Sickening

Via The London Times Online :

Update: See Rusty here who says, "Ah young Paducan learn to trust your feelings". (Note extended entry was posted yesterday.)

Nobody but her killers knew just how much she had suffered until a film showing her death on February 22 at the hands of two musclebound men in military uniforms emerged last week. Her familyÂ’s worst fears of what might have happened have been far exceeded by the realityÂ….

...We now know that it was not that swift for Bahjat. First she was stripped to the waist, a humiliation for any woman but particularly so for a pious Muslim who concealed her hair, arms and legs from men other than her father and brother.

Then her arms were bound behind her back. A golden locket in the shape of Iraq that became her glittering trademark in front of the television cameras must have been removed at some point — it is nowhere to be seen in the grainy film, which was made by someone who pointed a mobile phone at her as she lay on a patch of earth in mortal terror.

By the time filming begins, the condemned woman has been blindfolded with a white bandage.

It is stained with blood that trickles from a wound on the left side of her head. She is moaning, although whether from the pain of what has already been done to her or from the fear of what is about to be inflicted is unclear...

...A large man dressed in military fatigues, boots and cap approaches from behind and covers her mouth with his left hand. In his right hand, he clutches a large knife with a black handle and an 8in blade. He proceeds to cut her throat from the middle, slicing from side to side.

Her cries — “Ah, ah, ah” — can be heard above the “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) intoned by the holder of the mobile phone.

Even then, there is no quick release for Bahjat. Her executioner suddenly stands up, his job only half done. A second man in a dark T-shirt and camouflage trousers places his right khaki boot on her abdomen and pushes down hard eight times, forcing a rush of blood from her wounds as she moves her head from right to left.

Only now does the executioner return to finish the task. He hacks off her head and drops it to the ground, then picks it up again and perches it on her bare chest so that it faces the film-maker in a grotesque parody of one of her pieces to camera.

The voice of one of the Arab worldÂ’s most highly regarded and outspoken journalists has been silenced. She was 30....

...I found it hard enough to bear the news of her murder. When I saw it replayed, it was as if part of me had died with her. How much more gruelling it must have been for a close family friend who watched the film this weekend and cried when he heard her voice.

The friend, who cannot be identified, knew nothing of her beheading but had been guarding other horrifying details of BahjatÂ’s ordeal. She had nine drill holes in her right arm and 10 in her left, he said. The drill had also been applied to her legs, her navel and her right eye. One can only hope that these mutilations were made after her death.

Also see the Mudville Gazette who adds:

Regardless of which side in the conflict killed her (and I have my own thoughts on that - in the eyes of her killers her greatest crime was most likely being a woman outside of a kitchen) the London Times reporter can't resist a mild apology for their act:

Just as Bahjat bore witness to countless atrocities that she covered for her television station, Al-Arabiya, during IraqÂ’s descent into sectarian conflict, so the recording of her execution embodies the depths of the countryÂ’s depravity after three years of war.

In truth, it represents a depth of depravity achieved over centuries. From the description, her killers hadn't just conceived or improvised their method execution on the spot - they seem to have been well practiced. But such is the nature of the enemy in this war, and perhaps this is their most sacred and well honed knowledge: if a brutality can be inflicted that exceeds all human ability to comprehend, the humans will find a way to deny it

This is the face of evil itself. That the monsters choose to hide behind masks shows how deeply depraved and cowardly they really are. We must remember we are at war. Or that face will show itself again and again.

Anyone who thinks that God's greatness is established by such acts of barbaric cruelty must be resisted at all costs.

Others : Malkin and Captains Quarters.

See our beheading archive; Warning Graphic Images. more...

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A British military helicopter crashed in the predominately Shia city of Basra today. Reports from the crash indicate Iraqi cheered the helicopter crash and threw stones at British troops who arrived at the scene.

Image: AP. Video of the aftermath here.

The Iraqis involved were followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. It boggles the mind that al-Sadr and his militias weren't wiped out long ago. In recent weeks, members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army have begun to mimick the tactics of other insurgent groups and have begun posting propaganda films on the internet. Up to this point, the Mehdi Army has simply claimed to be a militia fighting to protect Shia from Sunni abuses. Recently, a group claiming to be the Mehdi Army posted video of an attack against a Coalition tank. This is not a good sign.

All four of the British troops are reported dead. Tragic.

So much for the alleged success of the British whose 'hands off' occupation policy is so often seen as succesful in 'winning the hearts and minds' of the Iraqi people. Is it better to be feared or loved? Feared.

