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Exclusive: Iraqi army brutality

Published: 24 Jan 2007
By: Jonathan Miller

Channel 4 News has exclusive access to the brutality meted out by the largely Shi'a Iraqi army in

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It is a shocking insight into the sectarian violence that is tearing Baghdad apart.

As tens of thousands of American troops prepare to "surge" into the iraqi capital - Channel 4 News has obtained exclusive evidence of the brutality being meted out by the largely Shi'a Iraqi army - as US troops stand idly by.

Two journalists - embedded with the First Cavalry division - witnessed suspected insurgents being viciously beaten and abused.

The journalists were then threatened and held under armed guard by the Americans - as troops attempted to seize their footage.

US Army commander Lieutenant Colonel Dale C Kuehl told Channel 4 News he had taken administrative action to include suspending the platoon sergeant.

He said: "The US Army does not condone detainee abuse within our formation not within ISF formations.

"The appropriate actions will be taken once the results of the investigation are final."

Sunday, January 14, 2007

American Idol host Paula Abdul drunk while being interviewed.
Watch It!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

October 11, 2001

Former US Ambassador to Iraq
Calls US War Plan "Dumb"

"Why it is that all of these people hate us. It's not because of freedom. It's not because Britney Spears has a belly button or because we export hamburgers. They hate us because of things they see us doing to their part of the world that they definitely do not like."

Edward Peck, former US Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan's terrorism task force.

CNN CROSSFIRE
America Strikes Back:
Should the U.S. Target Iraq?

Aired October 8, 2001 - 19:30 ET

Guests, the former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Peck, and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert Maginnis.

BILL PRESS: AmbassadorWe know Osama bin Laden has been supporting the terrorists, financing them and arming them. He's not alone, and perhaps not the most dangerous. There's Hussein that we know is supporting terrorist groups like the Hezbollah the Hamas, and probably bin Laden. We know he has got biological weapons. Probably has nuclear weapons. Wouldn't this war against terrorism be a mistake if we stop at Osama bin Laden and don't take out Saddam Hussein as well?

EDWARD PECK, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Let me answer your question. I think it's not a mistake for the following reasons. No. 1 is that nobody in this world -- with the possible exception of Tony Blair -- gives us the right to decide who rules Iraq. That is not part of our charter. It is not part of our mandate. Now, they can't stop us, because we are who we are. But when you take out Saddam Hussein, the key question you have to ask then is, what happens after that? And we don't have a clue. Nobody knows, but it's probably going to be bad. And a lot of people are going to be very upset about that, because that really is not written into our role in this world is to decide who rules Iraq.
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Iraq Brings Wounds That Deepen With Time

by Aaron Glantz
A new report in this month's issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry finds that while a high percentage of soldiers returning from Iraq suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many do not show symptoms right away.

"We can only speculate about why the rates rise with time," said lead researcher Sgt. Thomas A. Grieger, a professor of psychiatry who works at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington.

Grieger's team followed more than 600 injured soldiers after they returned from Iraq. They found that after one month, 4.2 percent had probable PTSD and 4.4 percent had depression; at four months, 12.2 percent had PTSD and 8.9 percent suffered from depression; at seven months, 12 percent had PTSD and 9.3 percent had depression.
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