Saddam's men strike back in purge that left river of blood

[PaulaFarrell]

ABU QADDUM lays out the pictures of mutilated bodies dredged from the Tigris River like a player dealing cards.
Some had their hands cut off, others are headless or burnt. Another was strangled, with his tongue lolling out. He thinks one bloated, slime-covered corpse might be his younger brother.

The shocking images come from Iraq’s new killing fields — the small town of Madain just 20 miles from Baghdad.

In other times the massacre might have prompted calls for international intervention. But there are already 150,000 US and British troops in Iraq and this was done under their noses. Abu Qaddum’s pictures are a terrifying testament to the chaos of Iraq.

...

When Iraqi troops finally moved in they found no sign of the horror. They asked through loudspeakers for witnesses to show them where the terrorists and their hostages were. The Shias were too terrified to come forward, knowing that the troops could be gone in a week

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1580005,00.html

[NYC]

1. This story has been so bizarre from the beginning.

I don't know what to believe.

[AlCzervik]

20. It's better for the US to blame Baathists instead of admitting

that it's insugents that used to be regualr Iraqis.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fridays Child]

3. Why do you think that?

[rodeodance]

4. at first our military knew nothing about it-then they said about 20 people

but no bodies showed up (although there was a article saying that some relitives identified some via pictures).


You are right--bizarre-so much propaganda from all sides-and we have yet to see a body.

[Frederik]

5. They have been

dragging bodies from the river for two weeks now, so I too doubt it has much to do with this purported hostage taking.

[Durant]

12. Who cares?

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sendero]

6. Old bodies?

Bodies in water bloat and deteriorate quickly. They can't be very old.

[tanyev]

7. "Saddam's men"?

Does any such thing exist?

[Igel]

8. Is that a dig at the Baathists' manhood, or doubting that

he has any current supporters, male at least? (And if you make a pun out of that ...)

[tanyev]

10. No, no, no.

I'm not trying be a smart-ass (this time, anyway). It struck me as an odd title for the article.

That's all we heard after the fall of Baghdad--the violence was all due to Saddam loyalists, troops still loyal to Saddam, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then after a while, probably when it became painfully obvious to even the most casual viewer that nobody was trying to put Saddam back in power, all the violence was attributed to insurgents, foreign fighters, Al-Qaeda, dead-enders, etc. Lately a few people have even used the term guerillas. Where did this idea to call them "Saddam's men" again come from? But it only seems to be in the title. I only did a quick scan of the article, but I didn't see any claims that there are still fighters loyal to Saddam.

[radwriter0555]

11. Notice they use "saddam's men'? He's been in JAIL FOR ALMOST

2 YEARS..

[tanyev]

13. Exactly.

:wtf:

[bemildred]

16. Well, the "al Zarqawi" stuff was losing credibility.

Time to bring Saddam back.

[bushisanidiot]

9. Where are the bodies from shock & awe & the invasion?

who's horrors or worse? which deaths of innocent iraqi's are justifiable?

[NNN0LHI]

14. It think the US military gives everyone they kill a proper Muslim funeral

:eyes:

[Junkdrawer]

15. Divide...Conquer...

It's not like that hasn't been going on in Iraq for hundreds of years.

"Oh, pleeese stay. We need you to protect us from these evil Sunni guerrillas."

[warrens]

17. Freedom is on the march

Good job, you giggling moron.

[daleo]

19. None of this adds up.

First there were hostages, then no hostages, then hostages again now dead and found floating in the river. Some theories:

- someone is trying to stir up trouble between Sunnis and Shias.
- the real killers are trying to cover their tracks with a diversion, and the bodies being found have nothing to do with this contrived incident.
- there was a hostage situation, but the big Iraqi National Guard/U.S. military "rescue operation" was a spectacular failure.

The trouble is, you can't believe anything you hear or read anymore.

[bemildred]

21. "someone is trying to stir up trouble between Sunnis and Shias"

I kind of favor that one, it's a repeated theme, but who can
say for sure.