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June 3, 2005
Not for Children
Posted by Dave Blount at June 3, 2005 6:25 AM
Anyone out there who actually believes that any of the events that occurred or were alleged to occur under American authority at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay rises to the level of "torture" or "atrocity" is strongly encouraged to watch the videos below, which give a small taste of the actual atrocities that were part of everyday life under Saddam Hussein.
Warning: These require a strong stomach, will take a while on a 56K modem, and ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN.
Watching them will remind any reasonable person that there is a difference between some rogue reservist putting panties on your head and having your hand chopped off. There is a difference between allegations that a Koran purchased for you by American taxpayers was handled improperly and the reality of having your tongue cut out.
It should also remind people that if you are against one thing, you are consequently for something else. What are people against the war in Iraq for?
These videos are what they are for. This was the status quo that they were eager to defend. For those advocating an early pullout from Iraq, this is the status quo ante to which they would have the men, women, and children of Iraq returned.
The second video might be particularly instructive to anyone sufficiently detached from reality as to believe Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. Don't expect the images of dead children to be pleasant, but at least you can be glad they aren't your own.
Finally, these videos should remind people what our troops are fighting to keep away from our own comfortable lives.
Because if America doesn't hold back the darkness, who will?
According to a State Department Report, the following practices were routine under Saddam:
- Medical experimentation
- Beatings
- Crucifixion
- Hammering nails into the fingers and hands
- Amputating sex organs or breasts with an electric carving knife
- Spraying insecticides into a victim's eyes
- Branding with a hot iron
- Committing rape while the victim's spouse is forced to watch
- Pouring boiling water into the victim's rectum
- Nailing the tongue to a wooden board
- Extracting teeth with pliers
- Using bees and scorpions to sting naked children in front of their parents
Other favorite Baathist activities included chopping off fingers one by one, hacking out tongues with razor blades, applying electric shocks to genitals, pulling out fingernails, suspending people from rotating ceiling fans, gouging out eyes, and applying hot irons, blowtorches, and acid to the skin. Prisoners were fed alive to Doberman pinschers. Decapitation was frequently employed, and victims' families were sometimes required to display the severed heads of their loved ones, as a warning to those who would challenge the regime.
This is what the Left thinks the world should settle for.
