May 09, 2004

"Frauds Try to Exploit Iraq Abuse Scandal"

No, the title doesn't refer to CBS, CNN, the rest of the news media, John Kerry, the DNC, "liberals," or all the rest. Instead:

At a press conference by human rights groups in Baghdad on Sunday, numerous former prisoners came forward to tell of abuse including beatings by soldiers and sleep deprivation...

Fallujah native Abdul-Qader Abdul-Rahman al-Ani, his left elbow wrapped in bandages, his right forearm bound in a cast, recounted how he was beaten by soldiers who picked him up last month. The soldiers tied him and two others arrested with him to a tree and sodomized them one after the other, he told journalists.

``I ask President Bush,'' he said. ``Does he agree with this?''

Shocking, truly shocking. I'm ashamed to be an American, and I'm moving to Canada. But, wait, you say, there's more:

As Ani, 47, repeated his story, he was interrupted by Jabber al-Okaili, a member of one of the human rights groups that organized the gathering. ``He's lying,'' al-Okaili shouted. ``He's a liar!''

Al-Ani was rushed to an office, where al-Okaili and others unwound the bandage on his left arm and found the elbow unscarred and healthy. They cut off half of the cast on his forearm, even as al-Ani insisted, ``By God, it's true, everything I say is true.''

``All his papers were forged,'' al-Okaili, of the Free Iraq Institute, said after al-Ani left the building. ``Who knows why he did this. Maybe he was paid by former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.''

Maybe they're paying CNN too.

Posted to Iraq at May 9, 2004 10:24 PM

Comments

It would be buisness as usual if it were true. I see no reason to doubt there are people who would exploit an issue for political gain. Look to America for an example.

Posted by: IXLNXS at May 10, 2004 03:02 PM