US Training of Death Squads in Iraq? - War Is A Crime .org

they would make him publicly confess on Iraqi TV, and that he would die. They whipped himwith cables on his back, and beat him with a club on his head and arms. Then they made him liedown on his stomach and beat him with plastic water pipes, while one man stepped on his head.They electrocuted him, so that "my body was lifted up and thrown down, it was such strongelectricity." When he said nothing, they kicked him on his chest, shoulders, and stomach. Atsome point during the first or second interrogation, the interrogators told him that if he did notconfess to the crimes, they would bring in his wife and rape her in front of him.At another center, the cell had no fan, no window, no water and no toilet. Isam noticed thatmany of the detainees were sick. One had heart disease, one had asthma, and some lostconsciousness. They were packed into the hot room and felt that there was no air to breathe.They had no way to perform their prayers, because they had no clean space and no water withwhich to perform their ablutions. They did not have access to the Qur'an.At yet another center, detainees were jammed together so tightly that each man's chest touchedthe back of the man in front of him. They were not allowed to lie down or sleep. If anyonenodded off, he would get beaten. Isam said that some of his fellow detainees admitted to crimesthey did not commit, because of the torture they experienced.Over time, Isam's body was getting severely damaged from the torture. He had many bruisesand sores. He believes that it was for this reason, as well as the fact that there was no evidenceagainst him, that the authorities finally brought him to be tried in court. The judge released himafter telling him not to commit any more crimes, although Isam denied having committed anycrimes at all.It is not only the Iraqi government that must bear culpability for this horror. The U.S.government, which supplies trainers and advisors for Iraqi security forces, is responsible as well.For example -- James Steele, one of the U.S. military's experts on counterinsurgency, is anadvisor to Adnan Thavit, the leader of the Special Police Commandos, known as one of the mostbrutal of Iraq's new forces.(1) In his previous life, James Steele led U.S. Special Forces in ElSalvador in the 1980s, aiding a repressive government's military that killed thousands ofpeasants, students, and activists – anyone perceived as aiding or supporting the guerillas.(2) Inaddition, Steve Casteel, a former top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration who spentyears in Latin America, is the senior U.S. adviser in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, which hasoperational control over the commandos.(3) Funding and training for the commando groupscome from the Iraqi government, as all of them fall at least nominally under the Ministry of theInterior or the Ministry of Defense.(4) And from which country does a great deal of the fundingfor the Iraqi government come?*Name changed_______________________________________________________________1. Maass, Peter , "The Way of the Commandos," New York Times Magazine, May 1, 20052. Fuller, Max, "For Iraq, The Salvador Option Becomes a Reality," Global Research,http://globalresearch.ca/articles/FUL506A.html32