In related news, a U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter has been downed in Afghanistan. Ten U.S. soldiers were killed. (hat tip: Traderrob). A bad day for our brave soldiers.

Fox:

A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to at least one armored vehicle that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said....

British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

The crowd also set at least one British armored vehicle on fire, apparently with a rocket-propelled grenade, but the British soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said. British fired weapons into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd.

Shooting broke out between the British and armed militiamen, and at least two people, including a child, were killed, Khazim said.

Crowds chanted "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed," a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

This guy says: IÂ’d like to think that the people who are throwing rocks at the burning wreckage of the helicopter are terrorists. I'd suggest watching the video.

Clarity and Resolve call it: Mogadishu, Somalia Redux

Robert Spencer: Tiny Minority of Extremists and They'll Welcome Us As Liberators Updates

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The recent video released by al-Qaeda in Iraq of Zarqawi has stirred up new interest in getting rid of this little fat rodent. Many in Iraq resent his foreign interference and murderous rampage.

Christian Science Monitor : "Before, I thought there was no Zarqawi, he was just a fiction. But now I believe in him. He's really out there,'' says Thalib Jabbar, a businessman in Baghdad. "Zarqawi wants to show his power and frighten people. But in reality, he's the one who should be afraid. We want him dead."

That's a common sentiment among many ordinary Iraqis, one played on by Iraqi officials Wednesday who condemned Zarqawi as a foreigner trying to destroy their country. Their strong response highlights the risk such a video poses for Zarqawi: The effort to show his strength within the insurgency also puts a foreign face on the movement, leaving an opening for his opponents to appeal to national unity.

In his video, the powerful and chipmunk-cheeked Zarqawi said the Iraqi government, "whether made up of the hated Shiites or the secular Zionist Kurds or the collaborators among the Sunnis, will be tools of the crusaders and a poison dagger in the heart of the Islamic nation."

The Jawa Report has full video and transcripts here.

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Pretty wicked cool. It's about time the Royals did more than blather on about how Islam is peaceful.

Daily Mail:

Prince Harry has threatened to quit the Army if commanders refuse to send him to the front line.

He told senior officers before recently passing out of Sandhurst as a Second Lieutenant: “If I am not allowed to join my unit in a war zone, I will hand in my uniform.”

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Michael Fumento describes a firefight in Ramadi. It's good to know there are still some reporters like Fumento operating outside the Green Zone.

Fumento:

As soon as everybody was out of the houses the bad guys hit us big time. Machine gun and rifle fire seemed to come from every direction. In part, perhaps, this was because of sound reverberations off the walls and possibly it was because it was coming from every direction. Americans tossed several smoke canisters to conceal us as we crossed the first wide street, but since the Mooj tend to fire wildly anyway I'm not sure how much it helped. All they do is point their weapons in our general direction and squeeze off as many rounds as they can. But a haphazardly-fired bullet when it hits you has the same impact as an expertly aimed one.

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"That little missile was a cool toy Muscab, [update: Confederate Yankee has pic of the missiles, one of which appears to be a Qassam] but get a load of my toy!”

CNN Bahgdad Wednesday 04/26/06: Rumsfeld was greeted at Baghdad International Airport by Gen. George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, before they then went to the U.S. Embassy for a one-on-one meeting.

The secretary arrived in Iraq on a C-17 military transport.

Earlier this week, PM-designate al-Maliki said he thinks U.S. troops could begin withdrawing in 18 months or less if his country's security forces get up to speed.

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What impresses me the most is the sheer determination he shows in the face of terrorist murder.

Iraq The Model : Last week our little and peaceful family was struck by the tragic loss of one of its members in a savage criminal act of assassination. The member we lost was my sister's husband who lived with their two little children in our house.

He was a brilliant young doctor with a whole future awaiting him, the couple were the top graduates in their branch of specialty. They had to travel abroad to get their degrees and the war started while they were there but months after Saddam fallen they decided to come back to help rebuild the country and serve their people.

The terrorists and criminals are targeting all elements of life and they target anyone who wants to do something good for this countryÂ…They think by assassinating one of us they could deter us from going forward but will never succeed, they can delay us for years but we will never go back and abandon our dream.

We have vowed to follow the steps of our true martyrs and we will raise the new generation to continue the march, these children of today are the hope and the future.

