More Iraqi Torture Chambers

Somehow I'm sure Saddam's to blame for this:

An Iraqi government search of a detention center in Baghdad operated by Interior Ministry special commandos found 13 prisoners who had suffered abuse serious enough to require medical treatment, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday night.

An Iraqi official with firsthand knowledge of the search said that at least 12 of the 13 prisoners had been subjected to "severe torture," including sessions of electric shock and episodes that left them with broken bones.

"Two of them showed me their nails, and they were gone," the official said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

At least there are signs of improvement: in the last torture chamber there were 169 badly injured people, and in this one, though they found 600 prisoners, only 13 had to go directly to the hospital. Freedom is indeed on the march.

By the end of this week, Iraqis will be voting, and things like this will conveniently be forgotten amid stories of brave Iraqi citizens going to the polls, etc. But before the Myth of the Purple Finger (the notion that electing candidates along sectarian lines is the KEY to stopping sectarian violence) pushes all of these stories off the front page, it's important to note that the only reason Iraqi Shiites feel like they can get away with these kinds of abuses within the Interior Ministry is because they've seen their American minders do it, and get away with it. It's yet another reason why Abu Ghraib was such a crushing blow to our efforts to win this battle against terror and radical Islam around the globe. We've now sanctioned torture, put it into play. The Iraqi Interior Ministry, filled with Badr Brigade militia members who specialize in the extra-judicial killing of Sunnis, operate no differently than contracted US security personnel, who dig picking off innocent Iraqis as sport.

The alleged failings have emerged as another "trophy video", showing security contractors apparently opening fire on civilians, appeared on the web site AegisIraq.co.uk, which has been unofficially linked to Aegis Defence Services.

The new, 27-second video, which is accompanied by the Elvis Presley song That's All Right (Mama), shows a civilian car being attacked by security contractors, who open fire with a machine gun.

Coming to DVD soon.

Here's the point: we opened up a Pandora's Box at Abu Ghraib, and it's going to be very difficult to stuff that genie back in the bottle. All the while, sectarian tensions are fomented, and the civil war brewing underneath the surface can explode to the forefront that much easier. And we can't even figure out if we're supposed to stop this shit:

Last week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered military commanders to come up with clear rules for how U.S. forces should respond if they witness detainee abuse. The order followed an exchange between Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, at a news conference Nov. 29.

Pace said then that it was "absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member if they see inhumane treatment being conducted to intervene to stop it."

Rumsfeld said, "I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it."

Pace responded, "If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it."

While we dither and look for legal technicalities, fingernails are being pulled from Sunnis with our implicit consent. Welcome to the New Freedom in Iraq.