Blast in Baghdad as report says British troops mutilated bodies of Iraqis

[TeeYiYi]

Blast in Baghdad as report says British troops mutilated bodies of Iraqis
20-06-2004,04 :49
A blast took place in Baghdad, on Sunday morning, leaving wreckage near a bridge over the River Tigris. According to press reports, a minibus and a coach were seen wrecked near the al-Shuhada bridge, after the explosion.

Meanwhile, Britain is investigating reports that its troops mutilated the bodies of Iraqi civilians after a gun battle last month, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

A ministry spokeswoman said Britain "categorically denied" British forces had abused the bodies after the firefight near the southern Iraqi town of Majar-al-Kabir on May14 .

"We are investigating evidence that has been given to us and should the outcome of that require it, we will commence a formal investigation into the incident, but at the moment we have no reason to believe that that's the case," she added.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said an Iraqi judge had ordered that some of the bodies be exhumed for further examination after families of the dead lodged formal complaints. (Albawaba.com)

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=279264&lang=e&dir=news

TYY

On edit: fix broken link

[TeeYiYi]

1. Bomb explodes outside Iraq central bank

Bomb explodes outside Iraq central bank

Sunday 20 June 2004, 8:53 Makka Time, 5:53 GMT


The central bank is near al-Shuhada bridge

Two Iraqi policeman have been killed when a bomb exploded outside Iraq's central bank.

Another five people were injured in the blast on Sunday morning in Baghdad, reported Aljazeera's correspondent Imad al-Atrash.

Nearby vehicles, including a bus that was used to transport people to work, were damaged in the explosion.

Tensions are high in the occupied country a day after US occupation authorities admitted that over 20 Iraqis were killed in a US attack on a home in Falluja.


More: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EA2EC375-43E7-43B7-80E9-3C1E2CDFE1A2.htm

TYY

[shraby]

2. It just gets awfuler and

awfuler.

[dArKeR]

19. Ten wounded in mortar blast near Baghdad bank

Baghdad - A mortar round exploded near Iraq's central bank on Sunday, injuring 10 people in the capital, including six policemen, a senior police officer said.

Early Sunday evening, another blast occurred near the Al-Salaam Palace, which Saddam Hussein used to house foreign guests, residents of the area said. There was no report of any casualties.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1087745761232B262

[Tinoire]

3. Historically troops mutilate the bodies of their "kill"

The Vietnam accounts are so horrible to read that I'm not so sure I want to see these... not with the mistaken anger of 911 probably fuelling some of it.

at the moment we have no reason to believe that that's the case


They never will until the photos and video embarrass them on the internet :(

[TeeYiYi]

4. More on the mutilation story . . .

British troops accused of killing Iraqi prisoners.

M.O.D. deny allegations

BRITISH troops have been accused of mutilating and killing Iraqi prisoners taken after a battle near the southern town of Majar al-Kabir.

In the most serious accusation leveled at the army since the end of the war, Iraqis are claiming that more than two dozen prisoners taken after the battle last month suffered injuries so extensive that some bodies could not be identified.

<snip>

One death certificate, that of 21 year-old farm labourer Hamid Alami, notes that his genitalia had been sliced off. Doctors say they were returned in a plastic bag. Labourer Ali Jasim, 37, had bullet holes in his neck and face and large hole gouged in his face and an almost severed right hand. Crucially his eye had been gouged out – with no serious damage to his socket, implying careful removal at close quarters with a knife rather than as a result of a bayonet thrust, say doctors. His neck bore marks consistent with strangulation by a metal cable, they say. The body of Hamid Suweidi, a 20 year-old labourer, had been shot and bore “signs of torture” and “total facial mutilation”, the certificate records.

Ahmed Al Halfi, a 20 year-old labourer, had been shot several times, suffered deep cuts to his right wrist and bore “signs of beating and torture all over his body”, according to the certificate. Labourer Abbas Al Mosani, 21, had been shot and his face mutilated. The time of death in all five cases was put at 11pm on May 14th.

In two cases the time of death was recorded as 1pm on May 15th: Labourer Hussein Alumshenih, 14, was killed by several bullets in his face and body; Jasim Alumshenih, 25, also died at around 1pm after being shot in his head and body.

Photographs taken by doctors appear to back up their claims, showing badly mutilated bodies, including one that was soaked in fresh blood. . .

Much much more: http://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/n170604_3.htm

TYY

[TeeYiYi]

5. Warning - GRAPHIC descriptions . . .

Director of Majar hospital Doctor Adil Saleh said his office received a call late at night on May 14th to pick up dead bodies from the camp. “We sent ambulances and the soldiers handed over dead bodies in body bags. They had no papers and no explanation was given. We were just expected to carry out autopsies,” he said. “What we saw shocked me although I have been performing autopsies for many years. One body had an eye removed. There was almost no damage to the socket as if it had been a careful action. Another had been castrated and the penis was in a plastic bag. His neck had marks consistent with those that might be caused by a metal cable. One had its hand removed and several had showed signs of facial mutilation. Doctors also saw marks on another body that appeared to have been made by a dog and one whose arms and skull had been crushed. Another had fresh blood from what seemed like a recent wound.” He added: “As a medical examiner I have to ask important questions. How can we account for the injuries we saw? If they were dead on the battlefield then why were they removed? We have never before been asked to pick up dead bodies like that from the army camp. If they were injured then why were they not treated? How can we account for the fresh looking injuries? Now we need a full and independent examination to determine exactly what happened and when.”