What a difference between those who work to preserve life and those who work to end itÂ…it's terrorism and crime and there are no other words to describe these acts.

Also see Hyscience.

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I've just been absolutely enthralled by Mike Totten's travelogue describing his journey to Kurdistan through Turkey. Today's post is the best one:

The whole thing was just weird. I donÂ’t quite know how to convey how surreal it is to leave a country that maybe, just maybe, might join the European Union and enter a country that is a poster-child for wrenching war-torn catastrophe and have everything around me dramatically improve all at once. But that's how it goes these days when you cross into Iraq from Turkey. Even though Sean had never been there before, he, like me, breathed a sigh of relief at our arrival in a tranquil place at peace with itself.

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Has the leader of al Qaeda's branch in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, been fired by Ayman al-Zawahiri? Very interesting, indeed. Not nearly as interesting, though, as it would be to hear that he's dead.

I heard about this while I was gone, but had not time to blog it. From the Globabl Terrorism Analysis desk of the Jamestown Foundation:

Media reports during the past week have announced that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi—al-Qaeda's chief in Iraq—has been "replaced" or "demoted" from the leadership of Iraq's Sunni resistance coalition (Daily Star, April 3; al-Bawaba, April 2). The stories have said that al-Zarqawi was removed as "the result of several mistakes he made," including for taking "the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people" and for "targeting the Islamic states neighboring Iraq, particularly Jordan" [1]. On April 2, Jordan-based Sunni cleric Sheikh Hudayf Azzam—the son of the famous cleric, mujahideen leader, and Osama bin Laden-mentor Abdullah Azzam—told the journal al-Bawaba that "al-Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago [March 15-18] and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi." Azzam said that al-Zarqawi's "role has been limited to military action," but stressed that al-Zarqawi approved the change in his status and "has returned to where he should be as a man who came to champion the Iraqi cause" (al-Bawaba, April 2; al-Arabiyah, April 2)....

This week's reports that al-Zarqawi has been "demoted" likewise squares perfectly with the intimations al-Zawahiri sent him that there may be debilitating "sensitivities" over a non-Iraqi's leadership of the Iraqi resistance. Without even a whimper, al-Zarqawi allowed himself to be publicly rebuked—"he made many political mistakes"—moved to a lesser post, and was chastised for "speaking in the name of the Iraqi resistance and people." The manner in which al-Zarqawi's change in status was handled left the clear impression—as al-Zawahiri said would be desirable—that the resistance movement is an Iraqi insurgency, headed by Iraqis, and conducted in Iraqi interests. Foreign mujahideen are welcomed to support the Iraqi insurgents, but al-Zarqawi, by "bowing" to Iraqi wishes, publicly proved that they are playing a subordinate role....

While it is too soon to know how al-Zarqawi's new status "as a soldier of the resistance" will impact the Iraq insurgency, a strong argument can be made that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have reached out and persuaded al-Zarqawi to change his behavior in a way that will benefit al-Qaeda (al-Quds al-Arabi, April 4). Historically, al-Qaeda has been welcomed in Islamic insurgencies around the world precisely because it wanted to contribute force multipliers—military cadre, media and financial expertise, materiel, logistics assistance—and did not try to supplant local leadership. Based on the foregoing, al-Zarqawi now seems ready to play this traditional al-Qaeda role, which is likely to bring greater unity to Iraq's Sunni resistance. The foregoing also ought to give pause to those Western analysts who have concluded that bin laden and al-Qaeda are largely yesterday's news, an isolated, cowering organization unable to influence—let alone direct—the affairs of the many fronts of the worldwide anti-U.S. Islamic insurgency.

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Bush lied, McHaliburton, Amerikkka, etc. Hitchens:

In February 1999, Zahawie left his Vatican office for a few days and paid an official visit to Niger, a country known for absolutely nothing except its vast deposits of uranium ore. It was from Niger that Iraq had originally acquired uranium in 1981, as confirmed in the Duelfer Report. In order to take the Joseph Wilson view of this Baathist ambassadorial initiative, you have to be able to believe that Saddam Hussein's long-term main man on nuclear issues was in Niger to talk about something other than the obvious. Italian intelligence (which first noticed the Zahawie trip from Rome) found it difficult to take this view and alerted French intelligence (which has better contacts in West Africa and a stronger interest in nuclear questions). In due time, the French tipped off the British, who in their cousinly way conveyed the suggestive information to Washington. As everyone now knows, the disclosure appeared in watered-down and secondhand form in the president's State of the Union address in January 2003....

