May 08, 2004
LIVING FREE OR WE DIE
Iraqi Sarmad Zangna has a message for those who’ve recently become concerned about the treatment of Iraqi prisoners:
Suddenly all people in seems take care of human rights ,and the hall Arabic world get out from his deadly silent ,and cry for the Iraqi prisoners ,those unsent an harmful people ,and those bad and bad Americans soldiers “torches” and “kill” those people with out mercy, ha ha ha ha ... also I speak with some people were in this prison ,the were suspects and they where ,saying ,the American solider treat us so well , and those people don’t represent the hall American ,we could might not ever know a bout the hall think ,but because they are a big deferens between what was happening in saddam time and now ,and the transpierce from the American side ,we know about the hall thing ,I wonder if the hall Arabic regimes allowed the human rights and the press to see what happening in there dark holes.
Yeah, so it’s all Puce-like. I kind of prefer it that way, especially when Sarmad is sarcastic (“saddam was a good guy and we were the bad guys and we heart him ,and he was treating us kindly”). Read the whole post. Here’s another extract:
Posted by Tim Blair at May 8, 2004 09:59 PMWe will win and we will establish freedom all over our land and more ,we will teach our kids and there kids, and the hall next generations.
Living free or we die .
It is time for a new meme. The left is proud of their "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" (VRWC)
I say that there is a "Vast Left Wing Idiocy" (VLWI) out there.
When arabs look for a role model in creating a free and democratic country, they are lost. There is no arab role model for such a country.
If Iraqis are sufficiently serious, soon Iraq might play that role.
Sarmad's blog is terrific. The English is difficult, and he admits it, but his meaning comes shining through. Sarmad is a professor at University in Iraq(so he says, and I believe it at this point.) There aren't that many posts on his blog and I would highly recommend that you RTWT from the beginning. It's a little bit of freedom juice for those who tend to take it for granted. I bet most of you who read Tim's blog have already read everything Sarmad has written, rendering this comment moot.
Posted by: Wendy at May 8, 2004 at 11:25 PMThis guy is more American (and, it would appear, is a New Hampshirite without knowing it!) than the fucking sorry excuses for American soldiers who have embarrassed my county and its Army, which has for over 225 years fought for freedom and liberty from such abuses.
I hope there are more like him.
Posted by: KevinV at May 9, 2004 at 02:05 AMHe appreciates a Saddam-free Iraq? He's obviously a CIA operative!
Posted by: Sortelli at May 9, 2004 at 10:33 AMYes, what the soldiers have done is terrible and they need to be, will be, punished.
But why the hysterics over Iraqis now? Where were the people who are having fits about the soldiers, not also having fits when Saddam&Sons were in power?
Were the Iraqis tortured under Saddam&Sons less deserving of the world's attention than the Iraqis harmed by the soldiers? I don't recall witnessing such an outcry against Saddam&Sons as I am now witnessing against the soldiers.
I also don't recall as much of an outcry when the contractors were killed and left hanging on the bridge.
I enjoy Sarmad's blog, even his English!
Posted by: Chris Josephson at May 9, 2004 at 11:06 AMPicture yourself as a guard in an Iraqi prison. You don't speak Arabic. There are six other guards just like you. They are the ones on your side. You are overseeing a hundred Iraqis of the worst repute(probably more then a hundred in reality). These people brag of the Americans that they have ambushed along the road. They brag on the Americans they have killed.
Now your task is to march these prisoners to have their haircut. To cut down on time you must transport them to the barber in groups of twenty. You have to keep them unaware of their numerical superiority so you put them in hoods. You have to make sure they haven't fashioned sharp pointy toothbrushes to attack you with, so you strip off their cloths.
These actions are born of necessity.
These actions are legitimate for your personal safety and the safety of your fellow guards.
Now how would it look to a red cross worker, who doesn't think about your safety whatsoever?
How many times would these prisoners go through these everyday activities without acting up? How would you respond to their acting up?
I have heard that psychologists studies prove that responses to prisoners who don't cooperate in such circumstances always escalate from the mild repuke to more and more forceful correction by guards. Never toward milder forms of punishment.
From what I have just typed it is easy to see that the policy of the officers of the guard are the problem. More guards are needed. Better guidance and training of the guards is needed.
Perhaps restructuring of the facilities is needed.
What is the answer to why photos of naked prisoners are taken? Maybe they are used as a threat against some unruly prisoners to coerce them to behave. I don't know, but I can understand how it could happen.
Posted by: Papertiger at May 9, 2004 at 04:51 PM