Raid on Iraqi intelligence HQ reveals torture

[maddezmom]

BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi special forces backed by coalition troops raided a government intelligence headquarters on Sunday and uncovered evidence of torture and links to bomb attacks, the British military said.

Troops stormed the local headquarters of Iraqi interior ministry's domestic intelligence agency in the southern port city of Basra, and released more than 37 prisoners being held there, Iraqi police told AFP.

"In the early hours of this morning there was a search and detention operation by the Iraqi counter-terrorist force supported by multinational forces," said British spokesman Major David Gell.

"Five individuals were arrested on suspicion of serious terrorist activity, including involvement with roadside bombs and attacks against both civilians and multinational forces," he added.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070304/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbasra_070304101635

[annabanana]

1. Thus clearly exposing what a monstrous

catastrof@ck we have found ourselves in. Iraqis work alongside us during the day, and assemble IEDs after work.

I seem to remember similar situations 35 years ago in another misbegotten interventionist screwup.

[saigon68]

7. K & R

I remember that screw-up too

[Zhade]

13. Catastrofuck. WOW, that's a great term for it.

Nicely coined.

[Eugene]

2. Basra is almost ready for a handover to Iraqi forces, they keep telling us.

This wouldn't be the same Interior Ministry we're counting on
to help secure Baghdad, would it?

[Supersedeas]

9. the PR doesn't seem to match the facts on the ground -- AGAIN

[rodeodance]

3. There is confusion------were Americans involved in the raid?

........."The Iraqi national intelligence building was subsequently struck and further evidence of significant criminal activity, such as torture, was found."

Following the raid, Iraqi intelligence agents wearing black balaclava masks and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles showed reporters around their building, including the cell were prisoners had formerly been kept.

British forces based in southern
Iraq have been confronted with serious corruption among Iraqi security units, many of which are inflitrated by or controlled by violent Shiite political factions and militia groups.

It was not clear whether the coalition troops that accompanied the raid were Americans -- as claimed by Iraqi police -- or British, as would normally be the case in Basra, where their Iraq force is based.

[maddezmom]

4. according to this...Iraqi forces backed by British troops

Evidence of torture found in Basra prison raid
04 Mar 2007 13:27:09 GMT
Source: Reuters

Background
• Iraq in turmoil


MORE >>
By Aref Mohammed

BASRA, Iraq, March 4 (Reuters) - Iraqi forces backed by British troops found evidence of torture when they raided an Iraqi intelligence agency detention centre in the southern city of Basra on Sunday, a British military spokesman said.

Officials at the detention centre, part of a police compound in the city, told Reuters on Sunday that 37 prisoners were freed in the raid. They showed reporters offices that had been searched, with files thrown on the floor, desks overturned and doors broken open in the pre-dawn raid.

British Major David Gell said the raid on the National Iraqi Intelligence Agency detention facility in central Basra was part of an operation led by Iraqi forces.

"Five individuals were arrested on suspicion of serious terrorist activities including involvement in improvised explosive devices and attacks against both civilians and multinational forces," Gell said.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR444311.htm

[Tin Man]

5. It's just like Cheney said: "an affirmation there are parts of Iraq where things are going well"

Addressing the British draw-down from Basra, Cheney said:

"I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well," the vice president told ABC's Jonathan Karl in an interview. "I talked to a friend just the other day who had driven to Baghdad down to Basra, seven hours, found the situation dramatically improved from a year or so ago, sort of validated the British view they had made progress in Southern Iraq and that they can therefore reduce their force levels."

:crazy:

[maddezmom]

6. from 2/28: Inquest told Basra not safe enough for British investigators

LONDON (AFP) - The southern Iraqi city of Basra has become too dangerous to send British army investigators in, soldiers told inquest on Wednesday.

Members of the same unit as two soldiers killed last May by a roadside bomb said senior officers had decided it was too dangerous to send officers from the army's Special Investigation Bureau into Basra.

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Selena Lynch heard how Privates Joseva Lewaicei, 25, and Adam Morris, 19 were in the were in the second car of a four-vehicle patrol through Basra when the bombing happened.

Lewaicei, a Fijian, was killed instantly, while Morris died of blood loss later.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070228/wl_uk_afp/britainiraqpolitics_070228221624

[maddezmom]

8. British-Iraqi forces find abused detainees during raid of Iraq intelligence office

British-Iraqi forces find abused detainees during raid of Iraq intelligence office
BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- British and Iraqi forces looking for a wanted terrorist early Sunday found a group of prisoners -- including women and children -- at an Iraqi Intelligence Agency office in Basra, who had apparently been abused, possibly tortured, the British military said.

According to a British military news release, the troops discovered "around 30 prisoners, including a woman and two children, who were being held, and many of whom showed signs of torture and abuse."

more:http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/04/sunday/index.html

[EFerrari]

11. I hate this. K&R

[grahamhgreen]

10. WHO THE F* ARE WE FIGHTING???

THE INTERIOR MINISTRY??? WTF!!!
AND ALL THIS SO THAT IN THE END WE CAN SET UP AN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC AS PER THE NEW CONSTITUTION. BUT OF COURSE, WE'RE ALREADY AT WAR WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION. IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY OFF OF WAR. NOTHING MORE.

[Hissyspit]

12. NYT: Basra Raid Finds Dozens Held By Iraqi Gov't Spy Unit ("Signs of Torture")

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/world/middleeast/05iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Basra Raid Finds Dozens Detained by Iraq Spy Unit

By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: March 5, 2007

BAGHDAD, Monday, March 5 — Iraqi special forces and British troops stormed the offices of an Iraqi government intelligence agency in the southern city of Basra on Sunday, and British officials said they discovered about 30 prisoners, some showing signs of torture.

The raid appeared to catch Iraq’s central government by surprise and raised new questions about the rule of law in the Shiite-dominated south, where less than two weeks ago Britain announced plans for a significant reduction in its forces because of improved stability.

- snip -

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a conservative Shiite, condemned the raid in Basra, but he publicly said nothing about the evidence of torture. “The prime minister has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident of breaking into the security compound in Basra and stressed the need to punish those who have carried out this illegal and irresponsible act,” said the full text of a statement issued late Sunday by his office.

It remained unclear why he sought to pursue the raiding force aggressively rather than the accusations of prisoner abuse. Efforts to reach officials in his office were unsuccessful.

The discovery of prisoners in the Basra building, which the British described as a bureau of Iraq’s government intelligence agency, echoed other recent cases where American or British forces stumbled onto a government-run detention center that held people showing signs of torture.

MORE

[Edweird]

14. I don't think anyone could have predicted the use of torture by Iraqi's

:eyes:
Would this be a known unknown or an unknown unknown?