of others. Nothing new here - if you have read your history.
PEACE! ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE!
Thank you Great Brittan!
Islam needs a nukin’.
a defiled people.
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