Murder in Iraq


Humiliation by death squad
My views on the War on Terror set me apart from most libertarians.

My feeling is that you can't be reasonable with people who would do everything they can to dominate or destroy you.

Certainly not all Muslims are like that. And I think that the bigger battle is for the soul of Islam. Unfortunately that is the one battle that Americans can't help.

The Sunday London Times has details on the murder of Atwar Bahjat. It is not pretty. I will not reprint them here. But the aftermath is more tangled still.

There is a wider significance to the appalling footage and the accompanying details. The film appears to show for the first time an Iraqi death squad in action.

The death squads have proliferated in recent months, spreading terror on both sides of the sectarian divide. The clothes worn by Bahjat’s killers are bound to be scrutinised for clues to their identity.

Bahjat, with her professionalism and impartiality as a half-Shi’ite, half-Sunni, would have been the first to warn against any hasty conclusions, however. The uniforms seem to be those of the Iraqi National Guard but that does not mean she was murdered by guardsmen. The fatigues could have been stolen for disguise.

A source linked to the Sunni insurgency who supplied the film to The Sunday Times in London claimed it had come from a mobile phone found on the body of a Shi’ite Badr Brigade member killed during fighting in Baghdad.

But there is no evidence the Iranian-backed Badr militia was responsible. Indeed, there are conflicting indications. The drill is said to be a popular tool of torture with the Badr Brigade. But beheading is a hallmark of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by the Sunni Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

It didn't stop there. Her funeral procession was attacked twice.

Why fear one woman so much?

The coalition can go after the death squads. But only the Iraqis can choose if this is the life they want.

May they make the right choice.

Hat tip to The Mudville Gazette.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - May 8, 2006 at 04:23 AM  Tag


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