Has anyone seen this reported anywhere else?
http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/369 Five Days of Hell: Part II
By fubar
Sep 22 2004 - 12:20am
Yesterday, we read about the trials and tribulations of Canadian journalist Scott Taylor who was taken hostage outside Mosul in Northern Iraq and held captive for five days (earning bragging rights -- as perhaps the first human being to have his life saved by an Internet search engine). In a subsequent interview he goes even further, providing an analysis of the goings on in Iraq interlaced with unique first-person accounts from his time as a hostage:
:::snip:::
But what about the Iraqi defense forces and the U.S.-trained police force? Can't they do anything?
Everywhere we went, it was obvious that the militants had the full cooperation of the U.S.-trained Iraqi police. Whenever we transited outside the city, to the corners of Mosul or the checkpoints, the cops would see us bound in the back seats – and offer cigarettes to our captors! We'd be flanked by these gauntlets of teenage boys, cheering and banging on the roofs. It was clear that there's a lot of cooperation between Arab police and Turkmen fundamentalists. A good thing to keep in mind the next time you hear about how an Iraqi-trained force is going to pacify the country before the January elections.
:::snip:::
CD: Incredible. It can't get worse than that.
ST: I don't know, maybe it can. Consider also that my mujahedin captors told me in advance the exact time the U.S. air strikes would hit them. I said, "How the hell you know?" To which the guy laughed and said, "Don't be stupid, of course we know." They have infiltrated U.S. command even.
If this is true, then our entire effort in Iraq is heading down the crapper and quick. Not that I care as far as the success of the mission is concerned - I think that's out of the question now, for all of Bush's surreal optimism - aptly described today in a blog as the "Tinkerbell Strategy" - but I fear as never before for all US troops and Western civilians in Iraq.
If this is true. I have no idea and no way of finding out that I can think of. The captors could just have been saying this, or they could have some other source. But I think it's worth investigating. If anyone here can get this into the hands of people who can determine if it's true or not, please do so.