Does Torture Work?

Haj Ali Al-Qaisi, guest of United States Government in Iraq.

"'My problems with the Americans began when I tried to fix up a piece of land as a playground for the children. This was precisely the place where the Americans brought rubble from the airport - and among the stuff we found there were body parts and porn magazines.' A local doctor noted that many people injured themselves when searching through the rubbish for things they could use. 'I used to think that American denocracy was like a giant playground.', says Ali, and laughs. 'Instead, we got a garbage dump with chemicals, body parts and pornographic magazines.' As the village elder, he complained to the local council. 'That was where the problems began.' ...

[He describes how we was interrogated in the toilets of Abu Graibh.]

'The first question was "Are you a Sunni or a Shiite?"' Ali was surprised: 'That was the first time I had ever heard such a question. Even in the [Islamic] Law of Personal Status, it used to be the case that one's religious affiliation was considered irrelevant.'

[Various Nazi-like beatings, humilations and tortures are described.]

Later, I heard that it was all part of an operation entitled "Iron Horse", which involved arresting influential people and trying to compel them to work for the occupying forces.'

After three days, Ali was brought to a foreigner, who offered to let him go free if he would work for the occupiers. 'I said I had no comment to make. The whole time, I could hear screams, from men, women and children. Every soldier that passed by me hit me in the face.'

[...]

One of the prisoners asked a female soldier, 'Why are you humiliating us like this?' She replied: 'Those are our orders.'

[...]




















Lyndie England with an unknown Iraqi victim

Haj Ali was not the only person to be mistreated like this. 'The Imam of the biggest mosque in Falluja was 75 years old', says Haj Ali. 'They didn't just strip him naked and drag him around the floor; they also put women's underclothing on him.

An unknown Iraqi chained to a bed, forced to wear ladies' underwear over his face

They forced another prisoner to urinate on a photo of his own father. And they raped another Iman.'

'In reality, these prisons are training camps for the resistance', says Haj Ali, 'because 90% of the prisoners are innocent; but after these experiences....'"

Article translated from German by a commenter on Lenin's Tomb.