Marines free 123 from Iraq hellhole (UNBELIEVABLE Alert!)

Straights Times ^ | 4/15/03 | Derwin Pereira

[Steven W.]

FOR three days, American tanks have been shelling a military intelligence building in the posh Al-Khathamia area in west Baghdad.

The dozen or so tanks are not here to pound intransigent fighters but to break down concrete beams and steel, to reach bunkers deep underground at the Al-Istikhbarat Al-'Askariya facility.

The Marines found 123 prisoners, including five women, barely alive in an underground warren of cells and torture chambers.

Being trapped underground probably kept them safe from the bombing of Baghdad by the coalition.

Severely emaciated, some had survived by eating the scabs off their sores. All the men had beards down to their waists, said onlookers.

Most looked absolutely dazed when they emerged, said Mr Sadoun Mohamed, 37, who lives in the area.

'They had not seen sunlight for a long time,' he said. 'They kept blinking and covering their faces.' He said they were taken to the Saddam Hospital for treatment.

Their names were posted on the walls of the Al-Hajabehia Mosque in west Baghdad, as were names of some 40 others known to have been executed or murdered in prison.

Hundreds of anxious locals wait for word of their family, relatives and friends, some of whom were taken away more than 10 years ago.

Outside Al-Istikhbarat Al-'Askariya, Mr Sadeq Al Saeed, 24, a construction worker, has been waiting sleepless for the last 36 hours. He said he had heard the facility had five levels below ground.

He said his father, an Iraqi army captain, was killed in 1991 during the first Gulf War, and his cousins Amer and Jasem and some 50 others were picked out by the secret police for chanting anti-Saddam slogans during the funeral procession.

'That was the last I saw of them,' he said.

'In the night, people raided their houses, blindfolded them and took them away.'

He hopes against hope that the Marines will be able to find his cousins, who were brought here to be interrogated.

This hellhole is believed to be one of many for Iraq's political prisoners. Thousands may still be behind bars though the regime released many criminals from prisons before the war.

The United States soldiers at Al-Istikhbarat Al-'Askariya would not say what they were doing there. Their tanks blocked the entrance.

This place could be part of the labyrinth of underground facilities which might still shelter regime members.

Under one palace, a German-designed 1,900 sq m bunker was built at a cost of US$90 million (S$160 million) with luxurious accommodation for the Iraqi President, his family, their bodyguards and staff.

More than 24 bunkers were identified 12 years ago. There may be more now, located under schools, hospitals, even mosques, and linked together.

The security police, or Da'irat Al-Mukhabbarat Al-'Amma; Iraqi Intelligence Service; and military intelligence, also built cells and tunnels underground.

Taxi driver Hathem Ejam, 36, said Mr Saddam's older son Uday, also used them for his harem discards.

Relaying widely-believed rumours, he said: 'He would pick any young girl he liked from the street, rape her, shave her head bald and then get his guards to dump her in an underground cell.'

[antaresequity]

Would someone post this on DUmber who has Acesss

I want to see the reaction

[Rocko]

Let's see how the lefties try to debunk this latest revelation!

They're like Holocaust deniers.

[madison10]

Bet they knew and stayed silent. They burn me. My opinion: CNN should be tried along with all the "other" war criminals. Complicity. Rather like the French who sidled up to the Nazis during WWII.

I apologize for duplicating the link. I still think these are three different prison breaks, at the very least two.

[blam]

"Is this the same one cited on another thread that they've been trying to get to for days?"

No, that's in Basra.

[delightfully dingy]

Has this been on the news? Fox CNN...etc.

[1066AD]

Looks like three (so far): Basra, Baghdad and al-Faw:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/893935/posts

[ladyjane]

but the Marines are supposed to be guarding the museums...

[joesnuffy]

And the entire world was against the emmancipation of the tortured and illlegally held ..

Hollywood and the left the draft dodgers and the anti war and anti warrior...

the most despicable of cowards who let others suffer ...because in t
heir own minds they are too morally superior to fight evil if it means lifting a finger to help...

The truth is ...they are not moral....they are indeed cowards of the worst order

Those who will not fight for their loved ones, their nation, and their neighbors...

[mombonn]

The Apostle Paul claimed to be chief among sinners. I think he has been surpassed.

[goodnesswins]

YES....that's what so frustrating in trying to talk to these "people." They care MORE for what people around the world think ABOUT the US....than for dying people....that's what I have a hard time with, especially with a certain friend of mine, and her liberal family.

[Free Trapper]

No,B.G.,Your link is to a place near the ocean and our guys are still trying to dig through concrete for people (seen) put underground and concrete poured to wall them in.

EASTER WEEK!!!

How many will we find and in how many places?

[goodnesswins]

Maybe under ALL of the Hussein "palaces?"

[Beck_isright]

"LOL....McDermott's district is right in the middle of Gay town....."

No way!?!?!?!?!? I guess this makes me "pro-choice" in that district only then, LOL.

[MEG33]

That was a nightmare scene..

[Dog]

Steven lets ask to have this moved to Breaking News

AM can you please move this to Breaking so people can see this please...

[Brad’s Gramma]

I PRAY that we find MANY!!!!

This is beyond horror. This is a demonic situation, there's no other way to describe it. That "man" sold his soul to the devil, years ago.

Incredible.

[backhoe]

How many will we find and in how many places?

Tip of the iceberg ( ditto WMD sites )-- they have been tunneling for about 20 years...

[Dec31,1999]

I wonder if Fox News or The New York Post is going to report/cover this. Or is it something being made up or exagerated by an irreputable source?

[goodnesswins]

How any "protestor" can walk with their head UP would appall me......I suggest we may see the end of the protests?

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Even after witnessing this, and knowing how precise our hits were time after time, the author sees the coalition not as liberators, but as what? The prison saved them from US???

Being trapped underground probably kept them safe from the bombing of Baghdad by the coalition.

I WANT AN APOLOGY, A THANK YOU FROM EVERY ONE OF THESE MISTAKEN ACCUSERS...and then I'd just echo belly girl, "France (press, UN, DNC, Hollywood, Amnesty Int'l..), you shut the Hell up! We'll save civilization!"