September 28, 2006

The bodies found around Baghdad have become so ubiquitous, blind folded, hands tied, signs of torture, that their reality is no longer really discussed. There were 60 such bodies found in this state just in Baghdad, just on Thursday.

That these are sectarian killings often goes as an assumed fact, but do you ever hear much about the torture? From anecdotal reports, a power drill to the "joints" (knees) or hands seems to be the primary means of torture. (A hammer and nail occasionally substituting.) But recently there has been a rise in the reports of acid being used as a slow torture item. At the endm the victims are then shot in the back of the head.

I mention the disturbing details to make a point. Rarely in any article will you see it discussed why they're inflicting these horrors on bound, blindfolded, defenseless captives.

Primarily, I would assume the torture is an effort at information gathering, however I can't imagine the quality of information being gained. I would think that a power drill to a knee would create an endless chain of the innocent, one naming the next.

I have also read several anecdotal accounts of "trials" being held. Often the beheaded bodies are the victims of these trials. Tortured to confession in front of howling militiamen, and then dragged down and beheaded.

I don't really know what I'm saying here, or what the grand point is, but tonight I got to thinking about the last hour of the 60 men's lives today, the grotesque reality that was the process of their deaths.

There will be 40 or 60 more tomorrow, knees drilled, acid burned, some beheaded, and 40 to 60 the day after that.

That is the reality of Iraq.