20,000 Iraqis being held by the coalition forces.

[G_j]

as the media reports on hostages...



http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0421-01.htm

Published on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 by the Inter Press Service

Iraq: Think of Those the US Has Detained
We have heard of the U.S. soldier captured by Iraqi fighters. Think of the 20,000 Iraqis being held by the coalition forces.

by Aaron Glantz

BAGHDAD - Private First Class Matt Maupin assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company based at Bartonville, Illinois, became the first prisoner taken by Iraqi insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The U.S. military is currently holding more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars -- most of them taken during house to house searches by the U.S. military.

Take the village of Abu Siffa, an hour's drive north of Baghdad. Cattle graze on the side of the road and date palms sway in the wind. The mighty Tigris flows nearby.

Rejan Mohammed Hassen stands in front of the rubble that was her house and recalls the night last summer when the U.S. Army took her sons and destroyed her house.

..more..

[freetobegay]

1. Isn't the whole damn country being held?

eom

[wtmusic]

3. Yep, those are the ones who got caught

[Mari333]

2. Michael is standing at Abu Ghraib

he emailed me and told me once
"there are horror stories here I cant tell you, but I will when I get back".
teenagers with guns.

[G_j]

5. I wonder how many

prisoners were held by Saddam. No wonder the Iraqi people question the occupation.

We know Bush will not end this and if Kerry gets elected that is still many months away. Even then, we are not sure how soon Kerry would bring them home.
This is a real nightmare. May Bush eventually be found guilty of crimes against humanity and spend the rest of HIS life behind bars!!

[madrchsod]

6. teenagers with guns

any area in the united states there are teenagers with guns-africa and south east asia they start at 8 yrs old.. i hope he and all the others get the hell out of there. they should be out now.....

[G_j]

7. not authorized to comment

"U.S. soldiers serving as prison guards at Abu Grahib refused to comment. They said the only officers authorized to comment were at the U.S. military base Camp Victory, formerly Saddam Hussein International Airport. Senior officers there were unavailable."

[Stone_Spirits]

10. bless him

and may he return safely

[madrchsod]

4. 20000 Iraqi`s

guarded by who? it would take at least two thousand people to guard and feed these people-private contractors? i wonder how much money the corporation's are getting paid? probably charging 15 thousand per "inmate" and pocking 12 thousand. war is a cash cow for these contractors

[G_j]

8. kick

[G_j]

9. kick

[G_j]

11. I oughta kick this thread 20,000 times... but I won't

does anyone else find this disturbing?

[BabsSong]

12. Drop in the bucket--wait until we prop up the next dictator and help

him rebuild prisons to put all those "freedom haters" in.

[leesa]

13. Those must be the partially free ones. America has become the asshole of

the planet. Thanks neocons!

[G_j]

14. liberation

aprox. 10,000 civilians killed
3000 to 6000 Iraqi soldiers killed ?
more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars

now thats liberation!

[Aidoneus]

16. some of those figures need slight adjusting..

10,000-15,000 civilians killed
10,000-40,000 Iraqi soldiers killed
20,000-40,000 people currently held in glorified concentration camps spread around the occupied land, around half of those in Abu Ghurayb (Saddam's preferred torture centre--the more things change..)

ULTRA SPECIAL LIBERATION!

[G_j]

17. thank you

I went with the absolute lowest estimates I knew of so nobody could say they were at all exaggerated.
The numbers on Iraqi solders are very hard to come up with. One report I remember had at least 10,000 killed in the first few days of the invasion. Daisy cutters, napalm and cluster bombs, and of course the Pentagon wasn't counting.

so taking the middle ground on your figures we have about 32,000 Iraqis killed.But there is also this reputable report:

NOVEMBER 11, 2003

NEW REPORT ESTIMATES UP TO 55,000 DEATHS ON ALL SIDES FROM IRAQ WAR;
Physicians and Health Workers Document "Continuing Collateral Damage"
http://www.medact.org/tbx/pages/sub.cfm?id=775

Boston - The war on Iraq and its aftermath have exacted a heavy toll of
death and injury on combatants and non-combatants, according to an
international report released today. "Continuing Collateral Damage: The
Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq 2003" concludes that between
21,700 and 55,000 people have died since the US/UK-led invasion, with the
number of killed and injured continuing to rise. Among the dead, the report
estimates 7,800 and 9,600 Iraqi civilians. The number of injured civilians
is estimated at 20,000. The report was drafted by Medact, the London-based
affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
(IPPNW), which organized the global release in 12 other countries.
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), IPPNW's US affiliate, joined in
the release.
<snip>

Not to worry, according to Bush these deaths were well worth it because even though there were no WMD, Saddam was a "bad man".
and the tens of thousands being held without charges just go to prove how bad he really was. :shrug:

[Minstrel Boy]

15. The more accurate figure is 24 million Iraqis

are being held by "coalition forces."

[G_j]

18. that about covers it

and we'll make sure we take care of that oil and make sure it doesn't go to waste.

[peace4all]

19. KICK