Until now there have been few witnesses to the battle willing to speak. An ambulance driver called to the second shootout near Sadiyeh said he came under fire from troops and had to withdraw but that he saw more than a dozen Iraqis being cuffed and put into armoured personnel carriers before being driven off.

The only survivor who witnessed events from the battlefield was shot in the neck and is in hospital where doctors have diagnosed him a paraplegic. Farm mechanic Mohammed Ala Hassan, 30, was in the field near Um Aranab, the scene of the first shootout, with his cousin. Both were shot and they crawled into an irrigation ditch where his cousin later died. Hassan, who was yards from where the troops engaged the militia, said: “The soldiers were firing into the field in all directions. There were farmers who were harvesting their crops and I heard them screaming. I have never seen anything like this before.
“After a long time the soldiers began to move into the fields as if they were rounding people up. I saw one come close to where I was, a few metres away.

He went to a man who was on the floor and the man raised his hand as if he was trying to ward off the soldier. But the soldier took out a knife and stabbed him. I saw him raise the knife and plunge it down into where the man was lying time and time again. Then I think I fainted because I can’t remember anymore. Just waking up in a hospital unable to move my body.”

http://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/n170604_3.htm

TYY

[TeeYiYi]

20. kick

TYY:kick:

[testing123]

6. I hate people

Where are their moral's at?

[TeeYiYi]

7. kick

TYY:kick:

[many a good man]

8. Anybody remember this story from Gulf War I

I remember reading a story after the Gulf War about battle "souvenirs" and US troops. The story said that as the war was wrapping up, a military base over there had a big bin with a sign on it. The sign posted military law on what souvenirs soldiers could not legally take home with them under UMC. It specifically mentioned the penalty for human remains and offered immunity for all soldiers who deposited these items in the bin right there on base.

The story then told of the various items in the bin: necklaces, key chains, wallets, etc., made of human ears, fingers, teeth, skin and other parts.

I think people need to remember that this kind of thing happens in EVERY war. It is what war does to people. Does anybody else remember this story or have links to any like it???

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. does war really do that

Or does war just give cover for actions people would otherwise do it if not for fear of being arrested?

[TahitiNut]

18. There is a range of human behavior in civil society.

There is also a (wider) range of human behavior in a war zone. I would say, discounting killings during an actual battle, the general behavior in a war zone is much more brutal, vicious, and often grotesque. In other words, it affects virtually everyone. It must be noted that we must not only regard the perpetrator of deeds we'd call disgusting or reprehensible in "civil society" but also the behavior of friends, associates, and on-lookers whose tolerance and support for that behavior also changes.

There are also the "reactives" - those who are apparently motivated to engage in samaritan-like or even heroic actions - apparently somewhat more frequently than in "civil society." I don't know if that's more a factor of opportunity or motivation, though.

Human beings (all of us) are far more adaptive than we usually admit or acknowledge - often for the worse.

[UpInArms]

9. there are no words

that express how sick at heart this makes me.

:kick: because we have to face the fact that there are some really terrible things in this world that war unleashes.

Man's inhumanity to man reaches into the depths of hell when anyone declares war.

SH was a monster - that is not the question - but reading this and hearing the accepted truths of "that is what happens" in wars does not make an acceptable path in my heart to ever condone these acts.

The horrors that we (the human race) continually inflict upon our own species never seem to raise the level of awareness in those that perpetuate the most vile acts.

[calimary]

16. Yeah. Great. We get rid of one "monster," by being monstrous ourselves.

Just great.

Tell me again, neocons, how wonderful and valiant and heroic war is.

[Just Me]

10. What have we done?

:cry:

What have we unleased?

:cry:

Oh, God,...it just gets worse.

[ilovenicepeople]

11. I feel guilty being human

I sure wish I had taken the blue pill (they look so happy) to all DUers embracing Logic and mutual respect THANKS it means alot to me nowadays. Cyberhugs for all of you!:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[UpInArms]

13. Welcome to DU ilovenicepeople!

glad to have you here.

'Tis a sad page in the history books that is being written.

[ilovenicepeople]

14. Thanks I do feel welcome here

to bad I couldnt say the same about society.:toast: 911 the day the conspiracy stopped being a theory.:scared:

[newyawker99]

15. Hi ilovenicepeople!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[calimary]

17. Welcome to DU.

Sure wish it were under other circumstances, like maybe those that would properly reflect your post name. Sigh...

[PsychoDad]

21. No ilovenicepeople...

This is not humanity. It is the lack thereof.

Humans are capable of much better than this. Humans are capable of love and mercy... these acts are the result of the lack of those. The body is a shell. It is what we decide to fill it with that makes us human or beastial.