However, the waters have since become muddied, to say the least. For a start, someone produced a fake document, dated July 6, 2000, which purports to show Zahawie's signature and diplomatic seal on an actual agreement for an Iraqi uranium transaction with Niger. Almost everything was wrong with this crude forgery—it had important dates scrambled, and it misstated the offices of Niger politicians. In consequence, IAEA Chairman Mohammed ElBaradei later reported to the U.N. Security Council that the papers alleging an Iraq-Niger uranium connection had been demonstrated to be fraudulent.

But this doesn't alter the plain set of established facts in my first three paragraphs above. The European intelligence services, and the Bush administration, only ever asserted that the Iraqi regime had apparently tried to open (or rather, reopen) a yellowcake trade "in Africa." It has never been claimed that an agreement was actually reached. What motive could there be for a forgery that could be instantly detected upon cursory examination?

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Rob at Left Wing Lies has created this graphic way to keep track of the number of lives saved by the Coalition invasion of Iraq. Using figures from The Weekly Standard and Iraqibodycount.net, Rob calculates that 174 fewer Iraqis die every day since Saddam was toppled.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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Qubad Talabani, son of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, spoke to University of South Carolina students yesterday, advocating less centralized government in Iraq as the answer to some of his nation's current problems. Townhall:

Other parts of the country are looking at forming similar regions so they can govern themselves with as much autonomy as possible over their own affairs, thus reducing the powers of the central government. By reducing such powers, you will reduce the different communitiesÂ’ insecurities because of the mistrust that exists today."

He adds, "At the moment, Baghdad is the prize and everybody is fighting over it. We need to reduce the relevance of that prize so that we reduce the level of tension throughout Iraq."

The mistrust and tension, Talabani says, is a part of Saddam HusseinÂ’s legacy, pitting one community against the other, as well as instilling fear from cruelties committed by the former regime against all segments of the population.

"My own region, Kurdistan, was decimated by Saddam," Talabani says. "He destroyed about 4,000 villages, killed about 200,000 people, and used chemical and biological weapons in over 250 incidences – primarily against civilians."

Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, most Kurds believed themselves to be the only victims of SaddamÂ’s brutality. "But when the regime fell, we realized that Iraqi Arabs were also victims," Talabani says. "We recovered hundreds-of-thousands of bodies in mass graves across the country, many of which were dedicated to children three to six-years-old. Most had been experimented on by the regime. I cannot describe the carnage and brutality in a way that you would be able to comprehend just how bad it really was."

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Showing the sort of initiative that should be coming from an alert mainstream press, Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters has confirmed the translation of a captured Iraqi document asking for volunteers for a "Suicide Mission" against "American Interests".

Fearing that critics would claim the document had been mistranslated because the original translation had been done for the Free Republic, Morrissey hired two independent translators to confirm the original. Captain Ed has posted the results, both of which confirm the original translation:

The top secret letter 2205 of the Military Branch of Al Qadisya on 4/3/2001 announced by the top secret letter 246 from the Command of the military sector of Zi Kar on 8/3/2001 announced to us by the top secret letter 154 from the Command of Ali Military Division on 10/3/2001 we ask to provide that Division with the names of those who desire to volunteer for Suicide Mission to liberate Palestine and to strike American Interests and according what is shown below to please review and inform us.

The mainstream media has yet to report the existence of this document.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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How else to explain the grossly offensive way that Washington Post writer Thomas E. Ricks chose to phrase his "exposé" disclosing that [gasp] the American military would like Iraqis to think badly of brutal terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? [emphasis added to excerpt below]

The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Ricks is likewise outraged that the US "home audience" is part of the "propaganda operation". Horrors! Everyone knows that only mainstream journalists are allowed to target American citizens with propaganda. Actually, Ricks' outrage seems to be jealousy that a New York Times reporter, Dexter Filkins, was given a scoop that Ricks missed out on. Since it wasn't given to Ricks it's not a "tip", it's a "leak".

In his zeal to damage the Bush administration, reporter Ricks has betrayed his profession, as well as his country.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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Gateway Pundit has a great post showing reaction to yesterdayÂ’s bombings. It seems they dislike al-Qaeda.

Gatewaypundit : As the media paints a picture of Civil War, the terrorists in Iraq continue to murder innocent civilians. The worst massacre of the year on Friday was blamed on Al Zarqawi and his thugs and NOT on sectarian division.

