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| Iraq |
| US to increase 'aid' to Iraqi police |
| 2005-12-30 |
| The day after five Iraqi prison guards were killed in an attempted prison break in which four inmates were also killed, a senior American commander in Iraq says that the US will increase the number of soldiers advising Iraqi police commando units, "in part to curtail abuse that the units are suspected of inflicting on Sunni Arabs." The New York Times reports that the plan is expected to be formally approved in the next few weeks. The advisers with the Iraqi commando units will themselves remain under the command of American officers. Under the new plan, which would be put in force in and around Baghdad, all the Iraqi units would get American advisers, and the advisers' total number would be increased by several hundred, said the commander, who spoke to reporters in Baghdad only on condition of anonymity. In one case, he said, an entire American battalion, typically with more than 500 soldiers, will be attached to a particular Iraqi brigade. The Washington Post reports that the program is aimed specifically at former militia forces within the Iraqi interior ministry. The ministry is dominated by "the current governing Shiite religious parties and those parties' factional fighters" that have close ties to Iran. "We're going to try to wrap ourselves around them," the senior official said of militia loyalists within the special police ... "By hugging the enemy, wrapping our arms around them, we hope to control them . . . like we did with the army," the official said. The Post adds that US military and civilian leaders have called 2006 the "year of the police," and plan to focus on Iraq's police forces with the same attention it tried to give to Iraq's new army. The Daily Telegraph reports that the US has also launched a $50 million program to expand military prisons in Iraq, after the number of prisoners doubled to more than 15,000 inmates. The program is part of a two-pronged strategy to keep insurgents behind bars, and eventually hand over the responsibility for their custody to Iraqis. Currently more than 3,700 US troops are being used to guard these prisoners. But the Telegraph says the plan has hit several snags, in particular the discovery of several cases of Iraqi Shiite guards mistreating Sunni Arab prisoners. There is probably a simpler solution to this, but hearts and minds I guess. Whatever, but $50 mil. What the hell, are these guys going to the freakin caribbean or jail? "We and the Iraqi government continue to have concern about the way prisoners are treated in Iraqi facilities and in facilities nominally under the control of the Iraqi government," [a US State Department spokesman] said. Boohoo for them. Amnesty International has described the notion of a swift handover as "frightening". In addition, the Americans are dubious about the quality of some of the guards they have trained. I find amnesty international frightening. The prison extension program will be finished by April. Meanwhile, the number of detainees on a hunger strike at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay has doubled in the last week to 84, the US military says. Bloomberg News reports that lawyers for the prisoners say they are protesting their continued detention without trial and conditions at the base. There are 505 prisoners being held at the US naval base in Cuba. Only nine have been charged with any crime, while the rest are being held as enemy combatants. Let em starve. Or feed em pig. "This technique (hunger striking) is consistent with Al Qaeda training and reflects detainee attempts to elicit media attention and bring pressure on the United States Government to release them," the US military said. "Enemy combatants on voluntary fast are closely monitored by medical professionals, receive excellent medical care, and when required, the appropriate amount of daily nutrition and hydration through enteral feeding," or tubes inserted through the nose and into the stomach. Jees, this is better treatment than most Americans get at an emergency room. This pisses me off. If they want to starve, let them. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a lawyer for three of the detainees, said that one of his clients, Bahrani Isa Almurbati, told him that he will only stop his hunger strike when he is sent home. Well, you may be hungry for a long, long time. "His philosophy is that he should be sent home or allowed to die because the idea of spending the rest of his life at Guantanamo without any due process is simply unbearable." The Supreme Court said in early November that it would hear arguments on whether the Bush administration can use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo. No date for the hearing has been set. They are not citizens and do not seserve due process. They are terrorist and should have been shot by now. EP |
| Posted by:Shith Snump1968 |