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| Iraq | |
| Mass grave with 55 bodies discovered in N Iraq | |
| 2008-02-06 | |
| BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces found the bodies of 55 people allegedly killed and buried by Al Qaeda loyalists in a mass grave near the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, a police officer said Tuesday. A police force backed by tribal units made the discovery while conducting a search operation in Al Jazira west of Samarra, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, Colonel Mamduh Al Bazi from the city police told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The bodies were of middle-aged men in plain-clothes, who seemed to have been hurriedly buried at different times. During the operation, the forces freed two hostages from their captors, who fled the area. The freed men told the police how they and the slain men were captured by gunmen, who then stole their money and other belongings. The men were then killed after being told that the loot was to go to the Sunni extremist Islamic State of Iraq, which has links with the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 OP, I hope you're right. Unfortunately, they're Muslims and people of that belief system have a woefully bad record when it comes to being able to make representative democracy work. Even Turkey is beginning to backslide into Islamism. Maybe Iraq will make it work but I'd not bet any money on it. |
| Posted by: Jomosing Bluetooth8431 2008-02-06 20:07 |
| #2 The real lesson here is that the discovery was made by Iraqi police and "tribal units" - probably "Awakening Council" members. If these two groups can work together, and if the Iraqi Army can work together with Iraqi police and "Concerned Local Citizens", then Al-Qaida doesn't have a prayer. Neither does any other militia group. You can't hide among a bunch of people who hate your guts, and would like nothing better than to be rid of you. With this working, it won't be long before some political changes also start happening - from the bottom up, as they should (they'll last longer that way). Iraq is on its way to being the most stable nation in the Muddled East. Give them three years, and they'll outshine any other Arab nation, and rival the more stable of the South American Republics. In ten years, if there are no major disasters (nuke war with Iran?), they could be one of the most democratic nations in the world. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-02-06 13:58 |
| #1 the "Lucky" Two that got away get to spread the terror by design.. if I were an Iraqi Mayor, Tribal Chieftain, Police Chief, IA General or just plain citizen-Iraqi I would reject having any foreign Arabs in Iraq till this whole War Effort is over. For that matter the Shiites should reject any Iranians also but that would/will prove more difficult I believe. |
| Posted by: RD 2008-02-06 00:55 |