Oh goody. This, I guess is what "standing up" so we can stand down now means.
Confidential documents that were obtained by the LA Times and were authenticated by current and former police officials show details of widespread corruption, rape of female prisoners, bribery, kidnapping, forgery of passports and many other lovely acts. The documents show how vast the problems are within the Iraqi Interior Ministry over the past few years.
Or maybe, it is being run exactly like Dear Leader and the neocon war criminals want it to be run.
To be honest, I wasn't really going to write about anything today but already saw a few things that are blog-worthy(not to mention a scathing US human rights report that is slated to be released to the UN later today). And since I am a glutton for punishment with respect to pointing out the truth about Iraq, I figured that I should just jump right back in.....
The news on the Iraq police force corruption front reads like Rumsfeld's wish list for Abu Ghraib:
Brutality and corruption are rampant in Iraq's police force, with abuses including the rape of female prisoners, the release of terrorism suspects in exchange for bribes, assassinations of police officers and participation in insurgent bombings.
---snip---
Officers also have beaten prisoners to death, been involved in kidnapping rings, sold thousands of stolen and forged Iraqi passports and passed along vital information to insurgents, the Iraqi documents allege.
Beating prisoners to death. Kidnapping rings. Passing "vital" information to insurgents. Raping female prisoners. Assassinations of other police officers. Releasing terrorism suspects for bribes.
Yeah, this sounds like things are going just swimmingly with the Iraqi police force. Oh, and before anyone in this ass-backwards administration thinks that this isn't happening, well, it was actually confirmed by the State Department as well:
A recent assessment by State Department police training contractors echoes the investigative documents, concluding that strong paramilitary and insurgent influences within the force and endemic corruption have undermined public confidence in the government.
A few bad apples, right? Um, no. Actually, according to the reports, we have hundreds of officers at various levels who were participating in these actions. Of course, we also remember when a secret "detention facility" (how's that for a euphemism?) run by the Interior Ministry was discovered in Baghdad. And we remember how this um, "facility" was run by people associated with the Shiite militia. But none of this has anything to do with the civil war that is exploding in front of everyone. Oh, if you are wondering, that "detention facility" is still being run. But "Team America" did declare 2006 the "Year of the police" in Iraq, so with a bright shiny label like that, we can't go wrong, right?
Back to the report - it is titled "Year of the Police In-Stride Assessment, October 2005 to May 2006." and boy, are the results ugly, both for Iraq and for our failed policies over there:
"The document basically shows that Interior Ministry management has failed," the U.S. official said. "The document didn't directly address U.S. policy failures, but I guess it does show that too."
---snip---
Referring to Sunni Arab insurgent groups and Shiite paramilitary organizations, the report says "these groups exploit MOI (Ministry of the Interior) forces to further insurgent, party and sectarian goals. As a result, many Iraqis do not trust the police. Divisions falling along militia lines have led to violence among police.
---snip---
"MOI officials and forces are widely reported to engage in bribery, extortion and theft," the report says. "For example, there are numerous credible reports of ministry and police officials requiring payment from would-be recruits to join the police."
---snip---
The documents include worksheets with hundreds of short summaries of alleged police crimes, letters referring accused officers to Iraq's anti-corruption agencies and courts, citizen complaints of police abuse and corruption, police inspector general summaries detailing financial crimes and fraudulent contracting practices and reports on alleged sympathizers of Saddam Hussein's former regime.
Wow - it looks like we are really headed in the right direction there. Seems like the police force has really turned the corner and freedom is on the march. The rest of the article gives other specific examples and more information, but I think you get the point of how much we can count on the Iraqi police force to help stop the civil war and bring peace and stability to a country that Bush, Rumsfeld and the rest of the war criminals quite likely actually made worse than under Saddam.
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