Most Iraqi detainees 'arrested by mistake'

Financial Times ^ | May 10 2004 | Frances Williams

[Dick Holmes]

Found on Google News, the story claims:

The report, published in full on Monday by the Wall Street Journal, said arrests 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.

"Sometimes they arrested all adult males present in a house, including elderly, handicapped or sick people. Treatment often included pushing people around, insulting, taking aim with rifles, punching and kicking and striking with rifles."

The report said some coalition military intelligence officers estimated that "between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake".

[Dick Holmes]

I hope this is not true!

[AmericanInTokyo]

I had distinctly heard British soldiers complaining about US soldiers' 'bull in a China closet' shotgun approach, early on in the occupation. Then, things started to go bad for the Brits, too, down in Basra.

Anyway, I'll need more evidence to come to a conclusion, but things are not looking good, either in reality, or certainly PR-wise. Tom Daschle must be happy.

[UCANSEE2]

I saw worse than this when ELIAN was taken by the INS !

[MineralMan]

This is the third time today I've heard the same thing. Is it true? Well, I've also read that we're releasing people from this prison every day. Apparently some of the people going to the prison are caught up in sweeps of some kind. Once we figure out that they're not combatants, they're kicked loose.

If this story, however, is true in its facts, then the problem is even worse, since some, or many of the prisoners being held may not even be combatants. The Geneva Convention's pretty clear on who can be held as POWs, and noncombatants aren't on the list.

[CWOJackson]

LOL! I wonder how soon it will be before the usual I-hate-all-cops crowd will be complaining about the jack-booted thugs?

[Freesofar]

Only one sentence in the article suggesting substantiation.
From complaints to the red cross

[AntiGuv]

Of course this is true. This is perfectly natural in any war, especially a guerrilla conflict, where you can hardly ever tell the bad guys from the in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time guys. I've been saying that since day 1 of this scandal (to people who think these guys should pay for all the crimes of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden rolled into one..)

[johnfrink]

Winning hearts and minds...

[just me]

I remember that, Easter Sunday.....

[Askel5]

=== I saw worse than this when ELIAN was taken by the INS !


Interesting observation.

[atomicpossum]

This article, and the report cited in it, strike me as particularly slanted, deliberately inflammatory, and, basically, a slanted load of liberal bile.

Rough action on arrests?? Lands sakes! It's not like anyone's going to shoot at them! (/sarcasm)

"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.

Sounds like an episode of 'Cops.'

[siunevada]

Winning hearts and minds...

Flipping through the channels last night came across (eek!) CNN and a long segment on a unit in Iraq. During a house search, the commander said something like,"No one ordered me to win hearts and minds. They ordered me to keep the peace."

[Gator113]

Perhaps we should have simply sent everyone a post card and told them that if they didn't immediately give up, we are going to pout, yell bang, bang, and call them dirty names until their feelings were hurt.

[MineralMan]

"Of course this is true. This is perfectly natural in any war, especially a guerrilla conflict, where you can hardly ever tell the bad guys from the in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time guys. "

You have been saying that. And you're right. So we take a lot of folks in and interrogate them. And there's the problem, IMO. If most who are being interrogated didn't actually do anything, it's going to make the techniques used seem even worse, and that's not good news.

[StonyBurk]

Yes-- and I have it on th ehighest authority that in the
mosques it is well known fact that most Americans and
coalition dead and wounded were hurt -"by mistake."

[Straight Vermonter]

Did you ever notice that the only people who live in Arab countries are children and "elderly, handicapped or sick people"?

[Straight Vermonter]

None of the people being held are being held as POWs. They are being held as terror suspects. The Geneva Conventions are very clear on who receives its protections. The legal combatants MUST be in uniform and have dog tags. Others caught with weapons etc may be shot as spys or saboteurs.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

The report said some coalition military intelligence officers estimated that "between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake".

I like that, unnamed source and failure to define "deprived of liberty," which probaly means held for a few minutes while the area was searched.

[just me]

Now that you mention it..

[MineralMan]

"None of the people being held are being held as POWs. They are being held as terror suspects. The Geneva Conventions are very clear on who receives its protections. The legal combatants MUST be in uniform and have dog tags. Others caught with weapons etc may be shot as spys or saboteurs."

That's a technical argument. It won't wash in the real world.

Yes, they could have been shot, but they weren't. They were taken into custody. World of difference.