Jailed Iraqi children run free as Marines roll into Baghdad suburbs

Agence France-Presse ^ | April 8, 2003

[HAL9000]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom Tuesday as US marines rolled into northeast Baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a US officer said.

Around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a US military Humvee vehicle approached, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla told an AFP correspondent travelling with the Marines 5th Regiment.

"Hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," Padilla said.

"There were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back."

"The children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the Baath party," he alleged. "Some of these kids had been in there for five years."

The children, who were wearing threadbare clothes and looked under-nourished, walked on the streets crossing their hands as if to mimic handcuffs, before giving the thumbs up sign and shouting their thanks.

It was not clear who had opened the doors of the prison.

Civilians also took advantage of the collapse of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's authority to grab weapons from an army base, said Group Sergeant Jeff Treiber.

As marines were alerted by radio that civilians had seized weapons, Treiber warned that anyone seen to be armed could be a target of US-British coalition forces.

"With the weapons they are becoming combatants," said Treiber. "If they don't take the weapons they will be fine."

Other residents stole air conditioning units, television sets and furniture from government buildings in an echo of the looting that was seen in the southern city of Basra.

A 19-year-old called Haider said people had been ransacking government compounds since the morning to steal weapons and furniture.

"Since the morning, nine o'clock, they have been looting. They are stealing weapons and I took three doors," he said.

At one stage the marines opened fire after coming under attack from snipers, leaving at least two civilians wounded.

One man needed treatment for gunshot wounds to his stomach and left arm.

But his friend, Abdul Amir Jaffa, said he did not resent the Americans despite the shooting.

"Americans are coming to free us," he told AFP.

The marines became increasingly edgy as crowds of people took to the streets to observe their progress.

"It's a problem with so many people in the area. Its hard to tell if there are enemy forces among them. You have to be careful returning fire with civilians all over the place," Lieutenant Anthony Sousa said.

Troops from the Marines' 1st Expeditionary Force also entered Baghdad on the east of the city Tuesday as thousands of armoured vehicles and Humvees poured into the capital for a showdown with Saddam Hussein's troops.

[RonF]

The BSA's National Council is asking local Councils to organize decorating various areas with red, white, and blue ribbons to demonstrate support for the troops (I have no idea why they wouldn't use yellow ribbons - I hear there's a shortage). A year or so ago, they tried organizing Scouts to each donate $1 for the relief of children in Afghanistan. I don't know how much money was actually collected.

If you do a Google search on "Boy Scouts", and click though the news, you'll find numerous stories about servicemen currently serving in Iraq with BSA membership in their biography.

You will find a few whose BSA membership is being referenced in their obituary.

[Terriergal]

I understand that and agree. No flames here. But the fact remains that most regimes like this have atrocities going on as par for the course... and that liberating them is an added benefit that comes of protecting ourselves by toppling the regime.

One has to wonder at France's intervention on our behalf then at the end of the Revolutionary war...

[algol]

We are responsible for the deaths of Iraqis who opposed Hussein and were killed by helicopter gunships we allowed to fly.

Bullsh*t.

Saddam and those who followed his orders are responsible -- and are now suffering the consequences.

Could we have done more? Yes -- as I implied in the post you're responding to. Perhaps if Bush 41 had won reelection, we would have. Nobody knows.

[Dr.Deth]

Ritter knew and did nothing?

Makes you wonder if Sodom bought him off with a couple of 5-year-olds.

[GraniteStateConservative]

You bear no responsibility for watching your neighbor beat his child until the child dies, but doing nothing to stop it? Really?

[HenryLeeII]

Susan Sarandon doesn't care about children. Several years ago she petitioned Governor Pataki of New York to have a woman freed from prison because she (Sarandon) enjoys the poetry that the woman writes. The woman's crime? Beating her two-year old child to death in a restaraunt in front of numerous patrons! As Howard Stern remarked after Robin Quivers read this, the woman should be freed but under the condition that she becomes the babysitter for Sarandon's children.

[jigsaw]

RUSH is talking about this now!

[algol]

He did finish the job he started. People just wanted to expand the original mission.

Okay, technically true, as far as booting Saddam out of Kuwait goes. There was, however, a strong implication that a revolution against the Saddam regime would be supported -- and it wasn't. It should have made clear that it wouldn't be, or else it should have been supported.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the link and information at #141!

[Use It Or Lose It]

Probably like a scene right out of "Indiana Jones"

Same thing crossed my mind. Sadly, this is no movie. There is pure evil in this world, and this is a manifestation of it.

[Dane]

Hi, Dog! I knew about this from researching Scott Ritter. I was waiting to see if there would be news of this. I wonder why he was really AT the children's prison, and if he inspected it with other members of his team, or if he really went all by himself

Ritter is a sick sick person, IMO. He knew about these children prisons, tried to minimize there impact in the press, and took $400,000 from a saddam cronie.

I heard Ritter Sunday night on Louisville's Clear Channel's station 840 AM on a syndicated Clear Channel progran called "The Weekend" and he was filled with hubris and was basically saying America would still lose the war because the victory in Iraq would only bring the wrath of muslim extremeists.

I was going to start a thread but I thought that Ritter was marginalized, but after reading his basic coverup of the childrens prisons in Iraq on this thread, I can only pray that there is a special place in hell for the likes of scott ritter .

[GraniteStateConservative]

We watched and did nothing (and we had the power to do everything) as Hussein violated verbal agreements from the ceasefire and annihilated Iraqis we encouraged to rebel. This was in 1991. Bush 41 was still fully in power. Clintoon was president.

"We believe Iraq is a single country, that it is good for the stability of the region that it maintain its territorial integrity. We do not intend to involve ourselves in the internal power struggles of the country," Mr Fitzwater said yesterday (3-27-91).

Massacring Iraqis who oppose Hussein's tyranny-- why that's just an internal power struggle, that's all. [/sarcasm]

Bah.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Oops. Clintoon was NOT president.

[metesky]

Reagan used Saddam as a surrogate against Iran because, if you remember, Iran was behaving very badly toward us, holding American hostages, blah, blah.

I'm convinced that if Bush41 had been re-elected, this would have ended years ago. Saddam signed a cease fire and disarmament treaty, then lied to Poppy for a year and a half, no way that would have been allowed to happen for another four years.

And then we got the Toon who was only interested in himself.

[KantianBurke]

So our liberty was inherently damaged by the Rwandan and Tutsi feuding? The US integrity is threatened by the dictators in Burma?

[Shermy]

I remember the Ritter comment on the prison. The criminal info that came out thereafter puts a whole new light on things...

[Cachelot]

Remember, Scott Ritter told us about these kids prisons.

Oh. That explains a great deal, doesn't it?

[NFOShekky]

Remember when Hillary said "it takes a village to raise a child?" Maybe this is what she had in mind. . .

[agrace]

You have my vote for quote of the day.