After the suicide bombings yesterday at the Buratha mosque in Baghdad that killed over 70 people, Shiites protested for unity today in Iraq..

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Gratitude:

World opinion says that this war was illegal because the Coalition found no weapons of mass destruction. What have been found, however, are heaps of bodies, buried in mass graves, which would not have been discovered otherwise. Five-hundred thousand people — men, women and children — had been executed or buried alive. Saddam Hussein and many of his henchmen were captured alive and, in contrast to the way they treated people, are being treated humanely. Saddam Hussein's 35-year war against the population of Iraq cost over two million people their lives, and this campaign is not over yet. Now, however, we are no longer alone in this war. We have the United States on our side. We know that we can win this struggle.

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At some point even the term homicide-bomber becomes too PC to describe the evil. Let's call these people what they really are: mass murderers. I wonder if the U.N. will look into these clear violations of the Geneva Conventions?

When American soldiers kill terrorists operating out of a mosque and holding hostages there, they are accused of all sorts of vile things. But when mass-murdering Muslims proudly and purposefully target civilians at mosques, it is simply part of 'sectarian violence'. Our neutral media at work.

L.A. Times:

At least 69 people were killed and 130 injured today when three suicide bombers, at least one of whom was a woman, blew themselves up in and around the Bratha mosque, one of the most important Shiite mosques in the capital.

Rescuers, including Iraqi security forces and volunteers, sorted among the gore of severed body parts to find and treat the living.

Asked how he knew a woman was involved, a mosque worker pointed at a body part that still had pantyhose attached. "There she is," he said.

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Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the brutal Jordanian head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has been "sacked" by the "Iraqi resistance's high command" and replaced with an Iraqi national. Zarqawi is said to be relegated to a military role.

From the article:

Iraq's resistance has replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, the son of Osama bin Laden's mentor has said in Jordan.

Hudayf Azzam, 35, who claims close contacts with the fighters, said on Sunday: "The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made.

"Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action. Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi."

However, the story's credibility is somewhat sketchy because both Hudayf Azzam and Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi were virtually unknown until Sunday.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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Jeff Harrell is asking for us to help out. Seems like a good cause:

War Kids Relief hopes, in partnership with the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sports, to go to 100 of those youth centers and refurbish them, building classrooms and soccer fields and computer labs. They plan to launch a work-study program that would send Iraqi teens out into the cities and towns to do “Depression-era stuff” like painting buildings and picking up trash for a small wage. Every other week they’ll work; on alternate weeks they’ll receive vocational training at the youth centers.

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Another translated Iraqi intel document has been released which implicates a French state run oil company in efforts to stop the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Document: ISGZ-2004-028179 as translated here ties two European businessmen convicted in France's largest corruption scandal to the Saddam Hussein regime. The first is Loik Le Floch-Prigent, the former head of the French state owned oil company Elf-Aquitaine, convicted of fraud and bribery late in 2003. His conviction revolved around a scandal involving bribes and kickbacks to various corrupt oil rich governments around the world. His conviction also implicated the Socialist government of Francois Mitterrand in the scandal. Because Elf-Acquitaine is a state owned enterprised, it has long been thought to be a secret arm of French diplomacy.

In 1994, under the leadership of Loik Le Floch-Prigent, the French oil company negotiated lucrative contracts with Iraqi Oil Minister Safa al-Habobi, giving Elf-Acquitaine exclusive rights to the Majnoon oil fields on the border with Iran. Another French government owned company, Total SA--which would later merge with Elf-Acquitaine--was given rights to another oil field. The contracts were worth $100 billion over seven years but were conditioned on the U.N. sanctions being lifted. The major share of oil pumped during the oil-for food regime was done by the now merged Elf-Total SA & Russia's Gazprom.

France, then, had considerable financial interests in seeing that no U.S. invasion took place, and Loik Le Floch-Prigent's former company would be the main conduit for that gain. In January 2003, when this document was written, Le Floch was an independent energy consultant, presumably working for one or another of the French state owned companies.

Dieter Holzer is a German lobbyist connected to the French company. He helped arrange the sale of the East German Leuna oil refinery, during the privatization of formerly Communist run state enterprises, to Elf-Acquitaine during the early 1990s. Holzer is said to have ties to the German intelligence community and was convicted of taking kickbacks in the Elf scandal in November 2003.

From the translated Iraqi intel files. Emphasis mine & my comments in brackets. The entire document is not republished, only those parts which I felt needed more commentary: more...

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